Memoirs of a Leading Man

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!

A Little Treat

Hi All


You'll notice that my posts have been conspicuous by their absence lately. To be honest that isn't likely to change any time soon. However I have a little treat for you all. I have taken some time out from the serious editing to...
...well to piss around for an evening. So here for your viewing pleasure is a selection of out-takes from the Little Things shoot.


My cast may not forgive me


Enjoy


Mark

Production day 2, a dogsbody's report.

In many ways the Sunday shoot was much smoother than the Saturday. Mark, in his Producer role, had arranged permission to film in the Y Pentan bar in Mold. I would like to make a special mention of the managers and staff of this establishment. We could not have had more support from friendlier people. In particular I’d like to thank the manager Simon.

Mark and I came to realise just how supportive and enthusiastic people can be when you try to put together an artistic project like this. If you live anywhere near Mold, please patronise this establishment, they deserve all the business this blog can rustle up for them.

As for the bar shoot itself, it was, in many ways, easier than the park. Sound and lighting were far more under our control and our romantic leads offered stunning performances on the day. My role on the Sunday was comprised of looking through the viewfinder and answering the question “Peter does this look good to you?” and panicking about the boom being in the frame. In our three hour shoot we got almost everything we needed from the pub interior, but faced the biggest setback we had all weekend. Our third actor, Richie, was sick and wasn’t sure he could make the shoot. We needed him for two shots outside the bar, but more importantly the pickups from the park shoot. This was, to shamelessly steal lines from Blackadder, “a twelve-story crisis with a magnificent entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24-hour portage, and an enormous sign on the roof, saying 'This Is a Large Crisis.'" Without the pickups of his lines for editing, all the footage involving him from the previous day would be essentially unusable

To describe the production as low budget would be an insult to every Bruce Campbell movie ever made. This is not a low budget project. This is a zero budget project. The equipment rental and insurance covered the shoot for this weekend and this weekend only. There was no option to reshoot at a later date. It needed to be in the can by Sunday night. With Richie’s health in an uncertain state, the understudy was called for his big break. (Guess who?) I genuinely thought I would have a heart attack. I haven’t acted since amateur productions in college and I wasn’t much good then. I spent ten minutes hyperventilating because I didn’t know the lines (no fun for a smoker I can guarantee) then the dreadful thought occurred; will Mark want me to mask my Irish accent? At this point I had a lie down under the bench. Thankfully for my sanity, health and dignity Richie managed to get himself to the park and we took the reshoots in under an hour.

With regard to the reshoot of my scene as an extra; my wardrobe choice that day was … ill advised. I was wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt (Julian from trailer park boys being my hero) but because I felt this may not look well on camera I borrowed Mark’s shirt (a couple of sizes too big and very light coloured) to wear over the clothes I had on. On camera this give gave the impression that I was wearing a leotard and off to teach a dance class.

We decamped and made our way back to Y Pentan to film Richie’s final scenes. Mark took these in a few takes and shooting on Little Things was wrapped. There is a long way to go before we have a finished product, there are some scenes with Chris[1] as yet unshot that may or may not be scrapped and then there’s the quick and easy editing process. Sorry, did I say quick and easy? I meant the other thing.

Finally on behalf of the cast and crew of Little Things I want to thank Mark from the bottom of our hearts for getting us to be part of his vision and wish him luck with this and all future productions, in which, I for one, wish to be as involved in as I can.

---

[1] Between the time of writing and publication these shots have been completed.

More From The Young Lad...

HEY ALL.

SEEING AS I AM UP TO UP TO MY FUCKING UVULA IN EDITING AT THE MOMENT I TURN OVER BLOG DUTIES AGAIN TO MY YET UNCREDITED YOUNGER BROTHER

ENJOY.... 

On Saturday the cast and crew met at Broc Glic HQ (also known as Mark and Rachel's house) at 8am.  everyone was dosed on caffeine (and in my case nicotine) and nervous as hell, but also really excited. The best thing about the weekend was how positive everyone felt and how committed they were to making Mark’s vision happen, but by God some of us (by which I mean me) were shit-scared of fucking it up for him. The initial plan was to have me do most of the camera work, but this ended up being scrapped for the sake of expediency (much to my relief in many ways). Saturday’s shoot started very positively, all the technical shots were done in the timeframe allocated and Mark seemed happy with the results. The performance shots on the other hand, were not so easy. Richie and Chris’s performance was top shelf and they had great chemistry on camera. However when viewing the rushes that night it became clear that the combination of improvised dialogue and shooting entire scenes of them together in one take didn’t work out. In the great director’s words, “we have gold and we have shit, often on the same fucking take”. When doing Sunday’s shoot schedule Mark made the decision to shoot tight front on shots of Chris and Richie acting certain of their lines for more cutaway options. It looks like this was successful but the editing process is the time when we’ll know for sure.

Conditions when we arrived at the park were adequate, but certainly not ideal. We had been hoping for a dry overcast day, but what we got was bright sunshine with broken cloud cover. The footage has not been reviewed in detail yet, but it looks like the light source and shadows will annihilate continuity on the park scenes. On the plus side Mark always prioritised performance over continuity and performance is one area where you will see no negativity from this quarter. Scenes involving extras, which required no dialogue, were more straightforward and successful, bar one. In one scene Richie’s character is required to leave the park bench where he is speaking to Chris, and bum a cigarette from a passerby. Despite the wonderful performance from a desperately handsome upcoming young actor with “smoldering Irish eyes” every take was totally unusable.  

MARK - STILL ON ABOUT THE SMOULDERING FUCKING EYES, JESUS, AMY WAS BEING NICE, WHAT SHE WAS TRYING TO SAY WAS THAT YOUR EYES LOOK LIKE PISS HOLES IN SNOW

This scene in particular taught us that for any future shoots we cannot rely on the viewfinder on the XL1 and we will have to get a monitor. In fact allow me to digress on this point The viewfinder on the XL1 is woefully inadequate, particularly for outdoor shoots. In some respects colours that seem subtle and muted can look washed out once the footage is imported, but more importantly as in the scene described above objects in shadow cannot be seen at all on the viewfinder but appear as clear as day once the footage is onscreen Case in point is the scene alluded to above where I appeared as an extra. On every single take not only was the boom pole visible, but so was the fucking soundman. For any burgeoning filmmaker who may be reading this please for the love of God buy, rent, beg borrow or steal a fucking monitor, particularly if you’re shooting outdoors. Also, if you plan to record sound directly to the camera, get a long cable for the cans so the soundman can stand far the fuck away.

After a long morning and afternoon of carrying and frankly standing around in the cold (everyone says this about every movie shoot but by Christ it’s true) the cast and crew got to leave for home with strict instructions to be back bright at early at our second location on Sunday morning. Mark at I retired to Broc Glic Towers to review our footage. Mark was not feeling massively positive due to the aforementioned setbacks about it and another newcomer’s mistake did nothing to dispel these feelings. Here I feel I can impart another piece of advice for new filmmakers. Never, fucking EVER review DV footage in windows media player. We genuinely believed we had nothing usable after seven hours shooting. After using a real piece of software to review the footage we realised that while we would have to visit the park for some pickups, we did have usable takes for the vast majority of the scenes shot on Saturday. That evening Mark and I went back to the drawing board for the Sunday shoot schedule. Knowing we would have to revisit our fist location and that the we had only 3 hours to get the bar scene shot before they opened we were far more ruthless (in truth most of the ruthlessness came from me with Mark’s head getting redder and redder) but a more realistic shoot schedule was written for Sunday at this point, beds beckoned.

Stay tuned for my report on day two of production.

A different perspective

I'D LIKE TO GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO THE FIRST INVADER TO MY HALLOWED DOMAIN, THE GUEST BLOGGER THAT IS MY BROTHER, PETER. WHAT FOLLOWS IS AN UNEDITED, UNCENSORED AND AN UNBURDENED WITH PUNCTUATION ACCOUNT OF, NOT JUST THE SHIT I'VE BEEN THROUGH, BUT THE SHIT I PUT OTHERS THROUGH THIS WEEKEND ON THE 'LITTLE THINGS' SHOOT.

" Well it was a hectic shoot, but we got it in the can. I should really start by stating my role in the production, and I would if it were at all clear. As the great director said in a previous post the only way to credit this one is with a Venn diagram. I'm lobbying hard for First Assistant Director and Executive Producer, it'll just look better on IMDB." (MARK: YOU'LL TAKE WHATEVER FECKIN' CREDIT YOU'RE GIVEN)

"Now, on to the weekend. I flew in at ridiculous o'clock on Friday morning, having slept somewhere in the region of three hours. This lack of sleep was to become a recurring theme for the weekend for both Mark and myself. Considering the shoot was Saturday and Sunday I expected a leisurely morning in Wales, followed by some light preparation work in the evening. This was my first mistake."

"Being as I am a pessimist there may appear to be some negativity in this post but since this was at least in part a learning experience I see no harm in that."

"Friday was spent hunting down props and catering supplies while my body begged me to have a little nap. When the afternoon came we took delivery of the rented equipment. Although Mark owns the camera (the rather excellent Canon XL1, watch 28 days later if you don’t believe me) there were a number of other pieces of equipment rented by Mark without which the shoot would have been impossible specifically an excellent tripod, condenser mic and boom and cables and adapters to connect the mic to the camera."

"The first, albeit minor setback was the lack of a microphone mount for the boom, although a trip to a local electronics shop and £6 solved this one.
As the evening wore on Mark and I sat down to do the shooting schedule for Saturday and Sunday. Mark had already painstakingly storyboarded the shoot, so we expected this to be a doddle and finished in twenty minutes. Big fucking mistake. After about half an hour of discussing how the hell we were going to do it (note, 10 minutes longer than we expected the whole thing to take) we decided to break up the schedule between technical shots and performance (note we have no idea if these terms are industry recognised, or even make sense to the readers of this blog, but that’s what we called them so I'll run with it now."

"The shots without dialogue seemed the logical place to start so that we could get accustomed to using the camera on location without having to think about sound or keeping the fucking boom out of shot (this proved to be a problem later.). As far as the schedule went the tech shots were easy, Mark knew what he wanted there, we grouped them by setup and got them on paper. The performance shots were... not so easy. From our (admittedly meagre) previous experience we knew that takes that seemed perfect on the day could be completely fucking unusable for reasons of lighting and sound among others. For this reason we initially discussed trying to get four good takes of every shot to provide more editing options. Mark wanted to shoot the dialogue scenes as one long take from different angles. This led to complications both for the schedule and during the shoot (more on this later. ) we worked out that to get four good takes the way he planned we would have to spend an hour and a half shooting these scenes, not including bad takes or setup time. Considering we were shooting outdoors using only natural light in practice we realised this would mean spending th better part of four hours shooting only these scenes, which would not be possible. Thus we compromised and broke up the scenes a little and satisfied ourselves with 3 good takes."

"Three hours after sitting down to our twenty minute task we were done for the night having only managed to write the schedule for day one. Lesson for the future, small simple jobs can balloon very fucking easily."

PETER IS TOO PROLIFIC JUST TO WRITE ONE POST. FUCKING WRITERS. MORE FRON HIM SOON.


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