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Happy New Year and an article in the Brightonian

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We’ve gone a bit quiet in the run down to Christmas but editing has been ongoing if intermittently. I’ll get more serious about it starting next week.

The January edition of the Brightonian and Hovarian magazines are now being distributed around Brighton and include an article on Automatic.

You can also read them online at: https://www.brightonandhovemagazines.co.uk/

(Scroll right down to the bottom of the page and click on the front covers to read them.) Automatic article is on page 47 of The Brightonian and page 31 of The Hovarian.

Happy New Year.

The End of the Beginning

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As I mentioned before, we had three shooting days last week. A quick scene with the truck, followed by two mega scenes in a flat in Sussex Heights, which involved some complex dialogue and a great deal of shouting. Amazingly, Lamb, Keaton and Angela all seemed completely confident with their lines.

There were, of course, a few challenges. One scene was a dinner party, which meant I had to concoct a meal and sort out the wine. I’d specifically asked the guy in the shop for clear apple juice, but somehow ended up with cloudy. So, late the night before, I was tearing around various petrol stations hunting for anything transparent and apple-related. I’d originally suggested Spaghetti Bolognese for the meal, but as Angela pointed out, this might lead to……complications such as rebellious strands of spaghetti during filming or enthusiastic slurping and sauce splattering over the actors’ clothes. She suggested chicken, potatoes and beans instead, so five minutes before “Action” saw me frantically shoving plates into a microwave. The dinner party scene went surprisingly well, and I was genuinely impressed with the actors’ performances.

The next day was the big argument scene, and the issue there was that I wanted plenty of movement. The trouble is, once you introduce movement, continuity becomes a bit of a nightmare. In the business, this choreography is known as “blocking”, and I probably should have given it rather more thought. Still, we had time on our side, and after a few takes, Angela and Keaton settled into a reliable pattern. We also shot a few quick Zoom call scenes, and Nicky Patching kindly stepped in as a delivery driver. Thanks, Nicky.

Our final scene was filmed around sunset, which, of course, comes with it’s own lighting headaches – everything changes so quickly that each take looks slightly different. But, with some clever improvisation from Morgan and plenty of perseverance from everyone else, we got what we needed.

That’s it now, other than a very small corridor scene I still need to do with Angela. We may still need to pick up the odd extra bit later, though I won’t know that until I’m further into the edit. So, I guess this is the moment when I’m supposed to say “It’s a wrap”.

I did very little for the rest of the week. It was SO nice not to have that bloody shooting schedule hanging over me. We will have a wrap party, but I think it’s best to leave it until January – everyone’s far too busy in the run-up to Christmas.

I’m extremely grateful to everyone who made this possible. It’s been hard work, but tremendous fun! Thanks to all the actors and everyone who helped with the locations, including Mark Tournoff & Gosia Stewart for allowing us to film in Manchester Street and Nicky Patching for letting us use her house in Seaford. Thanks also to George Prince, who supplied the truck and allowed us to film in his yards. And to Tom & Julie, who helped with social media, graphic design for the posters and general organisation. Thanks to Andrew Cawdery, our tech support and transport guy, who made everything so much easier. Obviously, thanks to Morgan Andrews, the DOP and his legion of extremely capable assistants, Adam Price and Alistair Lock on sound, and the many supporting artists who brought the call centre to life, and anyone else who helped us out. Special thanks to Angela Munnoch, who’s been with me from the start and has been invaluable as AD, wardrobe, script supervisor and general moral support.

I now face the tasks of editing, music, marketing and distribution – another steep learning curve, and I expect it will take several months. I may not blog quite as often for a while, and if I do, it will probably be fairly esoteric stuff about editing and Davinci Resolve.

To misquote Churchill: “This is not the end, nor is it the beginning of the end…. etc”

Serendipity and Chanctonbury Ring

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We had shoot days scheduled for 23rd, 24th and 25th November so last week was a flurry of preparation. On Monday, we held a Zoom rehearsal for our final scenes with Angela, Keaton and Lamb, and it all went surprisingly well. Two of the scenes involve fairly complex dialogue, but all the actors were on form and knew their lines.

We’d planned a truck shoot for Sunday 23rd, and I’d assumed it would be straightforward enough for me to handle both camera and sound, with minimal preparation. Naturally, the week quickly descended into the usual scramble with me scurrying around repairing cables and hunting for Allen keys to fix the tripod. The final truck scene required four actors travelling in from as far as Stamford, so we arranged for Lamb to come down the night before, and we’d pick up Simon at Redhill. Rail cancellations meant that by Saturday night, Lamb had only reached Leicester, which, to my mind, meant she was actually getting further away from Brighton. She decided to press on to London and stay with a friend, so on Sunday, we ended up picking them both up from Redhill.

Huge thanks to George Prince, who kindly let us film at his yard near Reigate and provided the truck. We captured some great shots, with excellent improvisation from Simon and Oliver. The last task of the day was to get some decent promotional stills of Lamb and Keaton, ideally echoing the feel of the South Downs scenes. We left Reigate about 3pm with the sun already slipping low. By 3:45pm we were up at Devils Dyke and, unlike our earlier South Downs shoot when it was warm and balmy, it was now November, windy and bitterly cold. We did virtually no planning and just shot what we could. As I snapped away, I realised Chanctonbury Ring was right there in the background, a recurring theme throughout the film. Serendipity strikes again.

Back in Brighton, we had a quick snooze before heading back out to the flat we’d booked for Monday’s shoot to dress the set.

The Monday scenes involved three people eating dinner and drinking wine – always a continuity nightmare. The day went well, and I’d like to write more, but I’ve got to prep for Tuesday. So, maybe I’ll share more about it next week.

Tomorrow is our final scheduled shoot day and, fittingly it’s the big scene. Watch this space next week to see how it all unfolds.

The Final Stretch

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We had another shoot last Tuesday. We met around 3pm and loaded up Andrew’s car with me, the sound guy, the camera guy and an actor. Then Andrew drove us around Brighton, dropping us off so we could film for a while, and picking us up when we called to move to the next location. The plan was to get walking and running shots in both daylight and at night.

One trend I’ve noticed in modern Britain is the privatisation of public space. You see it in places like shopping centres, and the downside is that the owners can impose rules that prevent filming. Actually, that might be understandable in a shopping centre, but these days it’s often spaces that feel like any other public area. We started filming in one such place when a bureaucrat approached us. We explained that the filming was innocuous, but, of course, she claimed it was out of her control – it was “policy”. This is interesting because it ties into the theme of Automatic – trivial decisions dictated by pen pushers in offices thousands of miles away, and the person supposedly in charge on-site has no real autonomy. 

We packed up and moved to another location. It gets dark early at this time of year, so most of what we shot was at night. At around 6:30pm, we headed to Hove to meet up with Jamie Langlands for a scene. We’d got about 80% of it done, when a shop’s burglar alarm went off, so we had to stop. We hung around for about 20 minutes, and I was just about to go ahead and shoot anyway, hoping we could fix the sound later or do ADR, when the alarm finally stopped.

After that, we piled back into the car and drove to Lewes Road to get a few more shots. Looking through the footage later in the week, those shots look very strong and should add some real drama and excitement to the film.

On Wednesday evening, I spoke with Angela, who plays Esther, and we decided where we’d shoot a couple of scenes in Esther’s flat. I’ve found a pretty good location with a stunning view over the city. I’ve also contacted the truck owner and scheduled a brief shot in the truck yard.

We now have three more days scheduled for 23rd, 24th and 25th November, which should wrap the “principal photography”. Phew. We started at the end of June, so it’s been five months of shooting. That’s two months longer than I’d planned, but we’re nearly there, and I’ve learned a huge amount along the way.

Location, Location, Location

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Quick update this week. Last week, I was chasing locations and had a brilliant flat lined up for two of the remaining big scenes we need to shoot, but communicating with the owner has been tricky. After a few rounds of back-and-forth, I wouldn’t say I’ve given up entirely, but I have started looking for alternatives. I posted ads on several Brighton Facebook groups and received five responses. Thanks to everyone who got back to me. I’ve since visited one of the flats and it looks very promising. If all goes to plan we should be shooting the final big scenes toward the end of November.

I’ve also been working on finding street locations. I had some ideas in mind and after spending a few days wandering the streets of Brighton, I found what I was looking for – soulless blocks and sinister backstreets around New England Street. Wikipedia tells us we have the “Urban and Economic Development Group” to thank for the master plan. I imagine they, along with Brighton Council, thought that a quirky, independent-minded city like Brighton, steeped in beautiful Regency architecture, needed acres and acres of faceless concrete and glass just to piss everyone off. Well, their plan backfired, because it’s perfect for us, and we’re filming the street scenes on Tuesday 11th November.

Meanwhile, I continued working on media prep (labelling and syncing video and audio) and have also been chatting with Chichester Filmmakers about giving a talk on the making of Automatic at their January bash. More details on that soon, so watch this space.

Saturday night found me lost in a rabbit hole of random YouTube videos, where I stumbled across an old interview with Aldous Huxley. I’d seen it before, but watched it again, and it feels very pertinent today. He asked the question: “In an age of accelerating over-population, of accelerating over-organisation and ever more efficient means of mass communication, how can we preserve the integrity and reassert the value of the human individual?” And that was in 1958. How indeed!

Shirts, Scheduling (AGAIN!!!) and a Drone

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Last week, I tried—and failed—to schedule the remaining shoot days. We’ve got one day for some street scenes, two days in a friend’s flat and one very quick scene with the truck. Scheduling might sound straightforward, but everyone communicates via different channels. Most people use WhatsApp and email, but I’m also contending with telephone calls, texts and yes, even snail mail. Pick the wrong channel and all you get is silence. I thought I’d sorted the truck scene, had all four actors on board, but alas, the truck wasn’t available. Hey ho.

On a more positive note, I’ve started being more systematic about prepping media. I’ve set up a spreadsheet with columns for audio received, video received, media filed, media synced and so on. Going through it made me realise I’m missing the video from the petrol station shoot, as well as audio for several days. A few panicked calls to the DOP and sound team quickly reassured me—they do have the media; I just need to collect it.

In other good news, a friend spotted an article about Automatic in the local paper, The Argus. Huge thanks to Julie Russell, who’s been doing PR for Automatic and sent a press release to The Argus some time ago.

I also finished the submission for the film on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and was delighted to see the entry go live within a day.

We did manage a very short shoot last week. I’d put out an advert for a flat in a block for a quick scene, and luckily, a friend replied. I scheduled it for Saturday. I also needed to capture one quick shot we’d missed on the original shoot day in my flat. So Saturday found me back in my spare room, repositioning lights, furniture and a couple of shirts to recreate the exact look of the earlier shoot. Stuart and I polished that shot off pretty quickly, then we picked up Alistair and headed over to Newhaven for another short scene, including a drone shot that Alistair handled admirably despite a stiff breeze.

This coming week, I’ll continue prepping media and getting the remaining shoot days scheduled (hopefully!).

Odds & Sods and Bolt Cutters

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We’ve wrapped up most of the main shoot days now, though there are still a couple left in the pipeline, and last week I was focusing on the odds and sods. The script for Automatic includes a few street scenes that I hadn’t really given much thought to, so last week I ended up cycling around Brighton with a GoPro, scouting for potential locations.

I needed a few quick shots from a flat in a tower block, so I put out some ads. Some kind friends came forward with suggestions, so I checked out a couple of those.

I’ve done some more editing, and after getting the extra B-roll the previous week, I think we’ve finally got the Downs scene under control, a relief since I was worried we might need to reshoot. I’ve also started going through all the media systematically, and realised I’m missing a couple of shoot days’ worth of audio and video, so I’ve been chasing that up with the DOP and sound guys.

Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to schedule the final truck scene for a day when all relevant actors, crew and locations are available. Tricky as ever, but it’s looking good and we may have two “Odd & Sods” shoot days pencilled in for the coming weekend. As always when a shoot day draws near, new ideas pop up and fresh problems appear. Today’s random task was putting out a request for anyone who can lend me a large pair of bolt cutters.

There’s still plenty to do, but I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel – as far as the filming goes.

Gimbal & Final Office Scenes

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I have become increasingly aware of an issue with one of the external scenes we shot back in July and have started planning some external B-roll to fix it. One obvious but hard-learnt lesson from making this film has been the importance of getting external scenes wrapped before the seasons change. In an effort to fix a problem I want to shoot some B-Roll consisting of a moving point-of-view (POV) shot at the same location as before. The trees look a little different now, but I think I’ll get away with it. The shot doesn’t need any actors but will involve a gimbal.

For those unfamiliar, a gimbal is a stabilisation device that lets you shoot handheld footage without the camera shaking. A better description might be: three absurd L-shaped chunks of metal, about a foot long, attached with hinges that, at the slightest touch, start to whirl around like an epileptic robot. I’ve rarely used mine since buying it a few years ago, and just working out how the various “plates” attach to the camera was tricky enough. Then there’s the problem of figuring out what all the bloody settings mean. So, Monday found me downloading the manual.

My other task, after a relatively quiet couple of weeks, was prepping for a shoot on Saturday back in the EC offices in Kemptown. It’s becoming a bit of a running joke that I tell people that the day should be simpler because of this, that and the other – but shooting days never seem to be simple.

One major responsibility on office shoot days is preparing the space, then restoring it to its previous condition for the office workers on Monday morning. I’ve been lucky to have Andrew’s help with this; he takes photos of the offices when we arrive, quietly and calmly moves stuff out of shot, then puts it all back again later.

Saturday’s scenes were in four different locations. In discussion with Angela, we decided to be more disciplined about timing, so I laid out a detailed plan, including the cast and crew moving through the various scenes, while Andrew prepped the offices in advance and then reset them as we shot.

We had four main scenes, one of which marked Christina Dembenezi‘s debut. I’d also added a short extra scene for her, which required another actor, and I wanted to capture various B-roll shots to help with scene transitions. By Thursday, one of the actors had told me they couldn’t make the shoot on Saturday, so by midweek I was sending out requests for replacements. We were lucky enough to get Meghan Adara, who stars in The Cellar by Jamie Langlands, as well as Hazel Stock.

All the cast delivered excellent performances, which was especially impressive since it was Christina, Meghan and Hazel’s first scenes for the film. We had a lot of fun and finished shooting on time. Once again, many thanks to Mark Tournoff and Gosia Stewart of EC Brighton.

Distracted by Editing

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Last week was relatively quiet. I admit it – after wrapping up those three days of filming, I took my foot off the pedal and started diving into the editing. Modern editing software is very powerful, but I’m realising that I understand only a fraction of what it can do.

We have been trying to use one lav mic per actor plus a boom mic, which results in multiple audio clips for every take. Syncing all of this is a task in itself. Ideally, Resolve would handle it automatically. It does have automated syncing for multiple takes and clips, but it seems to only sync one audio clip to one video clip. Last week, I started auto-syncing all audio clips for a single take with their corresponding video clip. That seemed to work, though it ends up pulling all the audio into the original video clip.

I could go on, but I’ve probably lost most readers by now, except for the real nerds. You get the idea: editing is complicated. I managed to get one scene 90% assembled and I have to say that I like it.

On a more creative note, Angela and I have been thinking about ways to break up the main scenes a bit, so we’ve been sketching out what we’re calling “transitions”.

Meanwhile, Julie got the press releases out, and we’ve already had some feedback. Sussex World has run an article, and Brighton and Hove Magazine are interested in a Q&A.

We’ve got another shoot coming up in the offices this Saturday. Many, many thanks to Mark Tournoff and Gosia Stewart of EC Brighton, who have kindly lent us their office space for filming.

Part of the reason last week felt quiet is, of course, that I started editing. It’s one of those tasks where you can easily slip into a steady state of flow, and hours just slip away. Some people edit as they go, but I’m finding that it distracts me from the remaining production tasks – so, my next priority has to be completing the filming.

Paper-Based Project Management

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I was feeling a bit knackered last week after the previous week’s three-day shoot, which started on 26 September. I spent most of last Monday paying the pile of invoices that had built up. I’d damaged an illuminated sign during the cafe shoot on Friday, so that also needed sorting.

The week before, Julie had interviewed Keaton and Lamb, so I edited a short version of this based on the film’s theme last week. I think it’s worked quite well.

We’ve realised that the scenes need breaking up a bit, so I spent a day walking around Brighton gathering various B-roll shots. I also worked on posters and a press release. Tom focused on the design for the visuals, whilst Julie polished the text. Hopefully, we’ll send something out this week, then we can get the film onto IMDb.

I’ve also spent some time going through all my notes – which may be of interest. In the past I’ve managed all my projects using spreadsheets, with separate worksheets for different aspects. When I started working on Automatic months (years?) ago, I had worksheets for actors, finance and locations. Over time I spun some of these off into separate sheets and placed them in folders dedicated to their topic – one for actors’ info, one for props etc, but I’ve developed a new paper-based system that seems to be an improvement.

I group scenes into “shoot days” based on location – so all the cafe scenes get one sheet, all the boardroom scenes get another and so on. I keep an A4 pad on my desk and tear off pages to create one sheet per shoot day or subject, such as Cafe, Media or Promotion. I note props, clothing, transport requirements and anything else relevant to that day or subject on these sheets.

I also keep a separate A4 sheet of “To Do” items. Recently I needed a bit more focus, so I added a “Today” page where I write down things that must get done today. Admittedly, I don’t always quite manage it and end up reusing yesterday’s “Today” sheet, but it generally helps me stay on track. I progress by crossing things off and periodically creating new “To Do” sheets or new shoot day sheets, as needed.

This system seems to be working fairly well. At the moment my “To Do” sheet includes:

  • Setup more social media
  • Film the final truck scene
  • Music
  • Create final video presentation with voice-over
  • Press release
  • Interviews
  • Schedule remaining scenes
  • Film transition scenes & B-roll
  • Media release forms

And on my “Today” sheet:

  • Write a blog post
  • Press release
  • Schedule
  • Talk to Angela
  • Pay invoices

Actually, that’s a lie, I’m writing this update in a hurry and haven’t created today’s sheet yet!

Breaking the Back of the Filming

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Friday saw us filming in a cafe, Saturday at a university and Sunday in a suite of offices in Kemp Town.

We met up on Friday evening at the Rotunda Cafe in Preston Park. The scenes themselves weren’t overly complex, although one required a manager to address a small crowd. With around eight supporting artists to assist and some clever cinematography courtesy of Morgan Andrews, I think we pulled this off. The scene must have worked because all the extras clapped at exactly the right moment, without anyone having to remind them to applaud in unison.

Saturday morning we were at Brighton University for 8am. Just three scenes to shoot, but these were the very first for four of the five principal actors, who’d had little chance to settle into their roles. Fortunately, they were excellent from the outset – much of the credit due to Angela Elise Munnoch, who managed most of the casting. The scenes weren’t particularly complicated, but with five people in a room, it takes time to get the scene to flow and ensure that every angle is covered.

I’d hired the university room for its corporate feel, but the real surprise was the exterior of the building, which plays extremely accurately into the whole theme of the film. When someone suggested adding a scene outside, I said yes. It worked beautifully, although it threw the schedule into a bit of disarray. By the time we reached the final scene, I was getting quite frantic to keep things moving. In the end, we rattled through it and I think we got everything we needed.

One of the things I’ve learnt on this project is that the first set-up of the day always takes longer than expected. Once everyone’s in the flow, scenes move faster, but then we’re often running very close to the deadline and rushing to finish. I suspect the lack of crew is the main cause because, more often than not, it’s just the DOP, his assistant, the sound recordist, me, and Angela plugging the gaps.

Sunday felt a bit more relaxed. We were back on location at the Kemp Town offices by 8am. Just two actors and two short scenes in the morning, then B-roll in the afternoon. Best of all, I had my main tech support, Andrew, on hand, which took a load off my shoulders.

However, I did manage to forget some props and had to dash home. Then the sound guy needed another mic, so home I went again. Inevitably, we started later than planned but managed to wrap the main scenes by around 1pm. After a quick lunch, the afternoon was spent capturing B-roll with supporting artists improvising short office scenes. A successful day that rounded off a successful week.

By 5pm I was home, managed a quick snooze, and by 7pm was sitting in a local Indian restaurant with a Lamb Madras and a couple of glasses of red.

Very many thanks to everyone involved. The actors Martin Portlock, Mike Freeman, Kat de Leiros, Mark Beauchamp, Oliver Sebastian, Lamb Bennett, Keaton Makki, Gillian Fischer, Stewart James Barnham, Simon Willshire; our DOP Morgan Andrews and his assistants, Cameron Ryan and James Will Day; our sound guys Alistair Lock and Adam Price; my AD and crucial support throughout the whole project Angela Elise Munnoch; Andrew Cawdery our unflappable and ever competent Technical Support; Mark Tournoff who organised the offices and coordinated the supporting artists including Diana Mikhaylova, Daren Callow, Cameron Dean and Dev Renj who gave stellar performances as office workers. Also thanks to Mark for the shirts!

That’s fifteen days filming in the bag with four or five still to go. The next shoot days involve some pretty emotional scenes so will be fairly challenging – although they involve fewer actors in more accessible locations. At last, it feels as though we’ve broken the back of the filming.

The Petrol Station

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Last week we filmed in a petrol station. A very simple scene, the main challenge being avoiding customers. Just as we were ready to shoot, someone would wander in. We’d all scurry out of the way to allow the staff to get on with their work, then return once the customer had gone. Many thanks to Mary Rees, Mark Tournoff and Saskia Wilcox for stepping in as supporting artists.

Once again, filmmaking is giving me a chance to appreciate places I’d never normally think about. I’d assumed petrol station staff had a fairly dull time when it was quiet. Not a bit of it. These days a petrol station is part mini-supermarket, part bakery and part car wash, so there’s always something to do. The weather was less than ideal, which does present a bit of a problem script-wise, but I’ll sort that out later. I’d also hoped to shoot a few street scenes, but with one of the actors being unavailable, that’ll have to wait for another day.

Meanwhile, Julie conducted further interviews with some of the actors: one with David Burton and Pat Garrett, and the other with Keaton Makki and Lamb Bennett. We captured some excellent material that can be edited down for publication here and across social media.

I also spent time scrabbling around for supporting artists to help out with the shoots scheduled for next weekend. We’ve got a hectic three days planned and I wanted to ensure we’re properly prepared. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we’ll be filming in a cafe, a university, and also back in the offices. We’ll be working with five actors who haven’t appeared yet: Martin Portlock, Katherine de Leiros, Mike Freeman, Mark Beauchamp, and Christina Dembenezi. It should be an interesting few days ahead.

A Bit of Editing & Catching the Zeitgeist

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We didn’t do any filming last week, but I’ve managed to schedule five more shoot days for later this month and into October. A few of these will require supporting artists, so I’ve contacted the people who helped out with our office shoots, along with a handful of others.

We’ve also planned more Zoom interviews with the actors, and I put together a video presentation that’ll be used in an office scene. One thing I’ve learnt from filming the computer game and Zoom call sequences is that you don’t need to capture actors watching the entire video. It’s enough to shoot them reacting to sections of it. The sound can be added later, which makes things a bit easier.

On the post-production side, I’ve started prepping media. One of our earliest shoots was up on the South Downs, near Chanctonbury Ring. We got some great visuals, but it was a windy day – the large reflector kept blowing around and two of the radio mics kept cutting out. So, although we came back with some decent material, a fair bit of it isn’t the greatest quality. The challenge now is to sift through it all, selecting the good media and avoiding the bad. Where to start? I began by syncing each take’s video with its three audio sources (two lavalier mics and one boom) in Resolve. From there, I built a “scene timeline” and broke everything down into smaller “phrases”, clip by clip, line by line.

The idea is that I can now select the best pieces and stitch them into a coherent whole. Originally, I thought I’d start with the video, but a conversation with ChatGPT has nudged me in a different direction. Apparently, when you have dialogue-heavy scenes, it makes sense to prioritise the audio first, something editors call “radio editing”. I’ll continue working on this next week.

I’ve run into tricky media before on other projects. My experience is that, with enough patience and attention to detail, you can create a good result – provided there’s enough coverage. Fingers crossed.

If you know a better way of doing this, please let me know.

On a slightly different note, I’m convinced that Automatic has captured the zeitgeist. More and more people are commenting on the bureaucratic tangle in modern society. At a party on Saturday night, I was chatting to a guy who mentioned a book called “The Unaccountability Machine” by Dan Davies. From what I gather, it argues that business and political leaders often hand decision-making over to processes, creating what Davies calls “accountability sinks”. To my mind, we see this all the time with political leaders insisting there’s no alternative to a sort of plodding, mindless managerialism. This book was well-reviewed in The Financial Times, and there’s also an interview here with Davis by Harsha Perera, which is worth a look.

This week – a shoot at a petrol station.

The Truck and The Downs

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.