Film
The Truck and The Downs
What a week! I’d managed to get the truck shoot scheduled for the 5th of September, so last Monday my main focus was just that. I’d arranged to hire a 32-ton, 8-wheel tipper truck from George Prince and had been up to their site near Horsham to check out the vehicles. George was brilliant – really helpful – and he agreed that we could film in his yard.
The truck, a Scania, was an impressive beast, but I started to wonder about manoeuvrability. Take a wrong turn and you can’t just swing around in someone’s driveway. We only needed to shoot three short scenes, but we had a lot of B-roll to cover over four locations, both interior and exterior, so logistics were going to be crucial.
Safety was top of my mind. Anyone who’s been on a film set knows how frenetic things can get, and I didn’t want confusion leading to an accident. I spent much of last week planning activities and mapping out numerous emergency stop locations.
On Wednesday evening, I had a Zoom call with our driver, Ruby. We went through the route and spotted a weight restriction on a bridge over the M23, so we had to adjust. In the end, this actually simplified things.
Originally, I’d planned to shoot in Essex, but getting cast and crew there all at once proved tricky, so I shifted the shoot down to Sussex. I’m glad I did – it allowed us to film in the South Downs, which suited the narrative perfectly and looked far more impressive.
The move did mean that the supporting artists I’d organised weren’t available, so last week turned into a frantic hunt for replacements. I’d hoped for four, but logistics forced us to make do with two, plus two crew members. Huge thanks to Matt Roberts and James Wingate for stepping in at the last minute as Martin and Derek. You did a great job! Also, thanks to our sound guy, Alistair Lock and camera assistant, Cameron Ryan, for stepping in to play security guards. Great work chaps.
By Friday midday, we were on site. After an hour or so of setting up, we shot the first scene and grabbed a bit of B-roll in the yard.
Then came the tricky part. Morgan, our DOP, got in the cab with Ruby and they headed to a rally point at a petrol station, shooting B-roll en route. Angela and I took our cars and drove to another rally point on Saddlecoombe Road in the South Downs. Ruby phoned when she was in position, and I gave the go-ahead. A few minutes later, we saw the truck pass, and Ruby stopped at a third rally point to drop off Morgan. I then phoned our second camera guy, Bip Mistry, to get him into position for an external shot, before picking up Morgan and dropping him at another camera spot.
Next, I had to move to a third camera position with my camera, only to discover AAARRGHHH! I’d packed all the gear, tripod included, but I’d left my camera behind! Luckily, I had my GoPro which saved the day. I phoned Ruby, told her to go again, and we got three more external shots of the truck passing.
I’d worried about getting a 32-ton truck up the South Downs hills, but standing next to it gives you a sense of its power. We reckon the engine was massive – probably 13 litres! Could it climb Saddlecoombe Road? Of course it bloody could! With a f*cking 13 litre engine, it could probably take on Mount Everest! Slight exaggeration, but you get the point.
After the external shots we headed back to the yard, passing Bip, who had relocated to a bridge over the A23 for another shot of the truck.
By 8:30pm, it was getting dark, so we started filming cutaways – and then ping! The yard floodlights came on, illuminating the entire bloody yard! AAARrrrghhhh!! Turns out they were motion-sensitive, so we just stayed still for a bit, then were able to continue filming.
We headed to Peas Pottage next, thinking it would be quiet for shots of the truck parked up. Yeah, right. It was heaving. Initially, we thought it was a popular trucker stop, but it turned out to be motorway maintenance crews mustering for a job. Big trucks, yellow machines, flashing red and yellow lights, and lots of blokes standing about chatting. It actually made an excellent backdrop for our planned scenes. We got the shots as quickly as possible, then sent Ruby and Morgan off to film interior night shots from the cab along the dark stretch of motorway between Peas Pottage and the Crawley Interchange.
After dropping the truck back at the yard and tidying up we all headed home… only to find that the motorway maintenance guys had closed the M23 south at two or three points. Thanks guys!
We got home around midnight. An exhausting day but hugely satisfying, and my plan had worked. I was particularly taken with the camaraderie at Peas Pottage. Truckers guiding new arrivals into place, chatting, helping each other out. I want to be a trucker!
All in all, an excellent week. Next week, more planning awaits………..
Delays but Possible Progress
The week before last, we managed three days of shooting, and I was feeling optimistic about squeezing in another four. Ha! That was wishful thinking. I spent most of last week faffing about with schedules. Every time I thought I had it sorted, it unravelled again. Such is the nature of filming. Actors’ work is notoriously erratic, so they take jobs whenever they can. When you have as many actors as we do, it’s a juggling act to get them, the locations and the crew all lined up at the same time.
It finally dawned on me that I wasn’t going to get everything wrapped by the end of September as I’d hoped. I’ve resigned myself to having more shoot days and probably having to tweak some scenes along the way. As it stands, we’ve two more shoot days in offices lined up in September and one in October.
Another concern was the weather. I’d arranged a truck and some locations near Stansted airport, but getting everyone there was proving difficult. So, I started scouting closer to home and found a truck supplier in Sussex. I went to see the trucks and a few locations on Friday, and they look promising. In fact, the backdrop of the South Downs works well with the narrative. Serendipity strikes again. Over the weekend, I messaged the relevant cast and crew. It looks like we’ve got enough bodies to cover most of the scenes, and if we have to tack on an extra day, that’s just a hit we’ll have to take. I’ll be doing a few final checks on Monday, but things are looking good for the truck shoots next Friday.
One other thing – I finally set up a Reddit account and started posting. Not that I understand how Reddit actually works, but I guess any publicity is better than none.
Bollocks to Process
Last week was a very hectic week. Monday saw us kick off with some scenes in a flat in Hove. Two guys talking on Zoom. Simple enough, you’d think. But no! Because the minute computers get involved, all sorts of complications arise. Last time we did a similar scene, we’d learned something that now seems bleeding obvious: if you shoot an over-the-shoulder shot of someone on a Zoom call, the camera operator (and probably the sound guy, director and the AD) will also be visible. This time, the headaches came from a couple of the “digital props” I’d put together, such as images and web pages displayed on laptops. I hadn’t fully thought it through, so there was a fair bit of faffing around while we worked out the logistics.
Once those scenes were wrapped, we walked a mere 15 minutes north to a different flat in another block. Here we filmed a scene that was…..let’s say, quite lively. Part of it took place in the communal hallway, and the flat’s owner was worried that the neighbours might call the police. Thankfully, it all went off without incident, with excellent performances from Keaton and Stewart.
Wednesday and Thursday were spent back at the Hove flat with Keaton, Lamb, Simon and Oliver. These scenes are closer to the end of the film, where tensions rise and tempers flare, with lots of shouting and swearing, and in one particular scene, there were three of our allocated quota of “fucks” in a single sentence. As the script writer, it’s a remarkable feeling to see your vision brought to life by such skilled actors, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
At one point, piano music drifted from a nearby flat. A quick phone call later, and the guy had kindly agreed to refrain from playing, but I felt a bit guilty because our shoot was probably making a shocking racket.
Morgan did an outstanding job as DOP, and we managed to get some strong shots. Alistair on sound was brilliant too, especially as we were trying to make three different flats from one. He was nipping around, constantly checking the audio.
Chatting later, I remarked that we seem to spend much of our time finding ways around problems, and someone said that “Filmmaking is constant problem-solving”. I think they were spot on, particularly for indie filmmakers.
For example, the past week has really shown me the value of a script supervisor for continuity. When we shoot scenes from multiple angles, we have to repeat them several times, and each shot requires numerous takes. This has benefits and drawbacks. The upside: the actors have a chance to settle into the scene and find the best delivery. The downside: they sometimes have to repeat it too many times. Plus, someone has to remember every tiny detail – when she put her cup down, when she took off her coat, when he threw down his headphones, when he picked up his phone, and whether the door was open or closed in the last take. In short, someone has to monitor every bloody move the actors make. Months ago, Angela suggested hiring a script supervisor; I didn’t see the point at the time. Now I can. Luckily, Angela has taken on this role herself, and I’m incredibly grateful, although juggling it alongside wardrobe, casting, and AD duties is quite a load.
Another thing that struck me: after each take, everyone has comments about problems and improvements from their perspective. Sound, lighting, camera, continuity, dialogue. It can get quite fraught as we all try to get our points addressed before the next take. I’m still on a learning curve and a lot of what we do is improvisation, but each time I find myself considering how we can manage issues more efficiently, perhaps with a documented process.
But I just reread what I wrote: “ensure that issues are efficiently managed by a documented process”. I could have added that these processes could be measured against maturity levels, standardised, optimised – I spent too long in corporate life. That is the antithesis of this film!
Bollocks to process!!!!!!
This week, we’re releasing the first of Julie Russell’s interviews with the cast in two parts. Julie is chatting with Stewart, who plays Ray and Gillian, who plays Donna.
Next week, get that schedule pinned down and finalise that truck!
Interviews and a Message from the Universe
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.
Welcome Martin Portlock As Morgan
The biggest news from last week is that we’ve cast our new CEO character. I’m delighted to announce that Martin Portlock will be taking on the role of Morgan.
Martin Portlock is a dynamic English actor whose captivating performances have won over audiences worldwide. His breakthrough came in 2022 with his chilling portrayal of ‘The Witch’ on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent. Martin won ‘Best Actor’ at the National Film Awards 2025.
Last week, I also started uploading some of the footage we’ve shot so far. I’m editing in DaVinci Resolve and trying to remember everything I learned from editing my last film a few years back. As I reviewed the footage, I spotted a few issues with the sound and picture quality, but fingers crossed, nothing that can’t be sorted. This made me realise I need to start reviewing the footage much sooner after each shoot.
We had another day filming at our house in Seaford on Friday, which went very well. Most of the time was spent on an outdoor scene with Angela Elise Munnoch and David Burton. The scene carried a substantial emotional weight component, so the actors’ performances were absolutely key. Both Angela and David delivered nuanced and convincing performances.
A takeaway lesson for me was when Angela pointed out that my reply of “Yep” to her question, “Was that alright?” wasn’t particularly helpful. Ah! I tend to be a bit rushed on set, but maybe it’s time I did a bit of work on my interpersonal skills.
We shot a handful of shorter transition scenes before wrapping up with a scene at a local bus stop. It was a productive day, and we finished around 4pm. I was very grateful to have Arun Varghese assist Alistair on sound.
Next week, we’ll be rehearsing for three quite intense shoot days scheduled for the week beginning 18th August. I also need to focus on the schedule again.
House & Garden
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.
Herr Flick’s Binoculars
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.
Solid progress.
Art in Muswell Hill
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.
Old Marine Arts Group
95 Colney Hatch Lane,
London N10 1LR
07551 569 439
https://www.artattart.com
New Morgan and Extras
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.
First Office Shoot and Cast Change
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.
Breaking the Ice
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.
Early night tonight.
Set Dressing, Blocking and a New Toy
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.
Only one week now until our first shoot!
Teams and Themes
Exasperation, thy name is filmmaking!
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!
I bet there’s a film in there somewhere.
Screen Flicker & Gaming
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!
Watch this space.
Script Lock and Scheduling
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.
Fixing the Script & Hunting for Clothes
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 have the truck
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.
It’s all starting to fee very real.
Locations / Relationships
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.
That agenda should keep me busy for the week.
Director of photogrpahy (DoP) Engaged
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.
Nigel Chaloner 