Twas the Day Before Shooting... Again

Suddenly it's the day before we start shooting CrimeFighters again, and I can't wait.

What better way to get up to speed than a day of 2nd unit stuff. After some panic about where all the costumes were...

(yep, found the masks) we got some close-up stonework for the opening title sequence...

...then went right up the Minster to get some aerial stuff for various scenes. And I got mild vertigo. But it was worth it.

Pretty, huh. We'll be filming down there on Monday night, oh hurrah.

Paul and Ian getting some lovely shots from halfway up the Minster.

I'm very excited about cracking on with the film and let's hope finishing it by this time next week. Tomorrow, one backyard and a hosepipe. To be continued...

Webcams are awesome...

...when one of your best and missed friends is halfway around the world... see Zomblog fans, Hannah's not dead, she's just hiding!

Also, I had this 'biscuit' the other day in a tea room. It's not a biscuit, it's a three-storey glory!

CrimeFighters Second Unit Shoot

Second Unit is all the stuff in a film that generally involves no actors and nothing much happening, but is essential to the film. Things like atmosphere shots of streets, sunsets, people, buildings and so forth.

In the case of CrimeFighters the Second Unit list consists of lots of shots from, and of, CCTV cameras around York, watching everything. So, lots of POV images of people milling about, landmarks, atmospheres. That's the easy stuff.

Here's Paul lining up a shot...

Nice view, huh? Rooftops are great, it's cool being on top of the world, so to speak, seeing your town from a different perspective.

Next week we'll be doing a few more complicated shots like a cutaway in a bookshop that isn't really in a bookshop, someone watching a TV image of footage we've already filmed, a few buildings and streets looking pretty/menacing/pretty menacing, and various other shots that are pretty dull but necessary.

Even in the pickups, which start next week, the shoot has become more about 'crossing shots off a list' than ever. It doesn't sound very creative but that comes in the way you shoot and cut these images together. And the jigsaw is gradually taking shape. But today was also cool because we got to work out new angles in scenes we haven't shot yet, so it all feels fresh and new, and I'm excited about making the film again.

CrimeFighters Teaser Posters.

For a while now I've wanted to do a series of character posters to advertise CrimeFighters, and they were so much fun to do I've started doing them for the crew as well, since they're all characters. More to come.

Compulsive Notebook Collecting & Inspiring Things

As you can see from the below picture, I collect notebooks. I don't know how to describe the feeling of buying a new notebook other than it feels like being really organised, but it also brings with it the idea that I might fill this one with amazing ideas that wipe the floor with all my previous ideas. Although TP suggests I should call it 'The Illusion of Control'. Him better with words than wot me am. That about sums it up, in fact that sums filmmaking up.


Sadly, it's just because I have a problem. The small black moleskine-esque notebook on the bottom right has been going since 2004 and is quite interesting as it contains notes for the first feature I was going to make but didn't (it was called ReInvention), then a road movie which became BandWagons, then ideas for Zomblog and also lots of short film ideas that haven't yet happened. There are storyboards and scribbles and promise and ideas and so forth. And it's still only half full after 5 years. The others aren't even close to half full. And yesterday I found myself craving another notebook, then got this little lot together and decided to start my own stationery shop.

Or, maybe not. I did decide to write a list of things that are currently inspiring me, as this kind of thing helps me to gather my thoughts and think about the creative process which I find endlessly fascinating.

Autumn
Brand new Notebooks (in case you weren't sure)
Swapping music and films with friends
Seeing two matinee films in the afternoon
Discovering a new band recommended by a friend
Change
Meeting new people
Falling in and out of love

Finished.

Writing: an emotional outlet.

There was a time when I was first writing scripts - about ten years ago - when I had never made a film, and had this vague, blurry notion about where all these writings would end up.

Then came the many scripts I would write that never made it anywhere, because they weren't ready, or because I had no idea about how to go about even starting making a film. And then once I had it in my mind that I was going to make a film, I was driven towards turning the words into reality. Which is how BandWagons got coughed into existence. I had made a start.

So on days like this, when I'm inspired by a rainy day and a good movie - (500) Days Of Summer - and a pretty face and all my friendships with girls, it's pretty amazing that when I sit down in a coffee shop to scribble a few pages of notes, I know that one day they WILL actually be made into a film. This one in particular is slated to be directed by Mr. Tall Paul, who's Director of Photography on CrimeFighters and has flattered me by asking me to write a short for him to direct next year. So I want to do a good job on it.

It's about a boy who has a lot of female friends but no romance in his life, and yes, could just perhaps be semi-autobiographical. It's a pretty amazing feeling, even when frustrated or lonely or sad or happy - or all these things at the same time - to have an outlet for it all. Yay writing. And yay all the great girls I know.

It's October!

And suddenly it's three weeks until CrimeFighters pickups, four weeks until the Zomblog finale on Hallowe'en, and I move house, and everything needs to be done. But it's okay, I like being busy.

Here are a few October deadlines:

9th: Rough screening of CrimeFighters for me and some of the crew.
15th: Foley and sound work for CrimeFighters, as well as 2nd Unit stuff like shots around town with no actors. All storyboards and prep done for the CFs pickups week.
20th: Zomblog Season 2 Finale edited and ready to test screen.
23rd: Pickups begin for CrimeFighters.
30th: LAST day of CrimeFighters, let's hope we get everything...
31st: Zomblog Hallowe'en screening plus Season 3 zombie footage at the York Zombie Walk.

Better get on with it, hadn't I...

;-)