Last week was fairly relaxed. We’d wrapped a shoot on the previous Friday, and with three more shoot days looming, it was time to catch up and do some maintenance. I’d wanted to get the outdoor scenes shot during the summer, but time is running out, so I spent most of last week juggling schedules. I have a tentative plan for four more shoot days, although I’m still chasing up confirmations for locations and from actors.

On Monday, Julie conducted interviews with two of the cast, Gillian and Stewart. These went well, and we’re editing them now with a plan to post sound bites on Instagram and a fuller version of the interview online – YouTube or whatever else people use these days.

Thursday evening was supposed to be a rehearsal session. Lamb couldn’t make it, so Pat kindly offered to read in for Myra. Lucky she did, because Simon couldn’t make it either which meant Pat ended up covering for both Myra and Bob. To her credit, she pulled it off with gusto. Lots of vim and vigour for both.

One of the great joys about indie filmmaking is the sheer range of random jobs you end up doing. Sunday had me combing Brighton’s charity shops for T-shirts for Bob. I didn’t find what I wanted, but I can confirm that Brighton’s unwanted clothing stockpile includes a plethora of Hard Rock Cafe and Mickey Mouse T-shirts. I was seriously flagging by the time I reached London Road, when the Universe sent me a pep talk via a shop window: “You must be patient and persistent. Even if you meet difficulties and setbacks, you must overcome them”. Yes, indeed.

Later on Sunday, we had a good rehearsal with Lamb and Keaton. The scenes were fairly fresh, and one in particular, a crucial one, fell flat. We all agreed that it didn’t work, so I spent Sunday evening reworking the script. Hopefully I’ve nailed it – we’ll find out soon enough.

That’s it for now. The coming week’s shaping up to be quite hectic: three shoot days all in the same flat, which has to stand in for three different flats on screen. We really think it’s doable, but undoubtedly we’ll be very busy.