First Day of Shooting...

Well, we've started making CrimeFighters! And what a night.

First of all we were blessed with good weather, lots of extras, the legend that is Sid who runs Reeds Cafe and let us use it as a base until we'd finished (just before 6am), and lots of other good fortune.

Of the 50 or so shots we'd planned to get tonight, we got about half. But it's ok, because we all suspected that starting with the 8-minute denouement scene would be tough, so we're going back next week to finish the scene.

The first shot of the night was of some villains being bundled into the back of a police car, and we didn't expect to get that, so, bonus and thanks to John who turned up in his 1973 classic ambulance that looks like the Ghostbusters car. We shot with the extras until about 1am when they were cold and tired but appreciated!

As the night went on, we must have run behind about an hour and a half as we gradually got up to speed as a unit and after a slight lull where it seemed like we were a bit lost in the endless list of shots, we started to gain momentum and the shots came one after the other. I'm really glad we didn't compromise the quality of the shots we'd planned by rushing or changing anything, but there is a line between getting it perfect and getting it done, and I would always lean towards getting it done well!

Woody Allen was quoted as saying when you're directing, fresh lorryloads of compromise arrive on the set daily. Last night's compromise was only getting half the scene done, really. We were fortunate with everything else. By ticking off shots as we'd planned, we're making the film the way we want to make it. And each shot is beautifully composed, which makes all the extra effort worth it.

We still have a long way to go but we're off and running, and if anyone's reading this, PLEASE come and be extras on the few days we need you, listed on the York Film Extras Facebook group. The shoot will come and go so quickly and we'd really love to be able to rely on the support we've already been shown.

Thank you all.