Happy New Year to you all. For the first blog post of 2011 I have a real treat for you all. My guest blogger is none other that Mr. Chris Jones, the lead actor in Little Things.
Two things that you should know about Chris. Firstly he's a seriously good dude. Patient, funny and up for doing anything to make sure Little Things turned out as well as it could. What you will eventually see as the intro to the movie was a montage shot on a work day evening 4 days after the main shoot that I dropped on him last minute. Anyone else would have been feckin' livid with me for that one, not Chris, not only did he take it in his stride but he delivered a fantastic performance. Which leads me to the second thing you should know about him. Chris is an awesome actor. As the lead, Chris ended up getting the brunt of my "directing". What he delivered was the tentpole performance in the film, subtle but really enjoyable to watch. Leonard was a character that I came up with over a year before I met Chris, but when I occasionally look at the script now and see Leonard's words, it's Chris's voice I hear and his face I see. I couldn't imagine any one else playing Leonard. For that dude, I thank you.
Today is Chris's birthday (I knew that from Facebook, not from being a sensitive soul who remembers that stuff) so Happy B'day dude.
Mark
Well, this post may be “slightly” late, but now that pantomime is almost out of the way (oh yes it is, praise the Lord!) I can finally knuckle down and write my contribution to the infamous blog.
Having been involved in local theatre for many years, I was walking past the notice board one day when I spied a piece of paper upon which were the words ‘Actors wanted’. “Good luck with that” I thought and went about my business. It wasn’t until I ran out of gaffer tape one day that I stood awhile at that noticeboard, opening a new box of twenty-four rolls. Only this time, it grabbed my attention. “Why not? ... Find out more ... and see if Lisa would be interested as well.”
So I did find out more, obviously, or it would be a bit strange my typing this out now...
So, after a single call to Mark to have a quick look over the script and try to impress him with my vast array of previous films under my belt (ok, no films, and even no belt!), we met, like any other dodgy-looking dealers in a shadowy corner of Wetherspoons in Wrexham. We chatted – Lisa, Mark and myself – for a good while about his “vision” for the project and his reasons for finally wanting to see this ambitious undertaking through to fruition.
For his first short film, the first thing that struck me was that he had already got quite a long way down the road. He had spent obscene amounts of money on purchasing camera equipment and starting to pay legal and other red-tape fees. But he had also quite clearly spent a long time fine-tuning the script; getting opinions from various people and professional film buff type groups and organisations. So now he has this well-rounded and interesting short story that he’s had in his head for months, rigorously planned, meticulously written, scrupulously storyboarded. Which terrifies me. A lot. Maybe I should politely leave. But, he’s such a genuinely nice guy, and explains that he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing (in hindsight, he did definitely know – or so it seems!), so that we’d all be in it together. So after a partially semi-decent reading of the characters Leonard and Lisa (you have to guess which way round we auditioned), we were in (I’m sure I could hear noises. It could have been the traffic outside, it could have been the scraping of the bottom of a barrel, I’m not sure... but we were in). Richie had already been cast as Weaver at this point, and we knew him from previous theatrical performances.
I had been in the “Flint Street Nativity” before my writing and appearing in panto took place, so “rehearsals” took the form of a couple of meetings (in front of camera unfortunately – and please Mark – never let that footage get out – not even on the DVD extras!)
It was at this point that I realised that I was shit. Awful. Years of “playing to the back row” had not prepared me for pretending to be a normal, everyday individual. I had only played Princes, hostages, and comedy idiots with a tiny bit of Shakespeare and pantomime thrown in, so I’m surprised Mark didn’t abandon the whole thing right then and there. Lisa, for some reason, seemed to take to “telly acting” very well, which frustrated me, as I was really having to try hard to look like I wasn’t trying hard. Anyway, I learnt my words like a good boy (ish) and we were then kindly invited to a cast/crew meal at the Maison de Moynihan. Which is where we met, as well as Mark again, Peter and Rachel. Well, if I was going to be axed, at least I had had a very lovely meal (with starter and dessert included, making it a bit posh!) with a very lovely and sincere group of people. I couldn’t help think that perhaps the involvement they had with the film, that they would be better qualified to do these characters themselves... Anyway, as luck would have it, they stuck with us...!
And so came the day of the “shoot” (like I go to them all the time!) It was early. Very early. It was Mold, and it was cold. Bitterly. For the time of year anyway. The park location was a good choice. Relatively remote (for a town centre), but a bit nippy, and as we would discover later, annoyingly contrasted with too much light and shade around the chosen bench!
So after a cup of tea and with the camera rolling and the boom held high, the clapperboard signalled the start of the first shot. The order of the day was something of a blur, with many things being done many times from many angles. Which was kind of fun. Though my constant mental repeating of “less is more” meant that a large number of my takes were shockingly unusable shite. (I can still hear Mark’s words reverberating round my head!)
It’s now that I realise I should have written this blog post a lot sooner as most of my thoughts from the day are long gone! Of course, it could also be that it’s my birthday today and I’m stuck in the office with a load of cakes and Krispy Kreme doughnuts (not worth the money) that I brought in are sat right behind me, distracting me, calling me... excuse me a moment...
OK, now think back. (In case you were wondering, I opted this time for the simple Egg Custard). I seem to remember racing against the shadows to get all of the shots that Mark wanted. The whole thing was a most enjoyable and yet educational experience. I’ve always been more interested in the film-making process more than the films themselves, always finding the DVD extras and accompanying websites about technical details and all the right jargon far more engaging than the story all of these people were trying so hard to portray! So to be in amongst it, even at this “independent short film” level was exciting and memorable (though, as I say, the exact order of events has been removed from my ever-dwindling memory). We wrapped when we’d run out of light and feeling absolutely knackered, we all went our separate
ways (possibly to a panto rehearsal in my case, I can’t remember!)
The next day had another early start, at the pub in Mold. I’m not a morning person. Enough said. However, after eventually finding our way inside and after the setup, I think I actually resembled something vaguely human, so we rolled on the “meeting at the bar” scene with Lisa and myself. Again, Lisa had no problems. But could I get my hands to go where I wanted them? Could I remember my sodding lines? Could I do anything that even a chimp could do better than me right now?! No. After about a zillion and seven
takes, we had it in the can. More or less. Just needed the pickup shots from yesterday when the continuity of the light (and some shocking performances or ad-libbing had cost Mark a decent take!) forced us to re-shoot in the park. Luckily this time, we knew what we were doing, more or less, and after a poorly-sick Richie managed to get to the park, we finished on schedule, just
about!
Richie had done much more film work and is a proper actor and everything. I had to “get a proper job” after leaving uni, so all I had to draw on was my years of playing the fool in a small theatre in Wrexham. I have to say though, that it was a joy to play against him. I think I was able to emulate, at least partially, some of the more natural screen-acting that he had mastered long before me! So thanks for that! He’s also just a nice guy, and we had a good laugh over the few days we were filming.
And that was that. Apart from a brief look at some of the raw footage (rushes? Dailies?! I don’t know!) back at Broc Glic Manor (spelling?) – in which I remembered that I hate watching myself (I don’t mind hearing myself back as I used to do a bit of radio with BBC Wales and spent hours listening to my own voice in editing, and I presented a few shows for Calon FM – the community radio station in Wrexham – not forgetting my one line in a Radio 4 drama!) – but watching my abysmal “performance” made me feel slightly sick. As Michael McIntyre often points out, I notice that when in direct sunlight, I also look a bit like a Chinese man. And not a particularly good-looking one, so close-ups of that nature made me question why I had got involved in the film in the first place. I didn’t want Mark’s “baby” to be ruined by my appalling contribution. However, with some encouraging words, I felt some slight relief. And that’s where I left it.
I have been following the blog, and watched the outtake reel (damn it man! )... but I look forward to seeing the final edit after all the post-production and scoring have taken place. Maybe then I will feel better about me being in it! And after this blog, I believe Mark and I now have an unwritten but binding agreement that I may now see it!
My sincere thanks to Mark and everyone else involved. It truly was an unforgettable experience and I am proud and humbled to be a small part of it. I hope it turns out the way he imagined it would, and I am pleased to consider the whole gang, especially the Moynihans, as some new and good friends.
I remember from school that I always wrote about five or six concluding paragraphs saying the same thing as I have difficulty ending things! So I won’t make that mistake here.
Or will I?! I often like to end with a penultimate final paragraph and then a final one.
So this is the final one. Do I re-read this or do I now get on with some work whilst having a doughnut?! The latter – so I apologise for any hitherto typos, errors and omissions...
Done. Now this is the final paragraph... God, I need to get out more! On behalf of Lisa and myself – a final thank you!
well written and interesting!
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