Pre-production and test

Pre-production work carries on .
On Saturday JC, Azahara, who is doing the art direction, and I visited our Natalie location in Holloway Road.
JC has come up with a concept for shooting the whole feature. There is an evolution as we move through the film, to the end in Norway. The first segments uses a faster, grainier film, 250D and the Norway sequence uses a much slower 160T. So as the film breaks open we will have gone from a less detailed, noisier look to a much more detailed, higher contrast, richer look in Norway. This evolution is also carried over into the lenses, which start longer, and then go wider in Norway. We are playing with positioning, go from straight on views of locations and rooms, to diagonals. This first part we owe to Ozu I am sure.
So at the location JC had his camera, and Azahara acted as our model. We went and did a photo storyboard of the location. This way JC could check his focal length, and I could see the sequence of shots. Azahara meanwhile got an idea of the location and what we might have to bring there.
Meanwhile Robert, a friend of mine who is acting as production manager, location manager, assistant director and everything else you can think of, is busy with all the thankless bits behind the scenes, like sourcing insurance and hot food.
And there is more. Tonight, if the rain holds off, we are shooting a stock test. This is the scene where Natalie returns to ask Claire to take care of her flat and includes two shots, one to Natalie in the street, and the other with Claire in the doorway. I have already blogged about this previously and so tonight, or rather in a few days when we get the results back from iLab we will see how this stock looks.
And the Natalie location is set for shooting May 10-12th.
More later on pre-production which involves a lot of shopping...

Pre-production update

I feel like this post is a list of excuses why I haven't written anything these past few weeks...
But so much has happened I have not taken the time to step back and take a look at it all.
So, we are in the process of securing a location for Natalie's flat. The plan is to shoot this over a long weekend in May. Setting a date, especially at a location where I will only have limited access tends to focus the mind. Suddenly JC and I have to stop debating and make some decisions.
We are thinking of shooting a 2:1 ratio, but of course we are concerned about the amount of grain, especially as we were planning to shoot a fairly fast film to dispense with as much lighting as possible. The only way to be certain is a test so we contacted i-lab in Soho (http://www.ilabuk.co.uk). Now they listened to us, suggested some options, and introduced us to the Fuji representative. They also made us tea, and didn't try to push us out the door.
So now it is up to us. We are planning to shoot a test scene with 250D and some other pieces with 160T.
I have finally opened up the project to sound and art direction. I met with Roland (Roland did the sound on my last film Reconciliation) on Monday last week and he began to throw out a bunch of different ideas, and went away very thoughtful, promising to come back with some more concrete suggestions.
Azahara has joined us to do the art direction. Of course there is not much of a budget and we have few options, so she has a tough job. The whole challenge is to find that one thing in each place, and since we are so limited by the aesthetics, this is all about the thinking.
Having to try to outline what I am doing, and having them both respond, and then having JC pitch in as well has helped me focus my ideas.
There is a lot more. I have begun to get ready for the Norway segment, which we are planning to shoot at the end of June.
All in all it has been a lot fun. It is so great to have more people feeding in ideas.

A location and a new script

Well, I have admit I am behind in posting but at least I have a good excuse.
Where do we stand?
In my last post I described this new script that I was developing and on Wednesday I completed it. I have sent it to all my principles for feedback.
What is it? The part that I have been work shopping since February becomes the second segment. The relationship (Paul) that Claire escapes from at the beginning of this segment now becomes the first segment. Her relationship with Paul provides some more context for what happens with Nick in the second segment. It also introduces us to both Sophie, the friend, and Natalie, her sister.
Following the second segment, the third segment takes Claire away from Britain to Norway (possibly). Why Norway? First, the landscape is removed from what she has seen in London in the first and second segments. It is remote, empty, a place where she could reconstruct herself without interference. What's more, she is also removed from language. Otherwise we could have set the third segment in Snowdonia or the Pennines. I don't think it would be the same. But there is more in this. She is removing herself from but at the same time this place is part of her past, where she and Natalie were brought as children by their parents for summer holidays.
So that's it.
I saw JC yesterday and he had a few criticisms. More work still needs to be done to establish both Nick and Natalie. I am planning to meet Flora and Katrine to get their feedback and develop it.
And what else? JC and I were out looking for locations for Natalie's flat and I think we are close to finding what we need. This is a new build flat, quite modern and large. There is no history in this place, so there is nothing impinging on the idea of reinventing yourself, as Claire wants to do. And Natalie would have no qualms about leaving such a place and starting over again.
There are a few problems in the space, such a lack of daylight in the living room in the morning, but no location is ever perfect.
It was a lot of fun finally seeing where the actual shooting might take place. Getting close...