Chris Jones Blog

Less than 12 hours to go...

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
[email protected] 

We got worms!

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 www.wormsdirectuk.co.uk! The will be arriving at the studios in the next day or so before being put in my fridge. Apparently that’s where one keeps worms.

So far we have had to pay for very little, blagging almost everything. Sadly lighting became a problem and we have had to pay out for that, mainly as so much is shooting right now, no-one had anything in stock. Believe me, every stone was turned. We still got a mahoosive discount though…

And hey, we still got free worms!

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected] 

Three days and counting...

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.

We just lost out number 1 actor last night, this after three weeks of saying they like it and we were just negotiating terms. They eventually just said they had decided not to do it. No reason. We have second and third place choices for sure, but this was devastating as everyone was poised to go in – Linda Haysman, costume designer for instance now has to think about new costume hires and now three days before we shoot.

Agents act as a buffer for actors and often I don’t feel they convey the urgency of a situation to their client. In fact, I am not sure they convey anything at all! I suspect if actors were in direct contact with producers, this would never happen. Sure, have an agent agree terms, but get the creatives talking ASAP. Of course the agent does not want this as that reduces their negotiation powers. Sadest of all, agents don’t seem to really recognise that we are not the BBC, or Warner Borthers or some other fully funded body. For most agents, it’s one size fits all.

Some agents on the other hand, the ones who have bothered to really find out about what we are doing, have been amazing. I mean really amazing. So there is hope.

This is all, of course, just the stuff that happens on a film. I have done it enough times now to know that we will get through it, nonetheless, we were organised and ready, but they let us down, and now we are disorganised and not ready… Today will be hard work, but we will get through to the other side.

The pics here are shot by Ross Edwards who visited set  to help build for an afternon. Thanks Ross.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected] 

Watch our set go up!

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 can view here. Pretty cool huh.

I am looking forward to shooting on a stage as there are so many advantages. Nearby office, loos, costume, makeup, catering, a quiet stage with near unlimited power… It’s great.

We have made friends with the short film shooting in the stage next door and have struck a deal where we can reclaim their flats tomorrow morning. We don’t actually need them but I am trying hard to get people in the film business to buy into recycling sets. The waste in an average set build is staggering. At the studios where I am based, I often walk past skips filled to the brim with timber that was brand new a week ago. This has to stop and I am doing my best to take a stand on this issue. I will be mailing out to my list to see who wants these flats and anything else we can reasonably reclaim and recycle.

OK. Now I gotta order Pizza for the construction crew.

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected] 

And so it begins…

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 helm, and I immediately felt at home. Mark built sets for both ‘White Angel’ and ‘Urban Ghost Story’, two of my past feature films.

Production Designer Emily Johnson oversaw the construction of her designs, and after a little false start, Mark began to ‘Whack it up!’ Then to my surprise, production designer Simon Pickup turned up to lend a hand. I was delighted to see him as I hadn’t worked with him since ‘Urban Ghost Story’. Amazing!

My office for the day was the rear part of Stage 3. How cool was that!

Every few moments I was either on the phone or being asked questions. This thing is, as the director, you end up being a kind of walking encyclopaedia on your own movie, and end up being in contact demand to consult.

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!

Hopefully we will get news on the actors playing Old Bill and Emily tomorrow.

As the set continued to be built, I then got bad news. Production Designer Emily Johnson is now leaving for a paid job (though there is still an outside job she can stay by managing both for a few days). This has been a recurring blight for ‘Gone Fishing’. I really do understand that on a freebie job, if a paying job comes along, you need to take it. It’s just never happened that much to me, and even though I understand, it does leave us with big problems.

This has happened several times now on this shoot and I think I can attribute some reasons.

1. Film making is much more common than it used to be, so people are less committed in general. And there is more to choose from too.

2. This is a short film and not a feature (I thought that getting people on a short film for a few days would be easier. Clearly I was wrong).

3. Production Design team members are the crew members who work the longest (aside from production) so need to sustain longer on no money.

4. The biggest reason by far is that London is a very expensive city to live in and few people can afford to work for free for any length of time.

Emily assures me she will have a replacment on board ASAP and I am sure she wont let us down.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected] 

Gone Fishing Colour Palette

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.

Then we stumbled on a set of Brooke Bond cards that were given away free with tea bags when I was a kid. They were a set I bought of eBay last week to use as props. They featured British fish. We took a look and immediately realised we had our colour palette for the film, all contained in these cards. They are no work of art, but their colours felt right, and consistent with our ideas.

I am a great believer in figuring out and sticking to a colour palette through the shoot, and I believe the audience senses this, perhaps sub consciously… and that means that is used creatively, this is yet another tool you can use to better tell your story.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected] 

Production Designer Sabina Satta Joins LSP

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’!

Sabina produced ‘Summer Scars’ for my good friend and old film school buddy Julian Richards last year. His movie was shot on DVCProHD (Vericam) and was a real kick bollock and scramble production as it was full of kids. The movie is very near completion now with just final picture and sound grades.

The other big change for ‘Gone Fishing’ is that we are now probably going to build sets in London and spend only one day in Scotland. Of course, that means we need a free sound stage, tools and materials and it’s all more work for Sabina, but I think she relishes the challenge!

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]