Sylvia Syms Mirren Burke Rollo Weeks Claire Garvey

Diary

Sunday, February 28 2010

1 week to go - lets book this film out

This time next week we will have completed our first day of shooting on Booked Out. The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind but things are all falling into place. I will try and remember all of the interesting things that have been happening over the last few days.

Yesterday I have the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with Sylvia Syms to discuss her role in the film with her. I was a bit nervous to be honest but things went really well and I think she is going to give a stellar performance. It was lovely to finally meet her and I definitely wanted to spend some time with her before standing on set directing her in the heat of the moment.

Myself and Jordan have been working through the script to produce a shot list for the film and everything always goes great till we get a scene in a dreaded stairwell or doorway then we see who is the best head scratcher. We have secured a single flat and are going to redress it three times as well as matching it up with other doorways within the block of flats.

So never before has someone walking in or out of a front door been such a big decision. As has two pages of dialogue as the two characters descend a flight of stairs. We even tried out some techniques on a stairwell with Jordan doing different variations of a man walking backwards down the stairs as I did my best impression as an actor.

We have a lot of crew on board but frankly none of them have time to give me photos or biographies to put up on the website. I remember when I created the website thinking that I would get them to write blogs during the shoot to explain the whole process but I slightly underestimated the amount of work that they are all putting in right now.

I have also been working with Sophie Howard on costumes and she has came up with some really interesting combination's of clothes for each of the characters. Then there is the art department headed up by Sara Ranieri who is trying to get her head around how to make three flats out of one as well as trying to work out why I wanted so many Polaroid photographs in the film!

The actors have also started rehearsing with me and things are coming along well in that department. Today's rehearsal in particular went well and I think we established a good tone for the film. I also held auditions last week and hope to be able to announce the remainder of the cast in the coming days.

So who knows how many days it has been since my first blog but it is finally right in front of me. The pieces are falling together and pretty soon all that will be left between me and my film is a three week filming period. Yesterday I thought to myself that the film is an upbeat quirky comedy so I need to treat the directing that way to make the film come across in the right way. It will also be more fun that way rather than stressing out for the three weeks. Controlled stress is the name of the game!

Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far as well as all of the crew that are surprising and delighting me on a daily basis at the minute.

This diary provides an indepth look into the trials and tribulations of making Booked Out.

Click on the months or entries below to view historic entries.

  1. 2010
  2. July
  3. [26] Top Foreign Language Films
  4. [23] Production Diary - Shooting Day 2
  5. [21] Working with the DoP - Camera Movement
  6. [09] Production Diary - Shooting Day 1
  7. [08] Casting - Rollo Weeks as Jacob
  8. [07] Production Design - Colour Palette
  9. [06] Costume Design - Jacob - played by Rollo Weeks
  10. [05] Working with the DoP - Selecting One
  11. [03] Booked Out Blog Blasts Off
  12. April
  13. [01] Shooting Wrapped
  14. March
  15. [06] Filming Begins
  16. February
  17. [28] 1 week to go - lets book this film out
  18. [24] 10 days to go - storytelling
  19. [23] 11 days to go - all guns blazing
  20. [20] 14 days to go - Jacquelines Day
  21. [18] 16 days to go - Imagination is key
  22. [17] 17 days to go - Prep prep prep
  23. [16] 20 days to go - dolly mixtures
  24. [16] Crew Additions
  25. [16] Rollo Weeks is Jacob
  26. [15] 21 days to go - Stylissimo
  27. [14] 22 days to go - script locked
  28. [12] 24 days to go - crewing
  29. [11] 25 days to go - location location
  30. [10] 27 and 26 days to go - Script nearly locked
  31. [08] 28 days to go - Things becoming clearer
  32. [07] 30 and 29 days to go - The story
  33. [05] 31 days to go - on the road
  34. [04] 32 days to go - Soho streets
  35. [03] 33 days to shoot - Auditions
  36. [02] 34 days to shoot - more meetings
  37. [01] Bryans Sabbatical Day 1 - 35 days to shoot
  38. January
  39. [31] 5 weeks till shoot
  40. [03] 2010 - The year of the book
  41. 2009
  42. December
  43. [22] Facebook Fan Page Updated
  44. [21] Gabriela Is Back
  45. [20] Revs Short Film Day 2
  46. [19] Revs Short Film Day 1
  47. [17] Jacob Auditions
  48. [16] Booked Out Financing Halfway
  49. [15] Lindy Hopper Richard Pucci Joins the Cast
  50. [08] My Top Five Films of 2009
  51. November
  52. [29] Working With Actors
  53. [25] Welcome on Board - Andrew McEwan
  54. [24] Sylvia Syms
  55. [16] Welcome On Board - Jordan Cushing
  56. [15] Calm Before The Storm
  57. [10] Meetings Meetings Meetings
  58. [01] Style
  59. October
  60. [25] Today I met Mike Leigh
  61. [17] Poster Artwork
  62. [14] First Tasks Underway
  63. [01] Replan
  64. September
  65. [27] Sam And Bryan Production Meeting No 1
  66. [01] Producer Found
  67. August
  68. [07] Simon and Kirsty Selmon Join the Cast
  69. July
  70. [30] Props Required
  71. [25] Scheduling The Shoot
  72. [23] Company Incorporated
  73. [21] Equity Investment Proposal
  74. [19] Final Script Updates
  75. [18] Character Soundtracks
  76. [15] First Production Meeting
  77. June
  78. [24] Jacqueline Cast
  79. [19] New Crew - Derek and Ellie
  80. [16] Watching Audition Tapes
  81. [14] Basecamping
  82. [13] Auditions - Casting website summary
  83. [12] Auditons - Actors Summary
  84. [12] Auditons - Filmakers Summary
  85. [10] Jacob Cast
  86. [07] Warehouse Week - Day 7
  87. [06] Warehouse Week - Day 6
  88. [05] Warehouse Week - Day 5
  89. [04] Warehouse Week - Day 4
  90. [03] Warehouse Week - Day 3
  91. [02] Warehouse Week - Day 2
  92. [01] Warehouse Week - Day 1
  93. May
  94. [31] Warehouse Week Preparation
  95. [31] Fundraising Fancy Dress Party Artwork
  96. [30] Fancy Dress Costume
  97. [21] Fundraising Gig Night
  98. [19] Fundraising Comedy Night
  99. [10] Gig Venue Found
  100. [10] Micro-budget Production Course
  101. [05] Warehouse Date Rearranged
  102. [03] Jeffrey Brown read the script
  103. [02] Warehouse Double Booked Scandal
  104. April
  105. [22] Signed up for spotlight
  106. [21] Find Actors on Casting Call
  107. [08] Warehouse Booked for Fundraising Events
  108. March
  109. [15] Signed up for Shooting People
  110. [14] Swing Dance Promotional Video
  111. February
  112. [26] Jeffrey Brown actually replied
  113. [22] Week 4 Progress
  114. [18] Website and Film Inspiration
  115. [15] Week 3 Progress
  116. [01] Week 1 Review
  117. January
  118. [26] Planning - Yawn
  119. [24] 1st Film Meeting