Make Your Mark in Film

Hello from NYC!

2007-07-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone :)

Well, I didn't have time to blog before flying out to New York to visit my best friend a few days after we finished filming, so I thought I'd find a minute to send a note from here - I haven't got long, as I fly on to Rio de Janeiro today (it's a hard life...) so I'll keep it short and sweet and treat you to some photos.

Since I last wrote, we've had episode 10 in London, episode 1 in Edinburgh, and back to London for episode 3, and I've really enjoyed all of them. For our first trip to London, me and Debs ran up stairs a lot, (we were building up tension, not to mention our calf muscles) and discovered an empty crack den - where was Jamie? At the door, locking us in. Great.

Emma looking through the bars of the crack den for her love, and obsession, Jamie.

We all had some fun posing in the window, sure :)

It was weird going all the way back to the beginning of the story for episode 1 in Edinburgh. I was really glad that Andrea had added in a scene at the start of Emma and Jamie in happier times, to give some context to the ensuing action.

In stark contrast to this lovely image of the happy couple Emma and Jamie once were, Andrea had also added in another scene, of Emma taking the self-portraits of herself crying over Jamie after their break-up, which feature in the gallery scene. Although I'm sure this will only be a short cut-away in the final edit, and there were no lines, this was one of my most challenging scenes in the whole film, because I knew that it had to feel real for the scene to work, which meant acting real pain and despair and loneliness with nothing to feed off, and surrounded by a camera crew - a new thing for me. So I retreated into character a while in advance of the scene, and was really sobbing by the time we were rolling.

It was a relief after putting myself through that to see the friendly faces of Debs and Alex arrive to film the bar scene! This was a very ambitious shot involving loads of extras and plenty of red bull!

BELLA HEESOM: "I love Red Bull; during a long and tiring day on set, it gives me the wings I need to fly through the next take!"

Later that day. Me and Debs napping.
[Not for inclusion in advert.]

I don't have access to the photos from the episode 1 shoot at the moment, so I guess I'll put those up with an account of the Edinburgh premiere later in the summer - looking forward to seeing you all there!

Having wrapped the whole film, I'd like to propose a toast to all of the teams and all of their hard work, not to mention my fellow actors, and most importantly, the fun we all had doing it. Thank you so much to everyone involved (not forgetting the people who gave me the opportunity in the first place, or those that came up with the idea) for such a wonderful experience. It is one I will treasure :)

Shoot photos copyright Manny Elias - thanks Manny!

- Bella Heesom -

DEBLOG FROM LONDON: THE RETURN

2007-07-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh, back to the big smoke to complete the final episode (actually episode 2 - but who's counting?) and this time I'm staying off Portobello Road, not an area I've ever visited before. So with scenes from Notting Hill flashing before my eyes and wondering if I'll bump into Hugh Grant, I travel south with trepidation. (Partly because I'm wondering if Hugh will be carrying orange juice and partly because the world got slightly madder in London last Friday).

With Alex & Bella filming all day - including the high tec green screen scene (?), Manny and I set out to explore the market stalls of Portobello Road. No sooner had we shut and locked our hotel room than the heavens opened (must be because it's Wimbledon) and we got soaked. And I mean soaked, to the skin, drenched, drowned rat - WET - so instead of enjoying a little antiquity hunt we spent the afternoon playing brolly roulette. I swear, when I become famous and go on Room 101 - umbrellas will be my first choice, umbrellas and people who selfishly carry them in a bustling street with no regard for anyone else's eyeballs. Standing at 5'9", I am reasonably tall - so why don't (mainly) women carrying brollies lift their deadly weapons up and over the heads of unsuspecting innocents on the street during a downpour? It's ridiculously lethal; I was nearly decapitated several times. As well as walking in fear of my eyes, I also tripped over some nutters' leg mid brolly dodge and was only saved from total embarrassment by Manny's strong arm. Take my advice, oh people of Portobello Road, sod The Bluewater Shopping Centre Bureaucrats - buy a hood!

Ok, rant over and now back to my job.

A very straightforward scene this week - short and grape based. Yes, you've guessed it - another bar for Avril. This one though, less swanky and more "Rock & Roll", hence the rocky outfit I'm wearing that was a happy accident (look, I have no clothes left that haven't featured in this film). We were met at the location by The Barman Formally Known As Prince, who didn't know, didn't care and reluctantly had to make calls to allow us entry.

Having had no previous contact with this week's crew I just breezed in and did what I do. It was fun, I enjoyed it but I did miss the sense of team I've felt before in the project.
For me, this weekend, filming was over before I'd even learnt anyone's name. However, this was quickly rectified at the Cobra Curry that night, as I was sat with Naomi, Erik and Eleni and had a brilliant time. Having got to know them I
wished I'd had more to do in this episode.

Bella - having a cop's breakfast before grape shooting.

So that's it, filming over for me, many cries of "it's a wrap - let's eat" later, I'm off to Milan whilst I wait for Louis to green light my next project: Avril Travel's The World On Emma's Cash With Jamie....

....strange Louis hasn't answered my location request yet....

Deblog From.... by Deborah Bouchard
Location Photos by Manny Elias.

DEBLOG FROM EDINBURGH EXTRA TIME

2007-06-27T02:31:00.000-07:00

Andrea very kindly sent through some shots from the footage taken in Edinburgh so I thought I'd share Avril's scene with you.

Avril & Emma realsie Jamie's arrived with his new girlfriend.

Emma makes a sharp exit, leaving Avril alone...

...and not very happy with Jamie!

DEBLOG FROM EDINBURGH

2007-06-26T03:38:00.000-07:00

"Find your mark, look the other fellow in the eye and tell the truth."
- James Cagney

Firstly, let me just tell you that The Tiger Lilly Hotel in Edinburgh is a truly GREAT hotel. Fab rooms, fab decor and a staff that are second to none. What a treat to stay there, in fact it's so good I'm even putting a link to them on my site! That said I now I really should get back to the reason for being in Edinburgh other than being spoilt at Tiger Lilly's!

The great thing about this project is working with all the different teams, all with totally independant ideas. This weeks team had a very exacting vision of what they wanted to see on film and yet another contrasting style which was an enjoyable challenge. My scene this week was the first time we see Avril in the film, quite a short exchange in a bar with the added help of around 20 extras, Cobra beer, plenty of Red Bull for the crew and I spotted a couple of bottles of champagne - it was a classy joint!

My scene finally in the can, I must admit I was disappointed that I couldn't get further North to go salmon fishing with Jill's Dad - an experience I'm trying to hook up (see what I did there?) for later on in the year. So I settled for the Castle and The Royal Mile - boy can it rain in Scotland it's June, flooded, cold and feels like November. It was a happy accident when we stumbled upon The Halfway House on a street called Fleshmarket Close in the old slaughterhouse district for Haggis, Neeps & Tatties, Stovies and Cullen Skink - could I be more of a tourist?

Photos by Manny Elias

Deblog From.... by Deborah Bouchard

DEBLOG FROM LONDON

2007-06-19T03:55:00.000-07:00

And so to London, Bella, Alex "2 pants" Falkowski and me. We were filming this weekend in a nice eigth floor flat that the team had to turn into a crack den. Jon also had to deal with being stopped by the police and questioned as a terrorist suspect when he was moving the equipment, fortunately he was wearing his Make Your Mark In Film T-shirt and all was explained away, phew! Friday saw Alex doing his live and naked gig, with lots of running and through the legs angles. I believe the shot list for the day was entitled "Thunder Cheeks Are Go!"

Bella & I stayed safely out of the way in the more than comfortable upstairs bedroom whilst we waited for the light to be right by the canal for our shot. Four flyers later (the canal ate most of them as we battled the Wuthering Heights style wind that appeared out of nowhere) and I finally managed to pick it up on film. Jon did offer me a hand double should I feel the wind was too much to deal with but, ever the professional, I declined.

Saturday was a tough day as we filmed the stairs scene - starting at the bottom and, several hours later, reaching the top. Bella & I had lots of running to do whilst she pulled a suitcase and I carried a backpack. Originally, I did try for the suitcase for Avril mainly because I knew the backpack would get heavier the more takes we did! By the final stairs shot, late Saturday, I felt as though I was ready to take on the SAS and win!

We then moved to the scene where Emma & Avril go into the flat (Avril with perfume drawn). Poor Avril, she's so excited to go to Barbados - she's dressed for it, packed for it and then gets locked in a crack den! It was in this scene that I think I did my best work as I impersonated Charlie's Angels (a lifelong ambition fullfilled). Jumping around a door to inspect behind it whilst using a perfume bottle as a gun. This classic moment could be on your screens soon - subject to edit!

On a final note, if you're ever in Wardour Street, I have to recommend that you stop in at Imli's for Indian tapas especially washed down with a couple of chilled Cobras. A fitting end to a great weekend's work - lovely!

Photos by Manny Elias

Deblog From... by Deborah Bouchard.

:-)

2007-06-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hello :-)

Okay, so I seem to have let myself get behind again. We've had Cardiff, Nottingham, and two shoots in Norwich, and all have been different, and all have been great!

Cardiff was a short one for me, as I was only needed for one day, but it furthered my education in film-making, as the crew there were incredibly professional, and a pleasure to work with. We had a make-up artist for the first time, and although the two of us managed to get very lost on the way to the location, Kirsty's make-up applying skills were far superior to her navigation ;-) Although I was a little dissappointed, when, having been excited at the prospect of a pro making me look better than I could, she informed me that she would be making me look rough. Dark circles, and a bit of red under the eyes - obviously appropriate, as Emma is in a hotel room on her own, stressed, about to drug the man she loves because she's afraid he going to get the police onto her, probably hasn't had much sleep, and certainly won't have thought to apply mascara. So I forgave Kirsty, and we got on with the shoot - in a VERY hot room, once it was filled with bodies and lit. I was also impressed by the first appearance of someone solely in charge of dressing the set, and repositioning things between takes to ensure continuity - obviously very helpful, but a luxury we'd been missing on previous shoots. And the director and camera man worked well together on a very tricky tracking shot, unpeterbed by the rest of the crew holding glasses to the wall to hear more clearly the sounds of a couple evidently having a rather rampant affair in the room next door!

I had my third round RADA audition on the thursday night before we started filming in Nottingham, and missed the 10 O'clock train, so had to wait over an hour for the next one from London. To add to the joy, the second half of the journey was in fact a replacement bus service, so I arrived in Nottingham after 2am, and then when I finally got hold of a taxi, the driver was a 19 year old who'd only been doing the job for a fortnight, and had no idea where he was going. After numerous telephone calls to the hotel, I eventually directed him there myself! When I arrived, the receptionist was doing something on the computer system which meant that she couldn't assign me a key card, so she let me into my room with her masterkey, but couldn't leave it with me, incase I decided, at 3am, to let myself into the other guests' rooms. Understandable, but that left me in pitch darkness for 10minutes, as the card was required for power. I settled into bed at about 3.30am. A great start.

However the next day was a pleasure, despite everything. At the risk of repeating what Debs said, and sounding unbearably lovey, our scene that day was very rewarding to act. It was the first real piece of extended dialogue, expressing real emotion, and it felt like we managed to create some really tender moments, like those shared by two best friends at difficult times. This was that much easier after a good few weeks working with Debs, developing our characters, and building a friendship of our own, aswell as a good working relationship, which gave us a great foundation on which to work with the script. The intensity was punctuated by more than a few laughs thanks to our celebrity extras, Stuart and Dan, who were a joy to have on set :-)

That evening, after a *delicious* dinner at the stylish Dakota hotel, me and Alex had a less soul-bearing, but a far more physically demanding scene to shoot - Emma wheeling Jamie and his belongings through the car park in a shopping trolley, and dragging him from said trolley into the back of a van! This was great fun to do - I don't know how Alex survived; when I had a go lying upside down in the trolley whilst it was standing still I was terrified, and he did it with his eyes closed, and me hurtling down a slope, very nearly losing control, and bashing into the side of the van, without so much as twitching an eye lid! He also coped very well with me struggling to lift him - all those cobra curries haven't made him any lighter, that's for sure! ;-) The crew had parrallel steering issues, as a result of their genius idea to get a smooth shot by shooting from a wheelchair! We must have been quite a sight to passers-by, spinning around after dark.

The next day, we took over the flat of a friend, using one room as the lock-up, and one as Jamie's new living quarters - the high-rise flat, or crack-den, as it's affectionately known. This was a fun day, not least due to our host beiong The Best Host In The World Ever; he cooked us spicy yummy pasta for lunch, and warm gooey brownies as an afternoon snack! Freshly baked! :-) In between stuffing our faces, and watching whatever apparently-very-important-and-exciting-football-match-was-on, we managed some filming, and we created a nice tender moment in a very basic scene too - when Emma goes in and, as the script says, pokes Jamie, to check that the drugged soup has worked, and he is asleep (and ready for shoving into a supermarket trolley!) It felt natural for me to enjoy a moment of being close to him again, in a way he hadn't allowed me to be for a while - which if it came across, will hopefully add a bit more emotional depth to the interaction. The cobra curry was great that night too - with the resturaunt having decided to just bring us a selection of everything, so that we could truly eat like kings ^_^

Then came the first of two Norwich shoots, and the only one without Debs, who was sadly missed. This team had constructed the set, not to mention a beautifully decorated green room, themselves, in the loft above an unused garage, which Alex seriously considered purchasing to play with cars in. We had a challenging but fun day, with Emma and Jamie talking through the letter box of the crack den to eachother. It was the first time me and Alex had really interacted face to face in a scene, and it was quite moving, although, due to wall issues, my close up was addressed to a letterbox with nothing but bricks the other side of it! With the image of Jamie in my mind though, and his voice behind me telling me he didn't love me anymore, I even shed a tear.

The second Norwich shoot was very different, with lots of locations to move between, and the rather more refined base of a wedding dress shop, conveniently filled with Millie's cookies and muffins! Me and Debs started with a very early morning and a glass of wine, in a lovely bar, and, for the first time, lots of lovely extras. The scene ran smoothly, even with most shots requiring more takes than usual in order to try out an alternative ending that may or may not be created in post-production, where Emma's mind plays tricks on her, and she sees Jamie in the bar. I then had friday afternoon and all of saturday off, and so ran away to Cambridge to see some friends before returning just in time for a very yummy curry and some very enjoyable conversation :-) Sunday started in a rush for me, after the hotel simply did not give me the wake up call I had requested! But I was soon on a quiet street, made up and in costume, and ready to go. We had a good morning, working surprisingly quickly, and I felt very pampered having not one but two make-artists rushing over from time to time to top up my lip gloss or adjust my dress!

Thank you so much to all of the teams - I've had a brilliant time with all of you - now just make sure you make me look good in the edit, okay?!

Photos from Nottingham copyright Matthew Richardson.

Photos from Norwich copyright Manny Elias.

-Bella Heesom-

DEBLOG FROM NORWICH

2007-06-11T03:13:00.000-07:00

Firstly let me give you a little piece of advice: never, no matter how good an idea it seems to save time in a morning before filming, put croissants in the industrial hotel toaster. Not that is, unless, you fancy the idea of an early visit from the fire brigade or really want to see the staff loose their minds! Enough said the better I think, suffice to say if I ever want to stay at the Premier Travel Inn Norwich again I might have to make a reservation in Manny's name.

That aside, Norwich was a brilliant experience, hard work and lots of laughs. East Point Films had a tough schedule to get through this weekend but managed it beautifully by being highly organised and extremely professional. Each aspect of the shot (make-up, costume, location etc), had been meticulously planned and executed and it made my job really relaxing and easy.

Day one we filmed the last shot of Emma & Avril in Bedford’s (yet another bar - that Avril sure does drink a lot)! By the end of filming I was about to go and buy sun cream and bikinis as I was actually starting to believe that I was going to Barbados. The second day saw my scene with Trianna. After filming with Felicity in Cardiff, I couldn't quite imagine how her assistant would be. East Point had perfectly cast Sue (lovely lady in real life) as the abrasive Trianna and it was great fun working out the status of this shot - how Emma could deal with these two I'll never know. Manny also made a small cameo appearing as "a man in restaurant" (full interview about Fansom Winmoe, the football agent, on the documentary for your viewing pleasure).

Following the great Cobra Curry the night before (has anyone seen Alex since?), day three saw us live on the medieval streets of Norwich filming our final scene before the 5.5 hour drive back to Cheshire. Once Tom had quietened the talking book blaring out of ye oldie window the scene got underway on the cobbles. However I did note that in the previous scene I put Trianna's cheque in my pocket and Avril hasn't handed it over to Emma yet. I feel a sub-plot coming on! Avril does a runner to Barbados, forges Emma’s signature, opens an account, banks the money and lives happily ever after in the sunshine with a man called Clyde, a case of Mount Gay and Stay, the dog.

Photos taken by Manny Elias.

Deblog From.... by Deborah Bouchard.
Location photos by Manny Elias

DEBLOG FROM NOTTINGHAM

2007-05-26T04:22:00.001-07:00

Firstly, Dakota hotels must be highly recommended, very stylish with great rooms but unfortunately no Manny this weekend as he’s housitting for an old, incredibly farty dog. So pics are from my camera phone.

Big scene this weekend with Bella and I (the gallery scene) although
we did laugh that Bella looked like some sort of terrorist in her disguise! It was a joy to film this scene. Every now and again, if you are lucky, you have a little moment between two actors that requires no explanation but is just understood and developed. This happened between Bella and I this weekend. The James’ and all the Notts crew could see this happening and let us develop our roles in the scene, which was great for us. In the end we worked as an ensemble on all aspects of the shot, which was very artistically pleasing.

It was a great pleasure meeting Stuart

(another bloody Leo)
and Dan, our star extras from Emmerdale – eating apples (Stuart became a mobile cider press) and reading papers. They both were very funny, encouraging people, with some cool stories to share and really made the day zip along by bringing a lovely energy into the gallery.

Deblog From.... by Deborah Bouchard.

DEBLOG FROM CARDIFF

2007-05-26T03:43:00.000-07:00

The weekend with all the Andy’s, The Cardiff 6 made me very welcome (complete with Kirsty the Makeup lady – that was a pleasant suprise). We were filming the scene where Avril meets Felicity and despite feeling desperate about her friend begins to see the type of people Emma has in her world (and she’s not that impressed). The lovely Marianna, played Felicity, was I’m pleased to say, absolutely nothing like her character but looked exactly how I thought Felicity would – complete with all the grand gestures and fixing blue eyes. We had quite a laugh in the “Gorge At George” Café.

The rain was a bit of an issue for us as it was pouring down! Marianna had to enter the scene from outside and after several takes started looking like a drowned rat! It’s a difficult thing to ignore running water on the nose of your fellow actor in a scene, however I think we pulled it off.

We were also interrupted by some Welsh hoodies who tried to gatecrash the scene during a take. There was much shouting and insistence on their part the café said open on the door, however, Finn waded in and threw them out. The joys of location filming! Location Photos by Manny Elias.

Deblog From.... by Deborah Bouchard.

2007-05-06T06:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Thanks to Debs for being so good at keeping up with documenting every shoot, I evidently don't share my character's passion for blogging and pouring out my heart to internet friends, as Judy tells us Emma does, but I do enjoy reading what everyone else writes, so I figured it was about time I put my tuppence in.

Photo: copyright Matthew Richardson

Well, I've had an amazing time working on the film so far :-) To begin with, the secret to my character was unlocked for me when I read that Emma is a Scorpio. No, really - my mum and sister are both Scorpios, and they're scheming and manipulative and neurotic and insecure, as well as being wonderful people of course! Armed with this new found understanding, I arrived in Liverpool. With my theatrical background, the Liverpool team's radical approach was the perfect introduction to filming for me - we were essentially in a theatre space, which became incredibly atmospheric and evocative as soon as evening fell. And we got a whole day of rehearsal, exploring the extremes of our characters, playing around with film noir, and of course utilising the now-famed Bumblebee technique. The following day, filming was an exciting process; the feeling of performance heightened by the challenge of capturing all of the scenes in a single shot. There were a lot of laughs to be had too, from Debs teaching me some of her best dance moves in preparation for our night club scene, to me and Tom teaching Alex how to be an emo over some curry and Cobra :-)

Left photo: copyright Manny Elias
Right photo: copyright Bella Heesom

Next week it was on to Belfast, and I cannot emphasize enough the size of the beds in the hotel. My bed was WIDER THAN I AM LONG. I couldn't reach the edges. This kept me entertained for some time, and then I discovered the free RUBBER DUCK on the bath, and was the happiest bunny of all :-D The shoot was the polar opposite of last time; we were presented with a production pack, which included a shooting schedule that gave the actors at least a day off each! I started with some smug scenes of Emma on her bed enjoying a beer whilst watching Jamie suffering via her laptop, then took a ride in a soft-top to the next location, my hair blowing glamorously in the breeze. Highlights at the cafe were Gerard McSorely's anecdotes, growls, and pervy stares (only in character of course) not to mention the cakes. On Saturday I went shopping whilst Alex crashed around another lock up, and then met up with the guys for a lovely meal accompanied, of course, by Cobra. After a much appreciated lie-in on Sunday, it was just a quick shot of Emma walking down the street, without a care in the world. In the car on the way back, Think by Aretha Franklin came on, and we almost went back to re-shoot the scene with me dancing along to it, so apt were the lyrics -

Yeah, think, think about what you trying to do to me
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, let your mind go, let yourself be free.

You need me, and I need you
Without each other, ain't nothin' neither can do
Yeah, think about it baby

Oh freedom (freedom)
freedom (freedom) freedom

Oh freedom

Yeah freedom (yeah) freedom!!

Definitely Emma's theme song methinks!

Photo: copyright Manny Elias

Last week took us to some countryside apparently near Southampton. There appears to be a trend developing for putting Jamie in horrible dingy warehouses or, in this case, farm buildings, in spite of the fact that in the script he is definitely in perfectly nice surroundings, with a kitchen, bathroom, and his belongings. I resent this, as I have formed a strong sense of affinity with my character, and I feel everyone is making her seem more mean than she is! Alex, who obviously has the ulterior motive of wanting the audience to sympathise with HIS character, laughed off my concerns, and proceeded to roll around in the dirt and pretend to be a monkey to make Jamie look even more hard-done-by. I had the last laugh though, as I left him the cow dung for the afternoon, in order to swan around the hotel sauna, steam room, and pool in my new bikini ^_^

I believe this is the only episode in which I have no lines at all, but I had a few silent reactions, which are surprisingly tricky! Listening to an answer phone message at home (filmed in the hall of a GLORIOUS and MASSIVE house, with a huge garden, complete with TRAMPOLINE - some good 'making of' shots there, to be sure), and becoming increasingly worried by Jamie's threats whilst watching him via my laptop in a hotel room (we filmed in the hotel we were staying in, but in a posher room).

And, of course we finished with the curry, which was delicious, and made more special by the genie with the magical shoes who welcomed us at the door, although delayed by the crew's 'car trouble', which may have been code for 'an hour-long shower'.

I'm actually missing you this weekend Alex and Debs! I'm looking forward enormously to Cardiff, and all the other shoots, I can't wait to see what all the other teams have in store for us - it's gonna have to be good to match what's gone before :-) I'm getting m ore and more excited about the project as it goes on, I think we could be creating something rather special. I'm definitely having a lot of fun doing it, and learning a lot too, I feel very lucky indeed :-)

Photo: copyright Manny Elias

-Bella Heesom-

DEBLOG FROM SOUTHAMPTON

2007-04-30T02:07:00.000-07:00

We arrive at the Macdonald Botley Park Hotel in glorious sunshine to find ourselves plunged headlong into golf world, with more leisure facilities than surely can be healthy for you. This seemed to have an adverse effect on Alex as, just for this weekend, he asked us all to call him Andre Falkowski and proceeded to hang around the tennis courts looking for a playing partner whilst hopping from foot to foot and shouting "you cannot be serious" in a strange accent! I do think that the hotel took the health kick a little too far when, on the Saturday night after our meal, we went to the hotel bar for our traditional "end of shoot" nightcap. With cash in our pockets and our room keys in our hot little hands, we found out it was extraordinarily difficult to buy a drink from the open hotel bar - so we decided to break with tradition and went to bed instead.

Two very small scenes in the gym for me this weekend which finally began shooting after long delays. This team had a real vibe for them by the introduction of Ollie to distract Avril from the TV screen showing Jamie. And a very welcome addition he was too as he stretched and posed in the gym, flirting with Avril (who naturally was not in the least bit impressed) resulting in a really fun scene. Bryn also did well having been roped in at the last moment to play Becky - especially, as she told me, English was not her first language (and my Norwegian sucks - although I am working on the cheeky little phrase she taught me!) However, with a little gentle coaching over a coffee in my hotel room Bryn was ready to rock. This second shot was changed to a different location due to the lesuire manager having gone home to bed with the keys to the ladies changing room. Sometimes working around these problems can produce better results, a challenge raises your game and I think Chris demonstrated this by using mirrors when setting up this shot in the newly acquired toilet location. I think it was better than the original idea.

Shoot photos by Manny Elias

Deblog From.... by Deborah Bouchard.

DEBLOG FROM BELFAST

2007-04-23T01:52:00.000-07:00

And so to Belfast on a big shiny Easyjet bird! We arrive at The Europa Hotel (Winner - Most bombed hotel, also known as The Hardboard Hotel) to pleasantly discover possibly the biggest beds in the western universe, a 40inch flat panel TV and a completely mental shower. Very pleased with our situation we meet Mike and the team bright and early on Friday AM for an informal chat - complete with shoot schedule. I'm called later that same afternoon and look forward to getting stuck in.(Shoot photos by Manny Elias)

After a ride in Mike's Yaris (get your tyre pressures checked Mike!) and a treat for the ears on the stereo we arrive at a very cosy and pretty cafe outside Belfast which is swarming with the local press - well done team Belfast - in anticipation of the arrival of Gerard Mcsorely. Gerard turned out to be a lovely bloke with a wealth of experience and a pleasure to talk to, although I know he found his role both challenging and a stretch!

It was a much more straight forward plan this weekend, compared to last and with the shot (s) in the can, Gerard off to his trailer for a relax, Alex and I decided to introduce the residents of Ballyclare to a little ipod dancing, which, I'm sure they appreciated.

Of course, no trip to Belfast would be complete without a short stay for a pint of the black stuff at The Crown Liquor Store (handily located across the street from our hotel - sorry Cobra). With all of us actors working on our northern Irish accent to the wonderful tag line "Rupert's shooting movies on the moon" we sat and whiled away the time whilst waiting for our plane!

Deblog From.... by Deborah Bouchard.

Liverpool Making of - Document 02

2007-04-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Some cool pictures from the shoot last weekend. All photos copyright Manny Elias.

Sitting outside while we sort the electrics out....

Andy the live-feed camera man. His camera was supplying the 'close up' and 'you tube' projections

Andy, myself and Cara the first-camerawoman wonder if the camera is picking up the 'subtle' (difficult) balance of spot lights, lamp lights and projections in the 'flat' scene.

Tom goes through the famous 'BumbleBee' technique with Bella and Deborah.

Alex relaxes and plays guitar. We felt this would be a good time to use 'the method' and locked him in while we went for a sandwich in the sun.

Liverpool Making of - Document 01

2007-04-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Click To Play

An excerpt showing a test clip of the liverpool shoot alongside a mobile phone film or the filming taking place. The film was shot as a number of scenes but all in a 5 minute long single take, with the camera moving between sets and actors hitting their cues then rushing to turn off a light or adjust some set.

This clip shows part of the final and 7th attempt at the 5 minute marathon and was infact the take i decided to use in the end. The image on the left is prior to colour correction and the sound is the untreated audio, but it gives a good idea of the process. Video shot by Manny Elias on Tom's phone

Bumble Bee, Bumble Bee.

2007-04-19T04:04:00.000-07:00

When Sam and I first met the cast confusion was our element of surprize. We bombarded our newly found actors with plans of epic proportion and scared the carp out of them by telling them they were to be donkeys and carry all our gear. But... thanks to a great British brew and a couple of taxis everything was ironed out and the companys blushes and backs were spared.

Instead of building on our new found affection for each other, we took our now trusting cast to a dust filled garage that resembled a seagull sanctuary or steptoes yard. In here we were to embark on the truly mega adventure.

I gained the role as actor liason and performance director (for want of a better phrase... like performinator!) and set about working on the intention and the grit of the scenes.

I mainly used brechtian, artaudian and stanislavskian techniques including bumble bee bumble bee (see an actor prepares p39) or loud football noises to wooooo (creating a role p997). these got us into the mood for a truly wonderful time.

Now i have built up the story I am going to leave you guys hanging, i believe in teasing things out and also keeping some cards close to our chest (this is a challenge after all).

So in the near future you may hear me elaborate further but for now... enjoy your own shoots and don't forget... To Bumble Bee or to not Bumble Bee, that is the question!

Preventing the Possible Plights of Production

2007-04-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

The Liverpool film has now been shot. And in just two hours at that. And it didnt even need any editing!

Our approach was to shortcut the usual filmic processes of scene setups, multiple locations, continuity, and editing by simply filming epidode 3 without any locations, in a simple empty garage space, and all in one take.

I had tried this one-shot performance approach recently on a music video for John Smith and i enjoy creative restrictions. Though i love editing more than any other part of the process, i really enjoyed NOT editing.

However, even the most pared down creative processes have their problems. Liverpool MYMIF had some great ones. I shall explain:

1. Black Box Theatre

Space for creative work is incredibly hard to find. There are loads of empty spaces in Liverpool, its just that you cant get access - they are sat on by greedy developers. And a simple 'black box' theatre space over easter holiday is even rarer - either locked into an unflexible academic calendar or fully booked. Bizarrely enough, i did locate an available space run by a company called 'Black Box Theatre'. However, upon inspection it was bright yellow. In the end i struck upon a simple garage space run by The Art Organisation, called The Projection Gallery.

2. Electromagnetism

To get round the fact we had no location and yet the script was set in a pub, a club, a flat and the lock up, we used a few simple props and some live projections to hint at the different environments. We also had a few theatrical lights, with which we artfully lit our set, and consequently shorted the electrics of the gallery. Oh bugger. An impromtu tea break followed while we treid not to panic and work out what went wrong. We located a melted extension coil under a desk and rewired our gear in a more sensible fashion. Power on!

3. Coitus Interruptus

Space sorted, power on, all we have to do is shoot. The intense, protracted rehearsal and choreography of our single 5-minute-take delayed the actual shooting schedule to the eleventh (well, 7th) hour. Our curry was booked at 9, and we still hadn't shot anything! Everything now had to fall into place, with no hiccups.

One of the biggest challenges of a 5 minute take is sound. We knew our movemnts, our lines, cues, scene changes, but we could do nothing about sound from the outside. I was just praying that the seagulls that had previously been sqwaking on the tin roof had all well and truly buggered off.

3 attempts in and things were going ok, but just ok. But then, at the 4th attempt, everything seemed to be feeling just right. This is the take we'll use, i know it. I'm triggering the projections, smiling smugly inside, watching Cara doing superb work on the camera, Fletch handle the boom smoothly and discretely, even Bella's fella Matt was dancing in the lightbox. He could tell this was the one. And then it all goes wrong...

I hear loud grating sound from outside the gallery. Someone is opening a gate, dragging it, clunk, and a van drving in the carpark, right outside the door. The crank of the hand brake, the engine stops. To everyone's credit, they simply carried on like pros.

As soon as we cut, i went outside and saw a van. But no-one there. then i eard a sound, from the van. i went to investigate, only to discover a romantic couple shagging in the front seat. I knocked on the window and attempted to use sign language to explaining we were shooting a film. This simply confused issues, so i opened the door and aksed if they were going to be moving the van again, parking i mean. They were dead nice about it and said "sorry about that, it's cool, we're finished now". It was very heart warming in the end to think that while we were spending these first glimpses of summer in a dirty garage, some couples were simply at it.

I went back inside and we reset. Three more takes later and we felt we'd got it.
All in all i was pleased we tried something a bit different, even if it did have its own problems, but it was a unique experience!

DEBLOG FROM LIVERPOOL

2007-04-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

It was a very warm welcome to Liverpool, both by all the Team and the natives, so kind of them to dress in their best, with hats and everything to welcome Make Your Mark In Film to Liverpool- I'm sure it was that and nothing to do with the National? Without giving too much away, as I understand each concept to be top secret, it was a very ambitious idea and I was interested to see how it would fit together when Sam & Tom first explained it. However, explain they did and took their time to rehearse in a really "actor friendly" manner for all of Friday. I swerved the opportunity to watch Eraserhead at the cinema Fri evening (sorry Sam - just needed to relax after an intensive day!) However, relax was not on the minds of the race goers - we all enjoyed a rather special rendition of Downtown (acapella in the hotel bar) and I'm sure Alex won't forget the sweet version of "Hey Baby, ooh, Ahh" outside his room at 4am. (Photos from the shoot by Manny Elias)

Saturday dawned and, after we met the rest of the team, we began to shoot with a break to watch the race (when in Rome? - my jockey jumped of his horse and Alex's came second). It was a very technical shoot and took a long time to set up but as it was a beautiful day there was tea on the terrace! (There were lots of other funny incidents to share with you all but I'll let Sam tell it how it was!)

The shoot in the can, we met for Liverpool's Cobra night out (other teams - you're in for such a treat) - thanks Cobra. We ate, had a couple of beers and swapped stories. It was a great celebration of an idea, a shoot and the beginning of a remarkable project.

Deblog From.... by Deborah Bouchard.

Main character - background info

2007-04-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Hot off the press, well by email from Judy. I requested some additional background info on our 3 lead characters. So here goes:

Surnames:
Emma Wrenn
Jamie Barker
Avril Carter

Background
Emma's 25, a scorpio (apparently scorpio's can be 'brooding, vengeful and secretive').

Emma is a bit of a drama queen and wears her heart on her sleeve.

The wedding to Jamie was only 3 months away when she found out he was cheating on her (just over a week previously). Her friends had warned her, but she wouldn't believe it, until Jamie received a text message while in the pub with Emma and some of their friends. Jamie was across the room, his phone left on the table near Emma. She wouldn't have read the incoming message, but Avril dared her. Jamie was kind of relieved to be caught out. With the church booked things were going faster than he'd planned.

Emma had told everyone including her parents and younger sister how Jamie was definitely 'the one'. And she still thinks he is. "He's weak willed, these girls throw themselves at him. It's me he loves, we have this connection."

When they met, Jamie was a budding musician, and Emma sees him as 'spiritual' and a poetic soul - in fact he's lazy and happy in his job (inland revenue).

Emma and Jamie had been together for 2 years. He'd bought her Tabitha as a kitten (to make up after a row). Emma assumes the cat must miss her 'daddy' and thinks she's pining when she just need to cough up a fur ball.

Emma's sentimental - about songs she and Jamie both liked, favourite films, places they ate together. When she wins him back, she'll say 'I told you so' to all the doubters. Friends talk about 'moving on' but you can't move on from a soul-mate.

Emma's hobbies are all creative, she enjoys decorating and DIY. Art college has made her confident with power tools. Worried about her, Avril has been taking her on girly shopping trips, nights out etc.

Emma enjoys manipulating her photos on the computer. Annie Liebovitz is her heroine, currently on her ipod are Pink, Gwen Stefani and The Gossip. Jamie was first introduced by a friend at a gig. Emma could blog for England and pouring her heart out to web 'friends' is addictive to her.

Welcome to the blog

2007-04-15T07:08:00.001-07:00

Hi All,

Well we have a blog - please add pics, music and info for all the teams taking part

Cheers
Louis