Major Project - Pre Production - Stabiliser Test

The video will explain, enjoy....

Major Product - Pre Production - The Auditions

The audition process for love always was a very enjoyable one using Stepping Stones Studios which we hired out we had a number of people come into audition for the roles of Mary and Alice. There we a lot of very good actresses and a few that simply weren't right for the part. Over that day and the next couple of days that followed I reviewed the tapes i recorded of the auditions and those that we were sent by people that were unable to make it to the live auditions, this is where we received applicants for Franks character thankfully. Doing this I have narrowed down my choices ready for the script and production meetings I have scheduled for tomorrow with Hennie and Maddie. All in all I think whoever we go for we are going to have strong actors for the film. 

Major Project - Pre Production - Location Confirmed

Today on bank holiday Monday Hennie and I went down to the Museum of Kent Life to meet with one of the managers of the Kentish attraction. We were showed round the 1930s cottage and it met my expectations it had a old time kitchen, a sitting room and a bedroom all contained within one building. 50 yards from this one cottage was another building that had another bedroom again something else that we needed to find. After speaking with the manager she was happy to confirm the dates we had planned and said we could have full use of the cottage as we wanted. The whole arrangement seems very easy going and I got the impression that should we need to come back and film extra bits.

 

In summery it couldn't have gone better.

 



Major Project - Pre Production - Audition Arrangements

Just a quick one this time. Just to say that I have been able to come to an agreeable deal with Stepping Stones Studios to use their space for our auditions on Thursday. I think thats better in this case over using the campus or Maidstone studios as we are expecting people to come into Maidstone on the train and this may encourage more people to come down as they don't have to travel on after getting into Maidstone town.

Major Project - Pre Production - The second draft of the script

After a hard days work my two script writers have made the alterations to the script that I asked for and have sent me over a second draft of the script. Reading over it I was very pleased to see how it is progressing and I think that by removing elements of the first draft that didn't progress the story has really paid off. 

I think this version of the script is strong enough that I can do some serious planning with regards to my shot selection and I would even be happy to give it to actors once the film is cast, making sure that they are aware that there will be tweaks made to it.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the writers as I know they have put a great deal of effort in keeping up with my rapid scheduling demands.

Using this version of the script I am going to be sending a copy to Simon Welsford for edits and review as well as sending it to someone qualified in social history to get his take on the historical accuracy of the script.

All in all well done script writers.

Major Project - Pre Production - Locations

Today has been another productive day. As motioned in a previous blog post one of our possible locations is the Museum of Kent Life however the reason that we have planned our shooting dates because of an event being held at the Chatham Dockyard called "Salute to the 40's". I emailed Chatham Dockyard with hope of gaining permission to film there and thankfully they have given us permission.

To find out more go to : http://www.thedockyard.co.uk/Events/Salute_to_the_40s/salutetothe40s.html

Major Project - Pre Production - Equipment List

I have been thinking about what equipment I am going to want to use to shoot so below is a list of the equipment I am planning on using for the shoot.

Camera

·         Canon 550d/ Canon 7d
·         18-55mm f3.5 - f5.6
·         50mm f1.8
·         Go Pro (UNI)

Audio

·         Zoom H1
·         Rode Video Mic
·         Boom pole (UNI)
·         Rode 3m minijack 3.5mm stereo extension cable (need to buy)
·         Dead cat (need to get)
·         Headphones

Lighting

·         LED lights (own 1) (need more ?)
·         Soft box (UNI ?)
·         Red head lights

Major Project - Pre Production - A Strong possible location

Today has been a very good day for the progression of 'Love Always'. I ventured into town today to try and find somewhere to hold the auditions for our cast which is yet to be determined how successful that was as I am waiting on a reply from someone higher up at the place we would like to use. The main reason that today has been a good day is that I emailed the Museum of Kent Life as I saw on their website that they had a cottage in a 1930s style which looked from the few pictures on the website to fit our needs. I received an email back from Kent Life who said that they would be happy to help if they can and so Hennie and I are set to go and meet with this woman next Monday. If all goes well we can cross of two if not more of the sets/locations we need for the film.

Major Project - Pre Production - First full draft of the script

This evening was a productive one. I along with Maddie Ireland and Hennie Clough met together to go over the first full draft of the 'Love Always' script. I was very happy with how the meeting went and having a full draft was a good feeling too. Over a 2-3 hour period we read through the script and discussed what we thought worked, what didn't and needed taking out and bits that just needed tweaking. I think the most important thing about the script as it is, is the amount of locations that could be substituted for locations the audience would have already seen elsewhere in the film. Maddie has told me that she will try and get together with writing partner Dean and have a draft with the revisions done by next Friday which is the 23rd of August. This is becoming very important as we have now set a date for auditioning actors on the 29th August.

Major Project - Pre Production - The feel is key (hand writing)

Knowing that I want the love letters sent between home and the war and back again to have the scripture type look to it I set upon people that I know and asked them to copy a passage from one of the real love letters. Using these hand writing samples I will select one to write the letters from Mary and one to write the letters from Arthur.

I have my favourites at the moment but will be passing the sample book of to co producer Hennie to approach people that she knows for samples of their hand writing also. We shall see whose handwriting fits the part.

Major Project - Pre Production - Finding Props

Here are just a few bits and pieces that I have found that we may be able to use to add to the 1940s feel.

Major Project - Pre Production - Finding Props

Similarly to the previous post searching for Arthurs characters outfit seems something of a secondary priority as his character isn't in the film for the majority however his costumes will be needed first for photo shoots. What I have decided is that when we have an actor confirmed I will simply buy an RAF costume from eBay as this seems the most fanatically viable option.

Major Project - Pre Production - Finding Props

Although there are no planned scenes of Arthur's character flying a spitfire on screen I thought it still needed to find out what WW2 fighter plane pilots looked like.

During this research process something clicked in the back of my mind. I went up into the loft space of my home and as I remembered from many years go on a nail hang the jacket pictured below. Along with the jacket were a pair of what look like fighter pilot goggles. These may well serve a purpose as we are going to have to shoot some photos of the actor playing Arthur for Mary's character to look at during the film. Therefore putting the actor in the jacket and goggles and photoshop a spitfire behind him and the photos themselves start to tell part of the story.

 

Major Project - Pre Production - Finding Props

For the second bike used by Mary's character I wanted a simple classic looking ladies bicycle. This was found by simply putting a request for anyone that had a bike that matched the description of the bike and was willing to let us use it to let me know. Within minutes a former UCA Broadcast Media student responded and told me that she had a bike that sounds the part.

Below is a picture of a bike the same model of which Cat is lending us. However she has warned me that hers isn't in quite such good condition.

Major Project - Pre Production - Finding props

With a half written script I'm slightly limited about what I can be doing. One thing I can be doing however is starting the search for the needed props for the film.

The two props that I started searching for to begin with were two bikes. One used by Frank the postman and one by Mary. I thought it would be much harder to find these but suitable bikes were found relatively quickly.

With the postman's bike I accepted early on that I wasn't going to be able to find one that was a perfect match. Therefore I changed the criteria of what I was looking for. I started looking for a simple red bike that looked like it had had a lot of use. After a little bit of searching I found the bike in the image below.

 

As I said its not a perfect match but I think that it will serve the purpose adequately.