After a long, tiring day filming in the office on Sunday, we kicked off last week on Monday by prepping a house in Seaford. Angela, Nicky and I spent hours arranging furniture and props, getting everything ready for the shoot on Tuesday. We’d noticed that the garden looked stunning in the morning light, so we were hopeful for some great shots outside.
When we arrived on Tuesday it was raining, so we began with the interior scenes featuring Pat Garret and Angela Elise Munnoch. This was the first time both actors appeared in the film, although Angela has been working as the Assistant Director on most of the previous scenes. We certainly missed her AD skills, but both she and Pat gave really strong performances.
After Sunday’s office scenes, I’d assumed the house shoot would be a bit more relaxed and straightforward, especially with only three actors. How wrong was I? Lighting and framing the shots inside the house took far longer, maybe because we were aiming for more emotional depth. By 2pm we were still filming, so we broke for lunch before continuing with the interior scenes.
David Burton had been waiting patiently all day for his debut, but by 5pm we still hadn’t wrapped the interior scenes. So, I made the call to reschedule the garden scenes for another day. We finished up by capturing some nice B-roll of Pat and David strolling through the garden. Angela and I then prepped for a flashback scene with Isabella and Stephanie, both of whom gave excellent performances.
The rest of the week was mostly admin – scheduling and tinkering with Davinci Resolve 20 on my new editing PC. The old Apple screen I’d been using with my previous setup proved to be a bit antiquated, so I ordered a new 34-inch ultra-wide screen. Wow! What a difference! I was a bit concerned about the sound in some scenes, especially the one near Shoreham Port, where the noise from the ships was very noticeable. Plus, we’d been getting a strange crackling from the radio mics on some office recordings. I’ve had some success reducing background noise already, but the port recordings were still truly appalling… until I noticed a new button named “AI voice isolation”. Blimey! It’s like magic!
I also had a play with with colour grading and grabbed a few stills for promotional material. It’s all looking really promising.
Our next shoot is Friday, back at the house, and we’ve got a few days lined up in a flat in Brighton in a couple of weeks time. And we’re also very close to finalising our new Morgan character.
About a week ago, you might remember that I finally received all the components for a new video editing PC – more powerful than Herr Flick’s Binoculars. You may also recall that the power cables turned out to be too short, rendering the whole thing a bit useless. Thankfully, Bill came round last week with new cables and assembled the beast. It now sits quietly simmering under my desk and, after installing Davinci Resolve 20 and loading it up with all the footage we’ve recorded so far, it’s proving more than capable of handling the job.
Saturday was spent running around like a blue-arsed fly in preparation for Sunday’s shoot, which took place in a set of offices in Kemp Town. We’d rigged the place to look like a call centre and brought in 16 supporting artists to chatter away whilst wearing headsets. They all did a brilliant job, as did the main cast. We also shot a few scenes in the meeting rooms – slightly easier to manage logistically, but still pretty full-on for the actors. Sunday’s shoot for Automatic featured Lamb Bennett, Lucy Mabbitt, Jamie Langlands, Simon Willshire, Sam Stones and Gosia Stewart, all of whom delivered excellent performances.
Many thanks to Mark Tournoff, Andrew Cawdery, Tom Waterton-Smith and Julie Russell for organising props and coordinating the supporting artists. We couldn’t have done it without you. And a special shout-out to Bobby, Gosia’s friend’s dog who, all things considered, kept remarkably quiet during takes.
Next up: the “House” scenes on Tuesday 29th July, so we’ve had a busy Monday preparing.
The automation of society continues apace. The following is from The Economist, 5th July 2025.
(Chinese) “State planners regard data as a factor of production, alongside labour, capital and land. They want to avoid it being hoarded inside companies and make it available for widespread use. Local governments have built data exchanges to allow it to be monetised and traded between state agencies, state-owned enterprises and China’s private companies. In Shenzhen, a tech hub in China’s south, firms can buy data on how consumers use power from the national grid, for example. A national data exchange is in the works. And in June the country’s State Council, China’s cabinet, announced rules to prevent data being siloed by competing government departments.”
Last week……..last week? What did we do last week? Honestly, not much. I took a brief holiday and fretted about casting, extras, continuity and, of course, cash.
But before leaving, I dropped off some artwork in north London at Old Marine Arts Group , which combines an art gallery and a tattoo studio in Muswell Hill. Yes, indeed, not only can I write with a pen, but I can also draw! A true Renaissance Man, if I say so myself – (and I do).
The pieces on display are prints of drawings I’ve created over the past few years, starting around the same time as COVID hit. Though to be clear, correlation does not imply causation. Now, at long last, my drawings can be seen by the masses, and I’m waiting to see if I’ll receive a tumult of publicity or complacent disinterest. You can help decide by visiting Muswell Hill and grabbing the chance to bag a print before they sell out, and maybe treating yourself to a tattoo whilst you’re at it.
Looking ahead, next week brings rehearsals and two shoot days: one in a flat, the other back in the offices again. Lights, cameras and actions so probably more challenges.
No filming this week but the hunt was on for a new actor to play Morgan. When we first cast Morgan, we had maybe two or three applications at most. This time round, we’ve got 15 names in the mix – and 11 have expressed interest. This week, Angela and I held Zoom auditions with five of them. All five are solid contenders, so now comes the tricky part: choosing the one who fits best.
On Wednesday, I went to an open day of sorts at a green screen studio called Masterwork, based in Hove. I’ve been to green screen setups before, but this one is pretty special. The team there has really paid attention to detail and has some fantastic kit. Essentially, they can drop anyone standing against the green screen into a background generated by Unreal Engine. The environment they’d set up was a Roman street, and the illusion was perfect. What really impressed me was how the system synced the depth of field from the virtual camera in Unreal Engine with the aperture on the physical camera, ensuring that the virtual and real matched seamlessly. Very clever stuff.
Once again, a large part of the week was swallowed up by organisation. We’ve got the Call Centre scenes coming up later this month, so I’ve been scheduling rehearsals as well as organising props and extras. We’ve also got four scenes that are essentially Zoom calls, and I’d hoped to get those sorted before we temporarily lose Kat de Leiroos to another production. This proved awkward, but we did at least manage to lock in Kat’s scene; the other three will have to wait.
On Friday, the DOP & sound guy sent over the media from the previous shots. I’ve had a quick scan through it on my old creaking laptop and it looks fine so far, but I can’t really spend time on it until the new machine is up and running. Currently, it’s lying in bits on my dining room table, including the 8 TB internal drive I ordered last week. Bill popped round on Friday to start assembling it. Started, but didn’t finish as the internal power cables are too short! As I think I mentioned before, one of the constant themes of filmmaking seems to be pettifogging, nitpicking, fucking frustrations – and that was just the latest in a long line.
Not much happening next week as I have a few days off. Probably for the best.
On Saturday, we had access to some offices in Brighton and we planned to shoot several scenes over a few “film days”. Angela was busy sorting out the wardrobe stuff, while I made sure all the props were ready.
Scheduling’s been a bit of a headache – there are so many actors involved, and most have other commitments. Then on Thursday, Jonathan Hansler, who was set to play Morgan, told us he wouldn’t be able to make the shoot when we needed him. This is a great shame, especially since he was perfect for the part in rehearsals. We were supposed to start filming his scenes on Saturday, so at least he let us know in advance. But that meant I had to scramble around to find someone else at short notice. Thankfully, loads of people got in touch – huge thanks to everyone. If I haven’t replied yet, I’ll get back to you next week and start scheduling auditions.
On Thursday night, I thought about bringing in a replacement for Saturday but after sleeping on it, I realised this was unrealistic and I’d have to rejig the schedule. Luckily, Oliver Sebastian was free and agreed to cover a couple of scenes at short notice.
By Friday afternoon, after the dust settled, I drove over to Worthing to pick up some kit and felt a bit down about losing Jonathan. When I originally wrote the part, Morgan was just a character in my head, but after working with Jonathan, I started to picture Morgan as him – or maybe the other way round. It’s strange, now that Jonathan’s gone, Morgan feels a bit blurred again, but I’m sure this will change once we cast someone new. I’ll just press on anyway, because one thing I’ve learned from making films is that things rarely go to plan: flexibility is key.
I sent out updated call sheets on Friday, and on Saturday morning, we all met up at the Brighton offices to start shooting. We kicked off with scenes featuring Stewart James Barham and Gillian Fischer, both giving such spookily realistic performances that I felt that I really was back in the corporate world. Then we moved on to scenes with Stewart and Keaton, with Morgan doing some fantastic camera work, Jimmy King pulling focus, and me doing a splendid job of tapping Jimmy’s shoulder to signal focus pulls ….. a simple routine that seemed to work well.
By 5pm, we were ready for the last two scenes with Keaton and Oliver. These were the ones they hadn’t fully prepared for, and the dialogue was dense and technical. They’d spent Friday “smashing their lines”, which apparently means repeating them over and over again till they stick. They both did a fine job, drying only occasionally. Considering the complexity of the text, this was brilliant work, which became even better as we progressed. We kept the camera and sound rolling, prompting the lines, or going back a line or two, then carrying on. The scenes had a lot of back-and-forth, so with plenty of takes and good coverage, I’m confident we’ll piece it all together.
Huge thanks to everyone for a fantastic day and especially Mark Tournoff for providing access to the offices and Andrew Cawdery, who did a sterling job on “digital props”, IT support and setting up and restoring the rooms after we finished.
Our next shoot is scheduled for 27th July, though I’m still trying to fit in more scenes. Next week’s big task? Finding a new Morgan.
Last week, we actually made great progress on scheduling, and we now have seven dates in the calendar, including the house scene. Digital props, thanks to Andrew’s help, are now largely under control and should be ready for the relevant scenes. Corporate promotional material has arrived, as have all the components for the editing machine I have the pleasure of building. Yes, yes, all very productive – but the main success of last week was finally breaking the ice on filming.
On Sunday, Angela and Lamb arrived about 1pm and did a great job planning the clothes for Lamb’s scenes. Then off to a car park near Steyning for 4pm to begin the modest task of climbing the South Downs. I’ve done this many times before – it’s hard work but doable, though I don’t think any of us properly considered what it would be like hauling a trolley full of heavy filming kit up there. Turns out: awful.
There were moments when I genuinely started to question the wisdom of our location choice. But largely thanks to Morgan and Andrew (with some help from me and Angela), we made it to the top. To be fair, the view was stunning. So yes, we did the right thing.
We spent about three hours filming up there, during which time the actors wore a visible groove in the grass with all the walking.
Then, about 7pm, we headed down into Steyning for some more filming along a lane at the base of the Downs, just as the sun was dropping low and throwing some great light through the trees. Genuinely beautiful – I think we have some fantastic shots.
We paused in a car park for refreshments while we waited for darkness to fall. Steyning, as it turns out, is exceptionally well-stocked with car parks. With five cars between us, we did a lot of pausing in them, which quickly became a running joke.
As the street lights started coming on, we resumed filming in the town itself, finishing inevitably in yet another car park around midnight. By that point, I was thoroughly exhausted and I assume everyone else was too.
I could’ve done with Monday off, obviously, but we’d already planned another shoot in Shoreham. At 9:30am, we went with a minimal cast and crew – just me, Lamb and Keaton to shoot a short scene near the port. One thing we’ve learned, which should’ve been bleeding obvious months ago, is that ports are extremely noisy places. Bloody ships’ engines, reversing alarms, beeping forklifts, and what sounded suspiciously like a pneumatic drill decorated our audio recordings.
Since then, I’ve downloaded the footage onto my laptop and had a quick go at the sound. Some of it might be salvageable, but I’ll need to wait until my fantastic new mega PC is up and running to properly clean it up.
In other news, we’ve got another shoot lined up for Saturday. Should be easier – allegedly. Though let’s be honest, we’ll probably just swap hills and shipping containers with some pettifogging office irritants (POIs). Watch this space.
The main objective this week is to get all props, digital and physical, ready for Saturday and to prep the office environment, which until recently, has been used as a storage area.
Sunday was hard work, but it felt fantastic to finally stop talking about filming and actually do some. I think it was especially valuable for the two lead actors – they’re really beginning to settle into their characters now.
This filmmaking lark is becoming a blur. What did we get done last week? Right – Wednesday! Angela and I visited the House to mull over blocking and how best to dress the rooms. By “dress”, I mean “try to make it look like real people live there and not like a film crew’s invaded”.
We also met our 16-year-old Esther and ran through the short flashback scene with her. She’s brilliant and has a great grasp of the script, which is very reassuring.
Two rounds of online rehearsals took place this week, which I have to say went incredibly well. It’s almost surreal watching the script that I’ve laboured over for more than a year starting to come to life.
On the tech front, there’s the editing set-up saga. When I first got into this, I was editing on an Alienware R3 laptop using Adobe Premier. Then I picked up a Blackmagic camera, ditched Premier and moved to the excellent Davinci Resolve. Although that worked well, my Alienware struggles to handle anything fancy, and Microsoft has now declared that my machine is officially obsolete. The battery’s been dead for years, and since it couldn’t cope with the newer version of Resolve, I’ve bitten the bullet and started building a new PC. With expert guidance from Bill, I’ve ordered numerous parts, and boxes are arriving. I can’t wait to get it all set up and hopefully running Resolve like a dream, compared to the old brick I was using before.
I’ve also solved the logistics puzzle of shooting scenes with Zoom or Teams calls in them. It turns out the solution was quite simple: actors working from home, like everyone else! I did a quick shoot on Saturday to get some “prop” shots that we’ll use in the real shoots. I’m nearly ready to schedule the Zoom scenes properly now.
Oh – and I’ve successfully faked a Zoom call using the new Google Veo AI Flow or FlowState or whatever it’s bloody called, which is clever. I’ve also co-designed and ordered a couple of fake posters with the help of my arty friend, TomCatTatt.
Another week, another bout of frustration, but looking back, progress was probably made, and I suppose stuff sort of got done – somehow.
Last week, I was panicking about how to film computer screens without getting that frustrating flicker effect, so on Monday, I headed over to our main office location to do some testing. Thankfully, it all went smoothly. No screen flicker, no weird interference, so we might be alright on that front. Fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, I’ve been liaising with a guy on Fiverr to produce some CGI for the film. It turns out that my original idea for the computer game was a bit overambitious and would be eye-wateringly expensive to create if it had to be done from scratch. After a bit of brainstorming, we landed on a new look for the game sequence, which I think works better and integrates more easily into the main story. I won’t reveal the details yet, partly because I haven’t told the actors and I need to revise the script. So, I’ve now agreed on a Scope of Works and placed the order with Fiverr. It is reputable, isn’t it? … Fiverr? … They’re reliable … aren’t they?
On the tech front, I signed up for a Google AI thing. Fuck knows what it’s actually called. Something or other: Gemini? Veo? The video’s produced are promising but Google’s presentation of it’s AI products seems to be…. hmmm… what’s that word? Crap? Yes, crap. I haven’t got the faintest clue what I’ve signed up for.
One overlooked aspect of new tech is unintended consequences and one unintended consequence of Google entering the AI market is making more work for ChatGPT in explaining how the fuck Google AI works. Seriously! I asked Gemini to explain what all it’s products did and it burbled on about Veo2, Veo3, Flux, Whisk,Flo and, bizarrely, Flo Period & Pregnancy Tracker! Yep, thanks for all that Gemini but I’ll stick to my trusty old-fashioned steam-powered ChatGPT.
Logistics-wise, I’ve been wrangling with how to shoot Zoom/Teams calls. I think I’ve finally cracked it – or at least have the seeds of a plan. By next week, I should definitely have an actual plan.
And speaking of next week: Angela and I will be visiting our ‘house set’ to start dressing it, so we can start scheduling some of the simpler scenes. We’ve also got a tentative green light for a fourth shoot day in July, which should help.
Still no actual filming yet. Our first shoot is planned for 29th June, which is approaching more quickly than I care to think about right now. Naturally, I’ve started panicking about rehearsals. I probably should have sorted those earlier, but – and I can’t stress this enough – I don’t know what I’m doing, so it’s all a learning process.
One of the themes of this film is an deep suspicion of “process”, of the way everything’s become standardised and proceduralised and saturated in corporate bollocks, including Hollywood film-making which is why I think it’s all such shit. But, after this week, I admit: I’ve started to see why people love a good formal process in filmmaking. Doing everything for the first time is “challenging” – and there I am, starting to use this fucking corporate newspeak. Then again, maybe that’s the point. Maybe, if you don’t follow the formula and feel your way, you make something genuinely original and worthwhile, rather than ending up with Star Wars episode fucking 93.
By Friday afternoon, I was thinking that I could relax and unwind a bit. Then it started. DRUMS – along Hove Promenade, no less. The council, in its infinite wisdom, has apparently privatised the promenade for the weekend, and some bloody musical event has already started. A few weeks ago, I received a note through the door from some bureaucratic apparatchik “advising” me of “forthcoming music events” that will be “ongoing” on Hove Lawns with “unavoidable noise disturbance”. However, the unidentified author claimed to be “working closely” with the council to ensure that any “potentially negative consequences are mitigated or avoided”. The Woodstock organisers must be vomiting in their graves.
You see?!!! – Do you get it now?! Even in Brighton, we have been so comprehensively indoctrinated with ‘corporate culture’ that the organisers of fucking music festivals speak like lawyers and are capable of writing pages of A4 in such abstract terms that they say precisely NOTHING!
Last week was stressful. The week before that, I’d hoped to get some filming scheduled – but I didn’t – so last week became the “right, let’s definitely get something in the diary” week. That was the plan, but as ever, the spectre of technology raised its ugly head.
Several scenes involve Zoom calls, and I had a grim realisation: people are supposed to be looking at screens in those scenes, so I probably need something actually on the screen. Realism and all that! Imagine a scene with four people having a conversation over Zoom. How exactly do I shoot that? Ideally, I’d have a film crew at each location, with two cameras per actor – one on their face and one on the screen.
HELLO! This is a micro-budget film. Worse still, there are five of these screen-heavy scenes. Five! Then, just as I was absorbing that, I remembered something else: filming screens is a technical nightmare. Flickering, refresh rates and other stuff to ruin my day. I spoke to the camera guys who explained things like shutter angle, frames per second and mains electricity frequencies. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, I remembered the computer game sequence and realised there’d be similar issues with this.
By Wednesday, my brain was ready to explode. Originally, I’d planned to shoot the office scenes first “to break the back of it”, as they say. That idea was abandoned swiftly in favour of shooting some outdoor scenes. I reasoned that if I could at least get those scheduled, the actors can prepare while I work out the screen-based technical issues. Even that turned out to be more difficult than expected, but by Friday, I’d managed to send out some scheduling emails for three scenes.
To my relief, after sending out a couple of those, I calmed down a bit, and it dawned on me that maybe some of the scenes weren’t going to be quite as challenging as I’d feared.
We’re not out of the woods yet, but I can see a way ahead. This Monday, I’m off to the main office location to run some tests with screens and cameras. If that goes well, I’ll feel more confident locking in the office scenes. I’ve also spoken to some gamers, including a guy on Fiverr, and I’m hoping the game sequences can be handled without too much hassle after all. Fingers crossed!
It was a hectic week last week, but it feels like I achieved very little. I brought in an “agent” up in Essex who’s been doing some location scouting and managed to get some shots of our truck, so the truck sequences are shaping up quite nicely.
Angela did some more work on wardrobe, and I tidied up the script, finally getting a locked version out to the actors on Friday so they can start learning their lines. However, I’ve come to realise something about actors that hadn’t occurred to me before. They don’t just learn all their lines in one go. They actually need to know when each scene is being shot so they can focus on learning the relevant bits. Bleeding obvious really. Because of that, setting some shooting dates has become the top priority.
This is proving trickier than I expected. First, I need to compile the availability for actors, crew and locations. I’d already started pulling this together into a spreadsheet, but with 18 actors, at least five crew and around six extras, figuring out which scenes can shoot on which dates is a somewhat daunting task. Then I remembered we’ve got scenes involving Zoom calls or video sequences, and somehow these need to be sorted before the main filming. There are loads of dependencies and, to be honest, it’s a bit daunting.
So, in 2025, what do we do when something feels daunting? We hand it over to AI, of course. With ChatGPT’s help, I’ve written some code that should be able to work out the first available date when the necessary actors, crew and location are all free for specific scenes. It’s also becoming clear that most of the complicated video stuff is all happening on one shoot day, so I’m going to start with the easier bits.
I’m still collecting availability info and there’s plenty of other stuff to think about – like props – but I’m hoping that this week we can lock in some shoot dates, which should help focus everyone’s attention.
This week’s main focus was on updating the script. There were a few plot wrinkles that needed ironing out, and I think I’ve managed to sort them. I sent the updated version to a few people for feedback – the general response has been positive, which is a relief. I’m still waiting for one reviewer’s comments, but overall it looks like we’re nearly there.
On the truck front, I’ve been chasing the owner for photos but haven’t had any luck with that yet. I really want to see what we’re working with so I can tweak the script if necessary. Plus, I’m keen to start experimenting with some CGI ideas that might include footage of the truck, so visuals would definitely help.
I also had a meeting with the manager of the cafe we’re hoping to use as a location. He said he’s hopeful he can let us hire it over the Brighton Pride weekend. That’s not until August, but it would be good because we’d have a couple of full days to film rather than only being able to shoot after 6pm when the cafe closes.
Angela and I visited Gladrags to rummage through their costume collection. They’ve got loads of stuff – a lot of period style and some edging into fancy dress territory, but also some great historic props. I hunted through a bunch of Brighton charity shops too, and there’s a decent chance we can source some outfits there, though it would have been much more efficient if I’d thought to get the actors’ sizes first. Lesson learnt – so much to think about!
So, no massive wins this week, but I feel that getting the script almost ready to lock is solid progress. Once that’s finalised, the actors can start learning their lines. Next step – scheduling rehearsals.
We’re still in preproduction for “Automatic”, and last week was all about keeping the wheels turning – literally and figuratively. The to-do list included meeting with the actors, finding a truck and tracking down a handful of filming locations. Almost all of that got done.
Most importantly: WE HAVE THE TRUCK!
I already had an informal agreement with a friend of a friend a few weeks ago – it had sounded promising, but nothing was firmed up. Last week, I spoke with the chap who manages the trucks, and we’ve got an agreement. The truck’s up near Stansted Airport and, even better, I’ve got confirmation from the female driver who’ll stand in for Myra, our trucker character.
I’d assumed filming at a petrol station would be a bit of a headache, but after a bit of digging online and a few exploratory phone calls, I got lucky. The owner of a place near Brighton gave us the green light, so I’m heading there this week to check it out in person.
Then there was the cafe. I spent the first part of last week walking around Hove looking for something that worked, but nothing looked quite right. Then on Thursday, I met up with my regular sketching group and realised that the cafe where we always meet is perfect. It was right under my nose all the time!
I needed a clean, tidy flat for Esther for my final location. I’d had one offer, but the place didn’t feel right; it had the wrong vibe. The view from the window felt too cheerful and bright. What we really need is a feeling of more existential gloom. But on Sunday evening, as luck would have it, a friend suggested a walk to Shoreham. We wandered, chatted, ate ice cream, then took the excellent 700 bus back to Hove. Just I was approaching my flat, I met a friend who happens to have the perfect location. She instantly offered to lend it to us for filming. So that’s it. We have all the locations. I’m not saying exactly where yet – I don’t want to jinx anything.
For the actor meetings, I’d grouped them by relationships to help explore dynamics. One session was with the two directors, another with the grandparents. Poor Konrad’s had three separate meetings: one for his relationship with his mother, one for his colleagues and one for his girlfriend.
The meetings were incredible. I hadn’t realised how much background work actors do. They create whole personal histories for their characters, explaining their personalities, life choices and their relationships within the film. It’s been a real eye-opener and led to some great conversations about the script.
It turns out that a few sections of the script need tweaking. It’s already evolved a lot over the past year, so I’m holding off on more changes until the practical stuff, logistics, locations, etc., is nailed down. For now, I’m making notes and saving them for one final rewrite. That’ll be coming soon; after that, we’ll lock the script.
We also touched on costume ideas during the actor meetings, and next week Angela (our casting associate) and I are heading to Gladrags to see what we can find to hire.
Coming next: I’ve got to finalise the truck and cafe bookings, do some double-checking, and tie up a few administrative loose ends. Then it’s on to the final rewrite and sorting the filming schedule.
Filmmaking is a strange occupation. When I was writing the script, some weeks I’d write only a few paragraphs, yet I felt like I’d made real progress. Other times, I’d write pages and feel stuck. Now I’m in pre-production and it’s much the same. Last week I felt busy, but did I actually move forward? It’s hard to say.
I’ve been meeting with actors to talk through their characters and how they connect with each other. Some meetings are one-to-one, others are in small groups, especially when the relationships matter to the story. For example, the IT Director and Finance Manager have worked together for a while so have a longstanding friendship. But the new CEO? No one’s quite sure where he fits in yet. He’s a dark horse, so that’s still a bit of a mystery.
I’ve also been out and about location hunting. While wandering around Moulsecoomb, I found a great public space that screams plain, structured conformity, which may be perfect for the tone I want to set. I’ll go back at night to see how it feels in the dark. I also tracked down some good office spaces, a fantastic corporate café, and what seemed like an almost perfect flat. But the cafe isn’t available until later in the year, and the flat, great in some ways, has a huge window looking over a beautiful harbour with expensive sailing boats. Not exactly soul-crushing monotony. GREEN SCREEN? Yes, yes, yes! I’m exploring this as a solution.
I have also engaged someone to help with social media. Julie Russell has a background in clinical microbiology and now runs a tattoo studio in Muswell Hill, so is ideally placed to shape my scattered thoughts into something presentable to the general public. (NOTE: she’s barely started yet!!)
So, writing all this out, I actually feel a bit better. It seems I did get more done last week than I thought.
This week’s to-do list: Agree the flat, confirm the truck, secure the café, and find a petrol station.
I have a script, I have some actors, I have some locations… hmm…. I’m ready to make a film… I just have this niggling feeling that I have forgotten something… something important….. script… actors…. DoP!!!! Of course. Someone to shoot it! Someone to handle the camera and the lights. Someone to twist the knobs, press the buttons and talk about depth of field. Someone to film the bloody thing!
In previous films I’ve worked with Bill Mittman, an old friend from Brighton Film School (now MetFilm), but this year he has had the temerity to get married right in the middle of my project. Of course I wish him well and he will be helping out but, after various enquiries, I have now engaged Morgan Andrews as Director of Photography (DoP) for my new feature Automatic.
Morgan is a Worthing based cinematographer and has been making videos since he was a teenager. These days it’s his business. He has worked on films such as The Cellar directed by Jamie Langlands and Betrayed directed by Ewan Gorman and Dagmar Scheibenreif and I’m very happy to be workign with him on Automatic.
I am now stepping up efforts to find the final few locations and hoping to start shooting sometime from June onward.
Thanks a million to Mark Tournoff for doing a fantastic job of getting the main office for the film Automatic. The bulk of the film will be shot here. However there are other locations we’re still looking for. None of them should be too difficult. Mainly flats & houses but the closer we can come to the original “vision” (ooh Get me!) the better.
In short, I need a house with an old kitchen, an untidy living room, a garden and a conservatory. I need an ordinary flat, the duller the better, ideally in a block. I need a fancy board room and a corporate office. Oh yes, and an artist’s studio…..in Brighton this should not be a problem! Ah but here’s the rub, I want a petrol station shop or somewhere that will pass for one and I need a corporate style cafe.
I’m mainly looking in Brighton but anywhere close would be of interest. If you would like to see your home or office on the silver screen then please get in touch. A full list of the locations we’re scouting for is listed below.
Grandparents House
A suburban house / bungalow
An untidy living room. It can be a bit grubby but doesn’t have to be.
.
.
An artist`s studio / work room
A room used as an artist studio / work room. Ideally it would have paint and art everywhere and an old arm chair but we can organise that. A table with art stuff would be good.
.
.
A conservatory
A tatty conservatory with plants and gardening equipment. Nice to have trays of apples, watering cans etc.
.
.
..
A garden
A large or long garden with a flower border. Nice to have an old child’s swing and/or a shed. Anything that suggests this has been a family home for a long time but the kids have grown and gone.
An old fashioned kitchen
An old fashioned kitchen. Doesn’t have to be traditional, just the sort of kitchen that your grandparents have. It would be nice to have lots of clutter.
The Office
A board room / meeting room
A corporate looking meeting room with leather swivel chairs. The more expensive looking the better.
A corporate looking office
A modern private office. It doesn’t have to be as pleasant as this picture but ideally would have a desk / chair etc.
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A cafe
A cafe which looks like it might be in a large corporate office. A counter holding biscuits and cake and staff selling coffee.
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The Streets
A petrol station
Forecourt with pumps AND inside the shop. Or maybe a small shop which could pass as the inside of a petrol station shop.
Flats
An ordinary flat / apartment.
It would be great if it were in a block. Nice to have a big TV.
I have been story boarding for the film Automatic. A while back I had thought maybe I wouldn’t bother too much with this and just wing it on the day. Yeh, right! My prospective DOP told me I needed to story board so that he could generate a Shot List. So I set about it. I found an arty friend who was willing to do the drawings and we started off pretty well. Initially she spent time filling in details which looked good but took too long. Eventually we got down to some excellent little sketches. showing just enough detail. However, I realised that I was having to draw out camera positions to show her what to draw and that meant more work for me!
I started to lay out the scenes, the actors, some of the blocking and the camera angles using PowerPoint. There are apps fro this but I realised that by the time I’d learned them I may as well have done it in Powerpoint. Now I’m starting to understand that the more camera angles I put in, the more time it will take and the more it will cost.
I had a chat with the DOP and agreed that the powerpoint documents would be sufficient but I still had a lot of detail so I started playing with the idea of deliberate limitations. There is a film making movement known as Dogma 95 which sets very strict limits on the camera. I think the rule is something like one hand held camera and one light mounted on the camera. Maybe this is going too far but I am wondering about the idea of limiting each scene. Perhaps a wide establishing shot and then back and forth between the actors? It sounds very basic and could lead to a very dull look but I was watching an old 1963 version of The Caretaker the other night which had very basic camera work and was still very watchable… to me, at least. I guess that the script and the acting also had something to do with it’s success. Some of my actors may be a budding Alan Bates or Donald Pleasence but I’m no Harold Pinter and that was fifty years ago.
Today the public expect much more from cinematography and I have some off the wall ideas for the visuals so I shall persevere but I have enough to start planning out a schedule. So that’s next on my agenda. That and maybe ramp up the social media a bit.
We have now cast the last main role for the film Automatic. As usual with these things, casting took longer than anticipated. Angela Elise Munnoch who plays Esther has been working with me as Casting Director. We booked auditions, the dates fell through we rebooked. We held auditions on Zoom which worked pretty well and we had some fantastic actors. But who was right for each role? It became a little like a rubik’s cube. If he goes there then who plays him? She’d be a good Sharon but then who plays Tina? It all takes time. My previous films had only a handful of actors, this one has sixteen! Aaaargghhh!!!
Automatic is not an action thriller. While it might be described as a nearly a dystopian Science Fiction film, my feeling is that it’s more about people. It’s a character driven drama so performances will be crucial and we need the right actors. We need the CEO to seem fair but feel foul, we need the Business Analyst to be oblivious to the nonsense he talks and we need Konrad and Mira to have passion. I am happy to say that we have all of this and more.
Drum roll. – The full cast list is as follows.
Keaton Makki
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Keaton Makki as Konrad
A disenchanted technician trapped in the drudgery of a soulless corporation. Enthusiastic yet a dreamer, Konrad yearns for significance and meaning but struggles to find the nerve to break free.
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Lamb Bennett
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Lamb Bennett as Mira
Free thinker, gamer, trucker. Mira has an independent spirit and a mischievous sense of humour. Her refusal to accept authority puts her at odds with the 21st century yet it is her intelligence and passion which show the way ahead.
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Angela Munnoch
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Angela Elise Munnoch a Esther
Steeped in a chaotic childhood marked by the artistic eccentricities of her aging parents she feels a heavy weight of responsibility. Ever-cautious, she clings to rules and order. Aware of her son’s intelligence she is determined to steer him toward a secure job within a reputable organisation and provide him with the stability that she never had.
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Martin Portlock
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Martin Portlock as Morgan
The controversial new CEO brought in to resurrect the company’s fortunes. Exuding confidence and charm, he blends impeccable dress sense with a laid-back style. There’s a vaguely exotic air about him, fueled by hints of an unconventional past. It is Morgan who is spearheading the audacious move to outsource the entire infrastructure to a disruptive consultancy named Northstar, sparking a whirlwind of questions and speculation.
Mike Freeman
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Mike Freeman as Foster
The Chief Finance Officer. He’s thorough and “by the book” and has been with Cedar Bridge for nearly twenty years. He’s old school and believes they have a responsibility to employees. Though he’s cautious, he’s also realistic and understands that if the company is to survive it is going to have to change.
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Gillian Fischer
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Gillian Fischer as Donna
Donna is the HR Manager. Astute and efficient her presence is felt throughout the company. She may appear to occasionally take a back seat but she works away behind the scenes to pursue her own agenda. Though she can be friendly and supportive it’s never wise to get on her wrong side.
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Mark Beauchamp as Eddy
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Mark Beauchamp as Eddy
The Chief Information Officer at Cedar Bridge. He started at the company at the same time as Foster and worked his way up from the bottom. He’s passionate and practical. He’s nuts and bolts. Eddy is responsible for the original design of the vast computer infrastructure and it’s his baby. However, though he’s very protective, he’s also committed to making the changes necessary to put the company back on track.
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Katherine de Leiros
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Katherine de Leiros as Charlotte
Charlotte, aka “Charley”, is a Senior Consultant at the Northstar Business Consultancy working on the Cedar Bridge Project. She has natural authority and confidence though she is also keenly aware that her role is to please clients. Above all she is “professional” and never says a word out of place.
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Oliver Sebastian
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Oliver Sebastian as Felix
A Northstar consultant and Subject Matter Expert, he’s employed for his specialist technical skills. He’s friendly and amenable with excellent interpersonal skills. On the face of it, he’s just another “suit” but he shares an affinity with the Technicians and, like them, he’s a gamer.
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Stewart James Barnham
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Stewart James Barnham as Ray
The technical Team Leader at Cedar Bridge. He’s relaxed and competent but also possesses an ability to manage staff and carry out the bureaucracy necessary in a large organisation. Over the years he’s become phlegmatic as he’s seen management and projects come and go. Some succeed and those that don’t, never fail, they just fade away. He’s learned to keep calm and just go with the flow. Management sees him as a safe pair of hands.
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Simon Willshire
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Simon Willshire as Bob
An earnest young Business Analyst. A tech enthusiastic and computer gamer with little real business acumen. Bob sees his job as producing documents and talking in meetings. Though he idolises Morgan his real goal is to get into the IT department but somehow, he always seem to be at odds with someone or other.
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Jamie Langlands
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Jamie Langlands as Adrian
An energetic computer technician. The “go to” guy when you have a technical problem, he’s extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic but impatient and short tempered. He just wants to be left alone to work on the technology but he’s frequently dragged into meetings and has to deal with people.
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Lucy Mabbitt
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Lucy Mabbitt as Sharon
Sharon’s been with Cedar Bridge for nearly two years. She is happy and carefree and likes dealing with people. Sharon oversees many of the smaller projects carried out by the IT department.
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Christina Dembenezi
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Christina Dembenezi as Tina
Tina provides workplace training to large corporations. She likes her job because it gives her flexibility and independence. She just goes in, presents the training, and gets out again.
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Pat Garrett
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Pat Garrett as Freda
Freda is Esther’s mother. She is becoming forgetful but, in her younger days, she was vibrant and bohemian. An artist and, briefly, a singer she led an erratic life and drink and drugs were a persistent theme in Esther’s childhood. These days Freda spends a lot of time sitting in her studio….. dozing.
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David Burton
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David Burton as John
John was also something of a bohemian in his youth and a lover of nature. He tries to stay active but has given up the allotment and makes do with the garden. Looking after Freda is becoming a full time job but he refuses specialist care and insists that he can cope.
I thought I’d write a script. How hard can it be? How long can it take? It turns out very hard and a very long time. It’s been over a year and something of a learning curve. I recommend Screenwriting by Syd Field and the fantastic YouTube podcast of Glen Gers.
The result is “Automatic”. A tech-fiction story challenging the depersonalisation and disempowerment of post-industrial culture. Not in some Science Fiction dystopian future, but in the lives of so many people in the here and now – Bloody hell!
I’m still tweaking the script but as one friend said, “a script is never finished”, so now I’ve started work on pre-production, looking for locations and actors. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve carried out online auditions and found some excellent actors. I’m learning all the time and one thing I’ve learned about casting is that the question is not just: Is he or she right for the part? It’s more are they the best fit? But also, would they fit another part better? It’s a question of shuffling actors and parts to get the right balance. I’m lining up a few more auditions and hope to have some major parts cast by the end of January.
Locations have proved more difficult. I’ve had offers of flats and these are much appreciated but the main location is an office and this was a problem. A friend suggested an open plan office that he knows and it looked good but only fitted one location. However, yesterday myself and Bill Mittman, the camera guy, went to check it out and it’s perfect. Not just for the open plan office scenes but also for meeting rooms and the board room scenes. – Eureka! That’s one very large problem dealth with.
I am still after a truck though I have a few leads. Ideally I want a container truck but and a container yard/port but I may have to settle for what I can get. Fallback plans are in the works in case the truck falls through.
Other locations I’m still looking for include: A tatty old living room, 2 flats ideally overlooking blocks of flats, a messy painter’s studio. If you want to get involved then please contact me via the contact page. You can see more about the film here.
Nigel Chaloner 