Sylvia Syms Mirren Burke Rollo Weeks Claire Garvey

Diary

Sunday, January 31 2010

5 weeks till shoot

Booked Out is shooting on the 8th March... 5 weeks time... 35 days... argh! and woo! First let me apologise for not updating the diary for a while. It's too easy to just let it slip by but from now until after the shoot I am going to do an update every day even if it is just to same I am knackered and should be sleeping rather than writing a blog entry.

It feels like today was the real start of the pre-production process for me as myself, Sam and Jordan recce'd a potential location for the block of flats yesterday. It really makes a difference when you see a building and you have to try and mould the story around the location you have. Or biggest challenge has got to be that currently about 15% of the script takes place in a stairwell which joins a set of flats together so we either need to find an empty block of flats or to try and join lots of different locations together.

Bryan and Sam

Bryan and Sam checking out the kitchen area

We actually went to see a house which is over 4 floors and is massive and we could take over the whole place as it is due to be renovated. The fact that we can use it for the majority of our interiors is great but the question marks are how it affects the story as the stair wells aren't right and even the rooms might have the feel of a house rather than a block of flats. Its really interesting trying to work out how much that affects the story and also then how much the story might need to change to fit into its surroundings.

Bryan

Bryan checking out the house

If only you could create exactly what is in my head. Well you can actually in a Studio and that is another possibility that we are looking into but we would still have those pesky stairs to work out as building something that you can make look like 4 flights of stairs is too expensive for our budget.

We did get into another buildings stairwell which had this yucky pink colour and metal 50s style railings. In someways even though it was horrible and wouldn't have filmed that well it at least had something unique to it that is worth considering. Fortunately the sound in the stairwell was unworkable. It was one of those places where you whisper and you can hear the echo five minutes later.

Pink Place

Pink stairwell anyone?

Lastly we went to visit a cool dude called Miles whose flat we could use which is attached to an ok looking stairwell. Miles was the real star of the show though and he wants a part in the film in return but wasn't convinced when we offered him the role of the Naked Man (there is a life art scene in the film). Maybe it was explaining that we would have to check him out naked before the shoot to check that he looked suitable. He was a very nice guy though and another potential location option.

Miles

Miles = cool dude!

So no decisions made on locations yet but today was the start of things to come as hopefully this blog entry will be!

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