The slow edit

As per the filming, the edit is slow. I am concerned about my resistance myself. Have I lost interest in this project?! Perhaps it is struggling to fit in along side all the other elements that are going on in my life right now. It is a frustration but I will see it through...

This morning, whilst thinking about this, I realised that it is perhaps my experimental approach to this film that is holding me up. I am considering every element, it is a process of reflection and ponderance. This is a luxury that I sometimes cannot afford with my filmmaking. I feel that I have developed my skills and instincts by learning these skills by rote. A militaristic commitment to improvement, as opposed to a reflective more rounded one. Even in the past my filmmaking was about challenging the things I read in books and putting it into practise, but now I think I am more conscious of this subversion, and where it could take me...

Editing

I have finally dragged myself to the computer to do some editing and I am quite happy that it is coming together. Each cut that I do comes with an element of surprise, as if I never realised I could do these things intuitively as opposed to an organised regimented fashion. Of course, this is rubbish, as I have made documentaries for years which didn't have the element of control. But I am nevertheless happy.

It will be short. I can see that now. But I'm not too bothered as I am happy to be experimenting in my field. So far I have 15 minutes down. I think it will end up around 50 minutes long - bang slap in 'middle of nowhere' festival blackspot. But I think that it will work when projected up onto surfaces in cities. Who will stand for twice that length? Either way, that length will be more than enough when it comes to experimenting with the sound, which is going to be the biggest post job I have ever encountered.

On a different note, I have been thinking lots about Roger Corman lately. I want to contact him to say what a massive influence he has been to me, yet I have never acknowledged it anywhere. Credit where credit is due and all that...

Procrastination

Rosie update from James Fair on Vimeo.

Finishing up the shoot

Last Friday John and I finished up all the sequences that involved Eeva. It was a great time, just whizzing through the last little sequences, six months after we shot the first ones!!! Eeva then flew immediately back to Finland, where she started her new job on the Monday morning. Thank you so much Eeva for your help and we'll miss you! I still have a couple of shots to pick up of the empty city at night and at dawn, so it is not officially a wrap.

On a different note, I went with John to the Strongroom Studios to audition people for his new film. It was great to see another filmmaker at work in the casting process. It was fascinating how he discussed the ambiguity that he enjoys creating as a filmmaker. I thought back through Rosie, and realise that this is not an element that I have adopted myself, preferring instead to direct a story for the audience, albeit with an ambiguous ending.

I guess that whilst I was inspired by John's approach that we discussed in the Symposium in November, we are and always will be, very different filmmakers. Thankfully, there is room in this world for both of us.

Exteriors....

Because of the limitations of filming in the day on Friday, when it is essentially a night sequence, we filmed a couple of pickups tonight that will cut into the film. Both sequence were tea breaks in the story, but one was shot at dusk (which will double for dawn in the morning) and the other was a night shot. Hopefully, once cut in, no-one will be any the wiser...

It was just me and Eeva tonight* as it was two simple set-ups. I get paranoid that my shots aren't as good as the work that John does. Then I ignore it and do the best I can!!!

*Thanks Tess for taking the pics!

The end (of filming) is in sight...

It is only when reading over this blog that I realise that half of the year has escaped, and it is already June. And almost half way through June also. I returned from NYC to the usual pile of post and email that kept my mind from the Rosie project. But now I have the end in sight. Eeva and I will film some tomorrow night, and then finish off with John on Friday. That will be all the shooting DONE! I am relieved and nervous, as I am not entirely sure that I have everything I need to make it cohesive. I am perhaps 90% sure, but without my usual mechanisms, of a script and a schedule, I cannot be wholly convinced.

I was chatting to Nerina Villa about her documentary short that she is doing for Screen West Midlands and discussing the approaches to editing. She already has a start on hers, despite not concluding the interviews, so that she knows what to collect. I wonder whether I would've liked to do this with Rosie, but figured that I haven't because I didn't want to. I described it once to John like putting together the pieces of the puzzle in post. And once a story is made from the images I have available, I will start on the sound. There is no sync audio on the footage, so everything sonically will have to be placed there. Building a picture, building a soundtrack...

On a different note, I took part in El Mas Santo recently. Another person who is doing what they love for the sake of it. I had such fun...

New York, New York

I've spent this week in New York working on other projects that look set to span the next 18 months. It has been a mad week. It becomes increasingly obvious that I must finish "Rosie" off in order to concentrate on the other things in hand. Yesterday I went for lunch with Gary Hoctor and Richard LaGravenese and discussed the nature of our work, and it served to reinforce exactly why I love filmmaking. To watch Gary and Richard speak so passionately about French cinema and so dismissively about the meat-market of festivals gave me a great sense of perspective. WE DO THIS BECAUSE WE LOVE STORIES... NOT BECAUSE WE WANT TO BE FILMMAKERS. The challenge it seems, is satisfying ourselves as creative people and a need to survive in a material world. It reminds me of Scorcese's point in his BFI American Cinema documentary, where some filmmakers tried to "do one for the studio" and one for yourself.

Despite the energy of Berlin and New York, I'm looking forward to going home and seeing Birmingham again!!!

Last filming date

Such is the pressure upon Eeva's time, we look to have a very small window to film the last parts of the film. It has been a busy year for all concerned and a difficult one to fit the filming around. I think, with all things considered, this has been a particular downside. Whilst John and I have discussed the fact that the distance in time suits the 'flashback' sequences, it has always been a problem for focussing my attention. Still - this is what the project has been about - a learning curve. I have never shot a film this way before, I will always bare this experience in mind when preparing another project.

More reflections post-Berlin

I have just returned from a week in Berlin where I was with Fremantle and their various soap operas discussing the uncertain future that lies ahead for television. I was constantly reminded of how fortunate I am to work autonomously from these pressures. It was lovely to meet inspirational people like Neil McCarthy and discuss our projects.

One thing that dawned on me whilst in these meetings, and whilst touring the UFA studios, is that it is the soap operas' limitations that inform the production. In a bizarre way, I feel that Rosie has been without limitation (dialogue aside) and I wonder whether it is this freedom to take the project where ever I choose that has sometimes left me rudderless and without focus. I certainly feel a lot more 'connected' to my other projects, as if I am responding to a higher creative purpose. With Rosie I have felt as if I don't know what it is I am making, and that scares me in a way, but liberates me in other ways.

I discussed with John Bradburn the idea of simply editing the piece together without the structure of which I scripted it. It would be fascinating to see how the whole piece would come together in this way as opposed to 'forcing' it from my previous plans.

I'll get the final scenes shot in early June and we'll take it from there...

More filming

Today we shot more footage in and around Birmingham. I am happy that we have now fulfilled most of the project, but with a little more to pick up in June. The sporadic dates have meant the film has different seasons and haircuts etc... it really benefits from the time difference.

I find myself panicking about length (no puns please). I spoke to John about it today. Why am I worried about this nature of shooting a 'feature' film? 75 minutes or above please. It is a bizarre formality. You end in a halfway house if it isn't a short film or a feature. But why do I care? The chances of these things moving forward are that they should be a feature or they won't get seen in festivals. But I'm not sure I want to go down that route as I mentioned earlier. So it will just be a story. It may be a 40 minute story. It may be a two hour story. Let's not worry about the length.

Both John and I are just happy to be experimenting in our field. We are so often held up in development limbo waiting for projects to get started. Or on shoots and waiting around with the rigamarole of big crews. This is all about the fun and enjoyment of filmmaking. It is about exciting ourselves and remembering why we do this in the first place - telling stories with moving image. We are pigs in shit...

Another shoot looms

I can honestly say that the intermittent bursts of filming on Rosie have been harder than the long sustained effort on previous shoots. It is not so much the physical or organisational effort but the mental one. It is similar to when my friends have done part-time study. It doesn't operate in a prioritised area of my life. It becomes a secondary thing. This is a difficult thing to admit, but a natural one.

I don't believe this has led to a lack of quality or focus in this project, but simply lacks the creative emphasis that a short production window can bring. I found this similar to when I recorded a musical project called 'Sagittarius', where the recording was done in a week, but the mixing to weeks and (in my opinion) created a reduction in the 'timeliness' of the project, and made it relatively sterile. I am keen to see that this does not come to a similar fate. I don't think it will as there is an energy about the project and it's experimentalist approach that I think will keep it edgy.

I am aware that I am using very flowery and emotive language as opposed to the cold and scientific. I wish someone would create a formula for soul.

Filming dates

We have a very fine window with which to shoot the remainder of the film. The dates have now been set and we hope to complete filming with a couple more filming days. In my mind I have no idea of how this shooting ratio translates to minutes onscreen, but I am certain that this film will be around 60 minutes long. That is a horrible length, as it is neither fish nor fowl. But that may be one of the possible outcomes.

I have to keep reminding myself to be open to this process, and not try to predetermine it all. It is like trying to kick old habits!

The Boy Who Collected Sound

Such is the disjointed nature of getting films made, that I have been focussed far more recently upon finishing a 6th draft of a feature script called "The Boy Who Collected Sound". It has been a long slog and it is three months later than I thought it would be. But it is done now and my mind this morning shifted back to "Rosie", which we aim to finish shooting in early May. I've only briefly revisited the footage that we have already shot and it excites me to see it. I don't know why, but I am particularly excited about the editing upon this project in a way that I have never felt before. I guess it is all the variables that we have introduced.

On a different note, the observant amongst you will notice that there is now Google Adsense material all over the page. I'm experimenting with it out of curiosity as everyone always asks me whether the films make money (because we measure success upon profit don't you know?). Well, this seems like as good an income stream as any other so I thought I'd explore it. Apologies if you automatically think I'm becoming a corporate capitalist whore... I'm acutely aware that the polar opposite of measuring success by profit is measuring success by lack of corporate intervention. It's a continuum that I couldn't really care about, as long as I get to tell stories.

Rethinking The Screen

A time to reflect

It is strange for me to have this gap in production, but I am quite enjoying it. It has been allowing me time to reflect upon my process. Usually the production stage is a frantic experience hinged upon the adrenaline of shooting, but not so much this time around. 

I am meeting with Eeva next week to casually have a cup of tea and catch up. No doubt the film will come up as we have to schedule a time to shoot in May before I go onto other projects in Berlin and New York. 

The plan is to shoot the next sequences on the HPX500 as it is going to be static camera. I haven't yet discussed this is great depth with John but upon reading Mike Figgis' book "Digital Filmmaking" I really identified with the section upon Camera Motion. I similarly took great interest in his writing upon scoring music, especially in light of the Abaltat experimentation. In many ways, I thing that it is a great tool for scoring film as opposed to OVER-scoring the film with catchy melodies. I remember discussing with Miriam Allen about how Abaltat would not write my Morricone score, but then that isn't what I need. The score shouldn't be noticeable as it arguably would detract from the film itself. Alternatively, it shouldn't be filler either!!! This will be a great challenge.

This weekend I will be hiding in the countryside writing a feature script (the conventional way) for a project this summer. A busy year.

May day

As February was hideously busy, with me working in Berlin, London, Birmingham, Seville and Dublin, we couldn't shoot extra scenes. Although March is looking less critical for me, it is still pretty manic for John and Eeva, so we are looking at picking up filming in May. This is a great relief for me...

The balancing act..

This is the first film that I have made where the production is spread over a couple of months in different sessions. I'm finding it quite hard to keep the film at the forefront of my mind whilst life goes on all around it. In many ways I prepare the short sustained bursts of production, as the focus remains upon the film. That said, I'm liking the time that these breaks give me for personal reflection. 

To cram as many clichés in to one sentence - I guess it is a question of finding a happy medium, and creating a balancing act.

Some introductions...

 I guess I should put some names to some faces for you. 

 This is me, James Fair. I hate writing about myself in the third person. Sometimes I find it is easier, but from here on in you should know that it is this face that is writing this blog and directing this project:

 

Eeva Rautio  is playing "Rosie". She is Finnish and currently a student of optometry in university:

 

Raul Camacho Marquez is playing "Lars", Rosie's lover. He is Spanish and works as a pharmacist: 

John Bradburn is the cinematographer. I work with him at Staffordshire University where we teach Film Technology:

 

Hopefully these faces can bring a bit of humanism to this otherwise very literary blog. I'll endeavour to keep it visual. I like books with pictures as much as the next person...

Berlinale

No news for a little while... Gary Hoctor (producer) and I went to Berlinale to screen "Watching & Waiting", and mentioned the possibilities of screening Rosie at Galway Film Fleadh this summer with Miriam Allen, the festival director. Simply discussing a festival and a time frame scare me, especially as the project is really in the early phases.

However, it provides me with an idea of timeframe.

Filming

It is a day for being handed the textbook filming problems...

The first calamity is the state of the kit that we have acquired. Despite arranging six P2 cards, we are left with one, as a result of collecting empty boxes and packaging that don't have cards inside. This is my fault for not checking them I guess. Similarly, the lighting kit has three lights and two of them don't work. The third light blows a bulb within a couple of hours of filming. This too could be my fault for not checking the kit. So you see a pattern forming - CHECK THE KIT. Do not assume the kit room have done it, because they aren't the ones who will be screwed on the filming day.

As it is, John, Etain and I went about making do, and started a different workflow whereby we'd film and drop the footage back to a 1.5TB drive every 17 minutes. Fortunately we have a high-spec laptop to enable us to do this. It doesn't end up affecting us too much as we are pretty slick on organisation and we soon find a rhythm. The filming itself is great. Eeva, Raul and Laura are naturals, very good at getting the mood correct. I'm pleased with all of their good work and get excited by the rushes.

The second calamity is the nightclub location. Despite visiting it in the week, and being happy that we'd arranged a deal to film there, we are asked for cash when we get to the door. Admittedly two get in for free, but four don't. This only costs £20 but it is an illustration as to why you should get something in writing when you agree it. The club itself is quite dark and it really pushes the camera to do a good job. Hopefully we can get something out of it in the grade. The crowd is pretty thin on the ground too, which makes it frustrating all round...