Well it's actually more than just Dalston, but this is the final push. We have 5 days scheduled next week, in Dalston, Shoreditch, and Wanstead.
This includes all the first part of the story, starting with Paul, and how Claire comes to leave her. And we meet Sophie, Claire's friend. Here Paul meets Natalie, Claire's sister for the first time.
Do I think it will complete a week this Sunday? No, just that there will be enough to begin the edit and the end of September. In seeing this edits I am would be surprised that we don't decide that we need something more or something different. In principle though, this is it. I am finding the whole idea of finishing it rather frightening. While we were workshopping or as we had only shot this or that part it seemed that there were still possibilities. Now, thinking of completing the principle shooting we will have to make a decision. This is it.
More on this next week...
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wanstead - photos
Here they are, David's photos from the Wanstead shoot in August.
Starting with the production photos...
Claire arranges to meet Nick, ostensibly to tell him about Natalie.
In the middle of their relationship, they are out for breakfast one morning. He leaves her without telling her where he's going, suggesting he is seeing someone else. The truth is far more mundane.
They share an intimate moment one weekend morning.
It's all over, and Nick is at a loss for once.
Once it is all over, Claire has moment of realisation: she confirms to herself that she is alone.
She has the courage to enter the forest...
...and lays herself down.
And the us in action...
On Wanstead High Street at the Caesar Palace Cafe where Claire and Nick have breakfast.
And Hu and JC's view on the scene.
Here in the park across the street Beth applies some touches to Flora.
The Sunday morning in Epping Forest, Marc listens in on the scene.
Once the rain was done then we had the sun in our way. Hu tells me about the magic hour.
JC gives me a good talking to.
Sunday night the rain is done and we shoot the final shot of the middle segment, the iconic look. I have my eye to the camera (unusually) and we must have done 20 takes, and expect to redo this anyway, to get it right.
Starting with the production photos...
Claire arranges to meet Nick, ostensibly to tell him about Natalie.
In the middle of their relationship, they are out for breakfast one morning. He leaves her without telling her where he's going, suggesting he is seeing someone else. The truth is far more mundane.
They share an intimate moment one weekend morning.
It's all over, and Nick is at a loss for once.
Once it is all over, Claire has moment of realisation: she confirms to herself that she is alone.
She has the courage to enter the forest...
...and lays herself down.
And the us in action...
On Wanstead High Street at the Caesar Palace Cafe where Claire and Nick have breakfast.
And Hu and JC's view on the scene.
Here in the park across the street Beth applies some touches to Flora.
The Sunday morning in Epping Forest, Marc listens in on the scene.
Once the rain was done then we had the sun in our way. Hu tells me about the magic hour.
JC gives me a good talking to.
Sunday night the rain is done and we shoot the final shot of the middle segment, the iconic look. I have my eye to the camera (unusually) and we must have done 20 takes, and expect to redo this anyway, to get it right.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Wanstead/Dalston
So, another segment done. And it all went very well. Mostly the weather, where we managed to squeeze between Saturday, with its steady drizzle, and Tuesday, with it's torrential downpour. It was especially critical for Scene 33/34 in which Nick and Claire spend an idyllic day in the park. Now the other days I think I would have preferred them to be gray and dull, but there was nothing else for 33/34.
On Sunday night our luck ran out, at least temporarily. Up to that point we were ahead of the game, behind in some shots, then ahead in others. We spent the morning in Epping Forest, then the afternoon in Wantead. In the evening we returned to forest to film Scene 41/42, where Claire breaks with Nick, and then makes her way into the forest (that is the Scene 42). Now to me these scenes were critical and difficult at the same time. Here was where we planned to move the camera, as I said previously, not a small thing in a film where the camera is essentially static throughout. So we get in the cars and head back to the forest and there is downpour, a monsoon-effective rain burst. We are separated, a misunderstanding, and the only way to reconnect is to trudge about in the muck, through the downpour.
We managed to find each other but the rain did not look it was going to let itself up. What's more the ground was naturally soaking wet and Flora was required to lay herself down in the grass. Not pleasant. We considered postponing the whole Scene for the morning, but then a break. Suddenly the clouds broke and the sun came out. Everyone was happy except JC, who now thought there was too much sun. He had a point: it was meant to be dusk.
We managed nearly all of ours shots but one. This we returned for in the morning. The tilt and pan across the gray, slate sky.
The two critical shots were a pan from left to right, in which Claire enters the forest right to left. We thought moving the camera here was justified in that this moment was a breakthrough, where Claire has accepted that she is alone, and confronts her fear, in the forest. She enters, and lays herself down, looking up to the gray, slate sky, looking for an opening.
There is none. And in close-up, looking up at the sky, she contains all of this realisation in a look from the sky to the lense. She sees us and tells us.
The next afternoon we were in Wanstead again, this time at the Caesar Palace Cafe where we shot a breakfast meet between Claire and Nick. Ozbek and everyone at the cafe were so kind to us, as was everyone we met on the street. As is always the case in location shoots it always takes longer than you imagine, and why is that? One of the customer's in the cafe said, 'there is sure a lot of faffing about. No wonder it's so expensive'.
Later in the afternoon we shot the the continuation of this scene, where Claire spy's Nick waiting on the street for the bus. Now he was meant to leave her with as sense of mystery, which turns out to be a long wait for public transportation. She is disappointed that his act was nothing but a game so badly played.
Then finally the scene where they meet for the first time. This was Scene 26.
And we were done except for a nice dinner in the pub on the high street. We were missing a few shots, and Flora and I were certain we may end up re-shooting that final shot in Scene 42, but all a success. I dropped the film this morning and the lab should have it done tomorrow. And I met David and he passed his photos on to me already. So more to come.
On Sunday night our luck ran out, at least temporarily. Up to that point we were ahead of the game, behind in some shots, then ahead in others. We spent the morning in Epping Forest, then the afternoon in Wantead. In the evening we returned to forest to film Scene 41/42, where Claire breaks with Nick, and then makes her way into the forest (that is the Scene 42). Now to me these scenes were critical and difficult at the same time. Here was where we planned to move the camera, as I said previously, not a small thing in a film where the camera is essentially static throughout. So we get in the cars and head back to the forest and there is downpour, a monsoon-effective rain burst. We are separated, a misunderstanding, and the only way to reconnect is to trudge about in the muck, through the downpour.
We managed to find each other but the rain did not look it was going to let itself up. What's more the ground was naturally soaking wet and Flora was required to lay herself down in the grass. Not pleasant. We considered postponing the whole Scene for the morning, but then a break. Suddenly the clouds broke and the sun came out. Everyone was happy except JC, who now thought there was too much sun. He had a point: it was meant to be dusk.
We managed nearly all of ours shots but one. This we returned for in the morning. The tilt and pan across the gray, slate sky.
The two critical shots were a pan from left to right, in which Claire enters the forest right to left. We thought moving the camera here was justified in that this moment was a breakthrough, where Claire has accepted that she is alone, and confronts her fear, in the forest. She enters, and lays herself down, looking up to the gray, slate sky, looking for an opening.
There is none. And in close-up, looking up at the sky, she contains all of this realisation in a look from the sky to the lense. She sees us and tells us.
The next afternoon we were in Wanstead again, this time at the Caesar Palace Cafe where we shot a breakfast meet between Claire and Nick. Ozbek and everyone at the cafe were so kind to us, as was everyone we met on the street. As is always the case in location shoots it always takes longer than you imagine, and why is that? One of the customer's in the cafe said, 'there is sure a lot of faffing about. No wonder it's so expensive'.
Later in the afternoon we shot the the continuation of this scene, where Claire spy's Nick waiting on the street for the bus. Now he was meant to leave her with as sense of mystery, which turns out to be a long wait for public transportation. She is disappointed that his act was nothing but a game so badly played.
Then finally the scene where they meet for the first time. This was Scene 26.
And we were done except for a nice dinner in the pub on the high street. We were missing a few shots, and Flora and I were certain we may end up re-shooting that final shot in Scene 42, but all a success. I dropped the film this morning and the lab should have it done tomorrow. And I met David and he passed his photos on to me already. So more to come.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Pre-production - Wanstead
Just a quick update to say that we are now preparing to shoot in Wanstead this coming Sunday and Monday. This part of the story revolves around Nick and his first meetings with Claire, and then when they break up. There are some interesting scenes here, as they set up the Norway sequence. In one we are even planning to move the camera!
On Friday evening we are shooting Scene 13 and Scene 14. These are the scenes we did for the test back in April, but were unsuccessful due to street noise and a problem with one of the mags (the mag created a nasty scratch on the far right of the negative). So we are re-shooting these scenes indoors on Friday evening.
More to come...
On Friday evening we are shooting Scene 13 and Scene 14. These are the scenes we did for the test back in April, but were unsuccessful due to street noise and a problem with one of the mags (the mag created a nasty scratch on the far right of the negative). So we are re-shooting these scenes indoors on Friday evening.
More to come...
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