YEAR IN REVIEW 2016 - MEGA CITY ONE EDITION PART 2

PART 2

July 2016. We started shooting. An intense 2 days where all the planning, ideas, etc collide. To me, the rehearsals and planning to the smallest detail meant everything. We had hours just talking about the characters, rehearsals to give an idea of the feel to the film, the visuals to give the ideas of the design, leading up to the shoot so everyone was on the same page. It helps immensely when you have to think fast, make changes, and answer questions.

Two 14 hour days. Little food (don’t worry, everyone else got fed) but some of the best memories of getting back onto a film set and creating. And it looks fucking good. While I'm sure everyone who worked on it felt like they could do better (you shouldn't be satisfied with anything) I can assure you they knocked it out of the park and I couldn’t ask for any more.

Absorb. Working on production for 6 months I needed to take a step back before diving into the edit. Truthfully, it felt daunting so I kept putting it off. I had to watch every take, listen to every sound take, then piece together the puzzle.

First thing that came to mind is re-writing the movie in the edit. Non-linear structure had to go. Reason? Straight away it needed focus on the main character. Also, the flashback structure felt old to me, clichéd. Additionally, the opening just didn’t fit, didn’t breathe. This was a struggle I've had with it - the ability to let the film breathe.

20 minutes. 13 minutes. As usual, the assembly edit is always longer. Everything went in to it but specifically the character breaks - the pauses between responses. When you have good actors delivery good performances, you don't really want to cut things down. So you find the go-between while trying to keep the essence of what makes the scene, the conflicts, work. This was the most important part of the edit as it’s the key to the whole thing. 

Some people may say it’s the action scenes sell it...well, they were, to put it bluntly, a piece of piss to edit.  You learn from everything you do. I think a big strong point of my editing, or even the way I shoot and storyboard, is that I know the components to make an action scene. Sure, the odd points of trying to find that shot you didn't quite get into a sequence is tough, but overall the music videos and shorts I've done in the past feel like they've gave me a good sense for action and cuts.

Music is the key. I always knew who I wanted to do the score for the film and got them involved straight away. It basically fits like hand to glove, but it wasn't plain sailing. The mix wasn't up to the composers standards and also took some unsupervised turns in tone. Basically going from a dark atmospheric mood piece to a Moby knock-off - yes, it sounds eclectic.  But it was all salvageable with a few quick sessions to beef up the gaps to create what I think is a unique score that has heart and theme - something I don’t feel most short films have.

So is it finished?  You'll have to wait. There's a few surprises to go before its ready. Am I happy?  Until I get a response...no. Content is probably a word I’d like to use as I don't think it’s a mess (harsh but fair). Would I do it again?  Of course. But with more help.

Go check out the trailer.

YEAR IN REVIEW 2016 - MEGA CITY ONE EDITION PART 1

Oh hello there. Bet you thought I decided to ditch the whole blog idea?  Not a chance.  Reason being?  It’s been a busy mofo of a year, so what better time to review the whole year and work load at the tail-end of 2016.

What you'll read is the attempt to get a short film made, festival runs, meetings, and I'll throw some films in at the same time. Hope you enjoy.

PART 1

So first thing first...my short movie.

December 2015. Application thrown in for the Creative England BFI Ishorts funding. Why not, hey? It’s free. Did I learn from the last time i did it? Nope. Did I try?  Yeah. I needed a producer, a bit of clout. But sadly, and not entirely their fault as they actually got the funding, it didn’t work out.

Well, time to basically put up or shut up. No one is going to just give you money to make your little flight of fancy, so why don't you do it yourself?

January 2016. Plan was in motion. Saving, planning, schedules, different avenues to go down. Crowdfund or not? Mindfield. So what you have to do is just listen to people. Lay out the plan, your problems, and where you want to go then listen to what people have to say. It’s then your informed decision. Whether it falls on its arse or not at least you listened and you made your decision. As this was happening I was still writing and refining the script. I was watching shorts, figuring what worked, what didn’t, and above all what I really like.

Tracks in place but I'm still building the train. I get writer friends to look at the script - genre fans and non-genre fans - just to get the feeling that the core ideas and themes worked. Script was non-linear too, a problem I felt that was down to the amount of information and character work within a short 10 minute time frame. But while doing this I was thinking two steps ahead. I needed visuals, pre-production material just to give people that idea of the project I'm was trying to do.

This then tumbled into a juggling act of re-writes, visuals, and locking down a location. My thinking was to lock a location then everything will fall around it as that is your safety net. It gives you an end game for your production, something people can free themselves to work on as you have that concrete date. 

Which leads down to casting. There’s only a general net you can cast with independent films, so unless you've got the money to get the talent you have to put the graft in. Luckily enough I happened to find people that were a cut-above what I thought I could even draw to the film, but the graft was still needed. I met every actor and talked to them about the project, what I wanted from it, and where I think it could go just so they could be heavily invested as much as I was. This is where your script, your vision, and your planning comes in as they're tangible aspects people can invest in.

The same applies to the crew. As this was a low budget affair, you have to get picky with who you want to get what you need. You also have to try and get the best people. As with the cast side of the production, I was lucky to get some amazingly talented people.  This was not without a few panic moments (3 make-up artists), but these things can be fixed with a bit of time, perseverance, and knowing what you want (the end game).

July 2016. We started shooting. 

TO BE CONTINUED.....