Mark's Blog

Last week we filmed 5 days of key, dramatic, emotionally draining scenes, culminating in a stressful shoot on Monday night that can only be described as surreal. The end result? Many of the big, climactic scenes of the film are in the can and looking very good. The spine of the film has definitely been broken. As has my spine come to think of it!

This block of filming saw production move up a notch. More actors, more locations, and more specific and intricate shots. However, for the majority of time it went very smoothly. Thursday night was a good lead in to the weekend. We were over schedule by about an hour, but we got a few versions of the scene. Friday was more hectic, but again it went calmly and this time to schedule. The key scene of the evening was captured in the first take, so we left it at that. I have found scenes break into two camps generally. Some lend themselves to one take, with the first take having a vibrancy and kinetic energy that bring it alive. Once this has sparked, it is difficult to replicate and each subsequent take feels increasingly numb and devoid of emotion. Then on the other end of the spectrum are those scenes that with each take become more polished and refined, with cast and crew more accomplished in their performances. As Director I can mould the content and design of the scene, until we get a take that is great due to the careful evolution that has taken place. This key scene on Friday night fell into the first category. That’s not to say it was off-the-cuff. We drilled it beforehand, so that when we came to shoot we were primed, but the emotional energy had been charged up, ready for release.

My phrase, “just one more”, took on new levels in this block, particularly on Monday. I don’t deliberately set out to deceive people, lulling them into a false sense of security that the scene is nearly shot. Each time I say it, I genuinely think (hope?) that this will be the last take. However, more often than not, there is something small, probably insignificant, that I pick up, and then I reel out the nearing immortal phrase, “just one more!”

Saturday presented us with some new challenges and the crew had to work hard on the set-up to get the right flow. This put us behind schedule, but somehow we pulled it back on course before the unmoveable end time. This location is pivotal in the film and we only secured it the week earlier. Previous to that we had been desperately trying to find something suitable, but coming up empty, leading to much stress. Fortunately, something dropped in and we got the perfect location for many of the more high profile scenes.

Sunday was a straightforward and hiccup free shoot. I even commented to Paul that it felt too easy. He said “don’t say that, not yet”, and he was right to have such caution. However, neither of us could have foreseen the events that were to come on Monday evening.

Monday evening had the lot. A tight schedule, Police interference, excess traffic and an obsessive Director. The first shot went on way too long. My fault, no doubt. We had a few workable versions, but in my never-ending search of perfection, I kept on pushing. We were on the last take (yeah right I hear you say) and we were trying something slightly different, before moving on to the next shot, which was already planned and lined up. At that point, mid-take, the Police pulled up and started shouting at us. Apparently you can’t film in a stationary car. Make note, a “stationary” car. So, it is okay to drive along filming at 70mph, but stop, pull up safely on the side of the road (well, on double yellow lines on a roundabout, but curiously they were not bothered about that!) and go directly to jail, do not pass go and do not collect £200. I’m so pleased the Police are there protecting our streets, making good use of our hard earned tax and stopping people filming in stationary cars. So, we had to ditch the last take of the alternative version, fine I could accept that, just, but we also had to move the car and thus completely disrupt the next shot. We then had to think on our feet and come up with an alternative. This knocked me off stride. Even though the new shot was perfectly fine, I was still ruffled that my carefully crafted shot had been thrown out of the window. After the time it took to decide on the new shot and get it, we were probably 45 minutes behind on an otherwise already insanely tight schedule. The pressure was on and it did not let up until we finished, an hour later than planned. For the first time during filming, the set was tense. Both Paul and myself had to keep everyone right on focus and keep shooting almost continuously. Paul had to keep me on a tight leash too and ensure my perfectionism didn’t completely derail us.

We got through and without the time to check the footage we just had to hope we got the shots. I checked the rushes this morning and they were better than they felt at the time. It’s funny that when you are stressed and in the midst of production chaos, it is easy to think you are just not getting anything right and that it is all going wrong. Then in the cold light of day, you sit down calmly, relaxed, rested (or not considering my unwell baby daughter had been up all night crying!), and you realise that your team of talented cast and crew collaborated in a melting pot of intense conditions to create something special. A mixture of relief and excitement. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait for the next shoot on Saturday.