Kittens (working title) Sept/Oct 2005

14th Sept
Currently working on my mate Steve's short film. A Super-16mm film to be shot end Sept-early Oct 2005. There are no sets to build so I am art-directing this time instead of production-designing.

Yesterday went to the prophouses in Parkroyal to sniff some goodies, visited a couple of old haunts. Will post more thoughts when I have a break.

20th Sept / 00.53 am
I am ... on an Eureka high. Being Art Director ... means I get to dictate the visual style and decorate with someone else's budget. Never mind the low budget, like that ever stopped creativity. Today i got £300 cash float for ... getting paint, wallpaper etc. Won't last long but hey how's that for power trip. Shopping!

This past week Steve changed his specs from 'vibrant' (as in bright orange, lime green type) to beige (!) colours. Darn. Also he wants sparse settings now, but with details. OK ... does he realise that is the opposite of each other? A little 'confused' by what he envisions. Usually I listen to the director, research a little and give them beyond their wildest dreams hehe. Leave them begging for more, I'd like to think.

Some pics from our rekkie of the location flat today:

View 1. Nice ...

View 2. Perfect for the film setting.

Doorway. Note the citron yellow hallway, need to darken for filming.

But now ... right this minute, in fact the last 10 mins or so, I hit on something that rocks my boat! Haven't seen this on a film before and ... tmorrow I shall show the director and if he likes it ... this will be one job well done. Even if it means just the walls for the moment. hmm loads more to go. Let's see if I come home tmorrow depressed or ... over the moon.

20th Sept / 10.22 am
Watched Trainspotting (director's visual reference) this morning. Our producer is fecking off to a safari! The director, DoP and I went to the location, finally saw the interior of the flat we are using. It was ... secure, to say the least. Some would say boarded up. There was saw dust all over the floor, I'd say it was the workmen must have made all the new cheapie 30cm wide doors. There were also a couple of syringes, hmm. Flashbacks of Swanney came flooding back!

You know what, apparently we're paying short-term rent for this flat. And we're only using 2 rooms. So ... I measured and drew it all up, as you can see from my diagram below. This gives me an idea of how much paint or wallpaper to use.


Also managed to convince Steve to go for painting over the old wallpaper (which is bearably new), rather than stripping the current one and putting on new wallpaper. I want to build a few layers of colour to achieve the 'vibrancy' that he seeks. I've never done Abstract Expressionism on wallpaper before so let's hope it works. It'll be fun too, can't wait!

23rd Sept, Friday
Final count: Getting the main props from 3 prop houses. Shopped at 9 charity shops for small things. We have less than I usually dress but it's really for the camera view. There is no need to over-dress.

26th Sept, Monday
Painting day. Day started with John's car having a flat tyre. Finally after picking up stuff and shopping for paint etc, we met up with Steve to start painting. This was when we discovered there was no electricity in the flat. There had been a £250 deficit on the meter. Left the Production Manager to sort it out.

We got on with the painting. Results of the 2 days, as they dry:

One of the bedroom walls, makeover from mauve to Rothko red!

It was fun having Steve paint one of the living room walls.
Original background was blue (left wall).

28th Sept, Wednesday
Pickup-props day. When we arrived at one of the three prophouses in Parkroyal, a fella runs after us to say we had knocked his car. We didn't feel a thing so were a little confused. He pointed out a white smear and to the white van we had rented. John who drove had a look at the side of the van that had supposedly hit the car but there was no dent or scrapes at all. The only one scrape was already indicated on the rental sheet. The guy was probably trying his luck to con us into paying for a previous brush. Loser!

30th Sept, Friday
1st day of Shoot: 9 am-6 pm (7.30 pm). Drizzly, cold. Some bursts of sunshine. Exterior scenes at the cul-de-sac. Jack and Dylan talk about things that interest them. Their mothers wait in the car. We get a bit of audio hassle but in the end, all is calm and all is bright.

The World According to Jack.

Dylan does some camera operating with the SR3 III.

Steve + Michel ponder over the weather.

1st Oct, Saturday
2nd day: 9 am-5.30 pm (7 pm).This is the longest day of the shoot. Two rooms which are the bedroom and living room scenes, all camera and lights equipment in kitchen ... and everyone moving in between the two rooms. Actors (about 10 kids!) and their mothers (the best!) - nowhere to sit them, except the furniture props.

'Craig' watches TV with his brother 'Mike'.

Craig's side of the shared bedroom.

Mike's side.

Shock horror! The electricity was still not connected ... At 7.30pm the night before the shoot when it looked like we were not going to have electricity for the cine lights, John and I chatted with the neighbour next door and offered them a small compensation for them to allow us to connect an extension to their electricity point. Which basically means the kettle becomes a luxury to share with the filming lights, as kettles tend to trip the power.

Sunset at 6.30pm. Better days ahead?

2nd Oct, Sunday
3rd day: 9.30am-4.30 pm (9.30pm). Florist scenes day. Intermittent sun, chilly start.

'Craig' hanging out.

The perfect florist we were looking for, just as I had envisioned it too!

'Mike' chatting up the pretty florist assistant.

Reverse shot of shop.

Flowers look good, I would shop here!

After the day's shoot, we had to pick up a mixer from Chelsea (SW1) for the rest of the shoot. Unfortunately our location was in Lewisham 9 miles away (SE13), but I actually enjoy navigating, it helps me get to know London better. Sunday evening traffic is infamously bad. We found a way down south but when returning got stuck in the City area, moving about half-mile-an-hour! The car over-heated, so we had to pull over! This is when I learnt about bypassing with a cable to keep the fan going ...

3rd Oct, Monday / 7 pm
4th day: 9 am-4.30 pm (wow!)
A big scene day. Loads of kids. We were low on crew so I helped boom again.

Playground. Its characteristic structures go well with the estate buildings.

Chip chatting.

4th Oct, Tuesday / 9.40 pm
Day 5: 9 am-4 pm (7 pm).
After Saturday 1st, which is the interior of flat scenes day, technically speaking I am finished. But I stayed on to help them, small crew and all. Made friends with the Sound Recordist who happened to be living in the same-ish area and he offered to give me a lift every morning (yay!). Not one to take the piss, I said let's meet at somewhere that's on his way. We enjoy each other's company and that gets us through the traffic jams and the long days.

Was tired last night, lay on bed and next thing I know, it was midnight! Fell asleep again till the morning. It is getting to that point of lethargy, wonder how Steve is still functioning but I suppose it's his film. One can ride easier on your own high ...

Today I had to return props back to the three prophouses, all the carrying with John the Production Assistant. I navigated again, of course!

Am not feeling too well actually. We shared a bottle of water as it was too inconvenient to get drinks upstairs with one key. Unfortunately someone had a cold. Lesson: Go personal not public. We have a half-day shoot tmorrow. I'll see how bad I feel in the morning. Hopefully I'll get to see the others tmorrow, exchange numbers and all that jazz.

6th Oct, Thursday
And on the 7th day, they rested.

Note:
All photos selected here are not indicative of the shots made, so as to deliberately not reveal the storyline or reduce the impact of the actors appearing on film.