Director's Weekly Post Production Blog WEEK 38 Saturday July 26th...

Now I’m in France for a few days having meetings about other projects. Julie texted me yesterday wishing me well and saying she is very close to her due date now. Again I will not have time to see her while I pass through Paris and hope she is not disappointed.

Last Saturday, on my birthday, I went back to Stevenage to see my father. He still hasn’t started the radio therapy yet as there is “no room on the coach”. As there is nowhere to do the treatment nearby he must go to Cambridge and thus wait till there is room on the bus to get there. That’s the NHS for you! The Doctor told him not to worry “You still probably have five years to live!”

As well as seeing my father I saw Stevenage Borough FC play QPR in a pre-season friendly which was nice. My old friend, Dave, is the videographer for the local team and even wanted me to film the match for him as he was busy. In the end I didn’t need to as he found someone else.

Sunday was a very pleasant day as I didn’t work that day! Lewis won the German GP also which was a bonus. I am now starting to believe he can do it this year.

On Monday there was much running around. Amongst other things, I met with Neil Harris to conclude some financial details for the picture post. The deal we had done originally, before shooting, was done on a handshake so now that needs to be formalised into a contract. It’s gratifying how with people who trust each other this can be done. I’ve spent hours negotiating contracts for mere shekels. Our handshake deal was on the figure of £70,000 (and now rising) – the biggest single deal on the film!

In the evening I went out to Harpenden again to see JD and Axle and hear all the sound tracks laid for reels 3 and 4. This time I had loads of comments. Things missed. Extra nuances that we should have. It’s a tiring business track laying so I hope I wasn’t too demanding!

It had to tell Axle yet again it was confirmed that there will be not time for mixing this week. The plus point is that we are ahead of the game now, though. We have done Fx pre-mixes on reel 1 and are now ready to pre-mix reels 2 to 4.

On Tuesday we continued grading, completing reel 2 and starting on reel 3. The most pleasing shot we graded was the wide shot before they enter the forest. It looks so lush and beautiful. I’m very proud of it. Throughout the day Roger and I did relay swaps as we both had to pop out to different meetings etc. We are in perfect sync so that was not a problem. Roger is away for the next two week shooting in Kuwait and also has a lot on his plate.

Wednesday it was not possible to do any grading so it continued through Thursday and Friday. By the end of yesterday, reel 3 was complete and reel 4 was started. I didn’t see much of reel 3 as I had to catch a train and left Roger to it. I will review and, if needed, tweak the results next week when I will be on my own once again. Axle is busy next week also, so no matter what I am doing, I will be doing it on my own.

So we are now 50% of the way through the grading and 40% of the way through the mixing. The former has overtaken the latter this week. Still the Fx shots need to put into the conform and graded and also an extensive de-spotting session needs to be undertaken to remove scratches and white sparkles that were on negative - another possibly delaying process. Also there are still the titles (front and end) and the film-out process (which takes 3 weeks) and answer print/married check prints still to be done.

My best guess is that the film will be finished in 7 weeks now. Although, it seems like it has been 7 weeks for a long time now!
 

In France I ate the most delicious pigeon I have ever eaten. Cooked in Armagnac in a pot, stuffed with foi gras and black truffles and with wild mushrooms as a side order. Delicious!

Monday I learnt that yet again there will be no mixing this week but we can continue grading. I am glad they both didn’t come in this week as both Roger and Axle are busy this week and there is only one of me.

On Tuesday we finished grading reel 4 and reviewed the stuff done last week. The forest montage and the fireflies sequence look wonderful now. Afterwards I headed to Raezor studios in Putney where we recorded and mixed the ‘track’ now entitled “Nothing Else Matters” by the Wolfmen. It replaces a different song that has proved un-clearable.

The recording went great with Marco Pironi recording a viola-like sound on an electric guitar with a cello bow, Daniel Strittmatter, the Swiss (we have 6 of them now who have worked on the film) drummer recorded some great Mo Tucker-esque beats and Chris Constantinou’s wonderfully dark bass lines and haunting flute.

Pete Stevenson turned up to do some more filming. He was quite jolly as usual and interviewed me about the film’s progress and shot some of the recording. After the tape stock ran out but before the white wine did, off mic, he improvised some singing as Chris recorded the bass, inspiring him with his craziness! Afterwards, before passing out, Pete told me that he was “madder than me” and how he “has the infinite inside of him and that I don’t!” Daniel told him that we all have the infinite inside us as long as we know exactly who we are. I agreed completely.

The session finished at 2am.

The next day Pete texted me “What a lovely day yesterday. Very good to see you. I totally fell in love with the wolves particularly the bass man. A very very good player. The sequence is gonna be stupendous and scary and sexy. Hey bro I want to say how much I admire your determination and grit. Keep on keeping on. I know I’m fairly useless but for what it’s worth I’m behind you all the way. It’s a privilege.”

That day I found out from Rebecca that there would be no grading for a couple of days but would get in to continue on Friday. This break allowed me to catch up on other projects. Rebecca also promised to chase up the missing shots (SFX and otherwise), something I have been waiting for 3 weeks to happen so far. Daniel has done all the 2k SFX shots bar one and we have actually graded all the scenes which they are in.

Yesterday I was disappointed yet again to find out there was an emergency at Midnight transfer and thus Friday was unavailable for grading. So the week ends with only one days work really done on the film – at least it was a full one. Although Axle and JD have also been working on the track laying full time. We are now 70% of the way with the grading and still 40% of the way with the mixing. That means that at the end of another week we are still 7 weeks away from finishing. In my heart of hearts I hoped that the post would not be longer than 45 weeks. I’m certain now that it will be longer. I hope it’s not longer than 52 weeks, if not just because of what that adds up to – a whole year! One reason for this is that I haven’t earned a penny since June 2007 and probably won’t until the film is finished and I am available to work on something else!

On Wednesday I spoke to an old friend of mine, the Producer Neil Peplow. He has just finished a film for HBO and the BBC. It took 18 months of post!