Great news. We have Lucy Joyce, a very experienced young actor to play Young Emily in Gone Fishing. She has a huge amount of TV and move credits to her name and it’s very exciting to be working consistently with very professional actors throughout the cast, especially as there are so many young actors in […]
Late last night I had my second big meeting with Costume Designer, Linda Haysman. We were checking over the costume for the two young boy characters in the story. Mainly Young Bill, played by Devon Murray. We had worked quite hard to stay within a selected colour palette that would co-ordinate well wit the colours […]
So the set is going up. The one day shoot on the stage, scheduled for Sunday, is going to a great day for people who have contributed to Gone Fishing, to come a see how the whole process works. There is a time lapse Quicktime film of the first few hours of construction that you […]
Today was the first day that I really had that feeling of 100% immersion in the film making process. Where nothing else matters. It began at 8am, stage 3 at Ealing Studios, a huge sound stage that we managed to get for the sets for Gone Fishing. Set construction began with Mark Sutherland at the […]
Yesterday was hell. We had a few people drop out, a few production disasters that have cost needless money and hell, and I mean HELL from agents. Both casting director Catherine Arton and myself pretty much checked out last night… But then we had some GREAT news, which I can’t reveal just yet. Hopefully tomorrow […]
OK, it’s time we started to reveal who some of our talented cast and crew are going to be… First off, I am more than delighted to announce that seasoned DP, no British LEGEND, Vernon Layton, will be shooting ‘Gone Fishing’. This is awesome news as Vernon truly is an artist. Among many others Vernon […]
I got a few responses from yesterdays blog and I just wanted to share with you one from a film maker I met on one of my courses a few years back, Oli Lewington… Hey Chris, I’m a long-time follower of your various activities – got the books, done the course, blah blah blah. I […]
Production is really kicking in now. Daily, hourly, even minute by minute, new crises arise as others are fixed. Often, it can get SO hard that you really ask, what on earth am I doing? And then you remember, ‘Oh yes, most people have real jobs!’ As I haven’t made a film for some time, […]
Shooting is getting closer and deals are being struck. We managed to get ALL of our 35mm camera equipment for free from Arri, saving us thousands. Not only that, but we managed to get a second camera body too, so we will have an active second unit for the whole production. Film maker buddy, Simon […]
I have just been working on the colour palette for ‘Gone Fishing’ with Emily Johnson, the production designer. We both felt that we wanted to somehow mirror the two worlds of the ‘fishing flashback’ with young Bill, and the world of Old Bill, the old man whose story it is, through careful use of colours. […]
I spent the most of yesterday wandering around our main location for the shoot – Bury Hill Fisheries, near Dorking. This venue has a lot of advantages and disadvantages. First off disadvantages – it just isn’t as spectacular as we wanted. Second, there could be a lot of fishermen on the days we shoot, though […]
I am suffering right now (well actually last night to be specific, but past it this morning) from one of the symptoms I discuss on my two day film makers course. It’s a common problem and it can be quite crippling. When you set out on any creative venture and think up some kind of […]
I spent another whole day in casting – looking for the young actors to play the two young boys in ‘Gone Fishing’. I know we found one boy who was amazing, but until the parents and agents have agreed for him to play the part, I don’t want to say anything. Let’s all keep our […]
I spent most of yesterday and last night updating the schedule, which has gone through several major revisions already. The first one was done by Producer, Ivan Clemments, who then had to leave for two weeks, and it was subsequently revised by Sabina Sattar, who stepped into his shoes as acting producer. The schedule then […]
Great news today. Experienced sound recordist Adrian Bell has agreed to record sound on ‘Gone Fishing’. This is particularly good news for me as Adrian recorded sound on my first feature film, ‘The Runner’, the movie that inspired ‘The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook’! So terrific! Adrians website is here. He will be using hard drive […]
I have been working out how do some of the visual effects for ‘Gone Fishing’. Of course having no money, it’s a sellotape and string affair. But, I now have recieved tremendous support from a special effects company called Men From Mars. These digital effects guys are real wizards and usually work on $50m movies, […]
I spent the whole of yesterday in the main grading theatre at Midnight Transfer in London. We were working on the final grade for a 35mm short a friend of mine produced (Director Andreas Wisniewski, Producer Claire Trevor Roper), and they had a little bit of budget available, so we could use these guys and […]
Yesterday was a great day! Sabina Satta, production designer extraordinaire, joined Team Living Spirit on ‘Gone Fishing’. Not only is Sabina a wonderful designer, but she is also a writer, producer and director. This will bring a wonderful and holistic approach to the design department. She fell in love with the project when she read […]
We are currently working through the usual dance with agents and actors for our cast. The most important character is Old Bill, who the story follows, and we are looking to a warm and generous older classical Brit actor for this part. Without saying who is at the top or bottom of the list, you […]
I am a great believer in what you give, comes back to you. But that is often in ways that you don’t expect. A friend of mine just, last weekend actually, swam the English Channel. Each year about 800 people manage to climb Everest, but only 200 manage to conquer the Channel. Lynn is one […]
Something I have been very fortunate to have in my life is a group of experienced and passionate film maker friends. I cannot stress how vital this is both to the execution of my own personal ambitions as a film maker, but also on a nitty gritty story development level. I just had a short […]
Things are going very well here at Living Spirit. We are just four weeks away from the shoot for ‘Gone Fishing’, (shooting on 2 perf 35mm), and now up in glorious Scotland. We are still a little short of cash, so if you want to contribute, you can get more information here… If you are […]
I am getting very close to locking the storyboards now. I will be done by tomorrow. If you want to see how some of them look, I have put a few up on our site here. I will be pleased to get this behind me as it’s eaten up a whole load of time – […]
I have spent the whole day on Storyboarding again – not working with Gabrielle this time, but planning the shots and ordering them so that next time we meet, I am clear about every single shot and how it will cut with each shot on either side. I am used to doing a shot list, […]
The last couple of days has been spent storyboarding with one of the most talented guys I have ever worked with, Swiss storyboard artist Gabriel Schucan. He is a very fast sketcher, and it’s wonderful to see the story come to life visually. The process itself has precipitated a script re-write as little problems are […]
