A few hours ago, the camera truck arrived and I took a pic of the contents for this blog. Blimey! Look at it all. Two 35mm cameras and all the bits. Not much like an HDV camera and tripod is it!
Ok. It’s 11.30 and I will be up at 5.15 tomorrow morning. Breakfast at 7.15, blocking at 8.00 and turn over first shot at 9.00…
Right now I feel like I am strapping myself into a rocket ship and about to press the big red button. It’s a mixture of trepidation and excitement. I would say that I can’t sleep, but I am so utterly exhausted, I will be asleep in seconds the moment my head hits the pillow.
As I go into the shoot, I wanted to reflect for a moment. I have tried hard to take my own medicine in the prep for this movie, and I know that I have done as best I could on many issues. On reflection, here are what I know are things that are as good as they could be…
1. The casting of the kids in the movie. This is a world class junior cast that I can’t really see how it could be improved. Thanks to Cathy Arton. Casting director.
2. The script and storyboards. Every other film I have made I have known that the script could have done with more work. Not so on ‘Gone Fishing’. Whatever we may think of it when we get on set and into the edit, right now before we start shooting, I know I could not improve it as it is on the page tonight. Same goes for the storyboards.
3. Camera and kit. We have world class cameras, hi speed cameras, second unit cameras, tons (actually yes, 18 tonnes actually) of lighting kit. Stuff. We got it! And it’s all top notch.
4. Crew. There are a few members of the crew who blow me away. Cathy Arton, casting director, Vernon Layton, DP, Steph Wrate, in production, Jonathan Andrew, First AD, Eddie Hamilton, Editor… And I have so many new crew members to meet and work with tomorrow. Really, world class folk.
There is other stuff I know that could have been improved, but that’s all compromises borne out of a lack of time and money. So as I sign off for tonight, and shower before the first day of the shoot, I sleep with a sense of security. I know I am working with great people, that we are prepared as much as is possible within our given circumstance, and that the script, the very foundation of the project, is both moving and inspiring. Every person who has read it has commented on how much they loved it. That alone is it’s own reward.
Right!
Onward and upward!
Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
mail@livingspirit.com
We have tried very hard to get EVERYTHING for free, and I just got word that we saved £40 or so by getting our worms (used as props) for free - courtesy of 
Final organisational touches are now coming together. This is a kind of fluidity to production that is very tiring - dates, crew, cast, locations, all interdependent, all changing regularly. It’s most frustrating when people pull out knowing the huge impact it has on us, even though they have been involved in negotiation and things have been made clear from the start. 
Today was the first day that I really had that feeling of 100% immersion in the film making process. Where nothing else matters.
Then came the really great news. I dashed over to ComicCon at Earls Court where I met up with Devon Murray, the young actor who plays Seamus Finnigan in the Harry Potter series and who also starred in ‘Angel’s Ashes’. I had popped over to see him yesterday, and he read the script last night, loved it and now got onboard. This is TERRIFIC news as I was very concerned that the part of Young Bill would have to played by a boy with little experience and charisma. The part requires a young actor who can say huge amounts in a short space of time, showing a real character arc and growth, and also handling the physically arduous task of capturing the man eating Pike in the story. Devon will be a real asset to the movie. FANTASTIC!
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. That meant blues and greens, but also browns, that were muted and yet still warm. Crikey. That’s confusing.
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 the script and signed up on the spot. She says it’s ‘right up her street’!
