Director's Weekly Post Production Blog WEEK 52 Friday October 31st...

Sunday’s cutting room trip was moved till Monday as Caroline was exhausted, having just worked two weeks solid. I know what it’s like.

On Monday I walked out of the cutting room - having done all the music final fitting - for what I thought was the last time. I was feeling great. Maybe it was through doing something vaguely creative that gave me the high, maybe it was finally getting over the exhaustion of the shoot or maybe it was that the finishing line for at least the sound was drawing into sight. I called Ian at Synxspeed and he gave me the date of this coming Monday to do the final sound mix, although I had to call on Friday to confirm.

After seemingly sorting out the sound, I called Rebecca at Midnight Transfer to try and move the picture forward. I couldn’t get through to her. I got through to John Claude who told me the scans that were going to be done a week ago have not actually been done. I couldn’t believe it.

Later my Father called seemingly much better since having the radio therapy. Then Jonnie texted me to say he thought “Things were now on the up for DEP”. I shared his enthusiasm.

On Tuesday I got hold of Rebecca. She told me the scans would take place that night and that probably we could re-convene grading on Thursday and Friday. Roger, who has completely lost faith in Midnight Transfer, was free for Thursday but not Friday.

Things were falling into place fast! I was alive again. Hurrah!!

Wednesday I couldn’t get hold of Rebecca nor John Claude and thus deduced that Thursday would not be happening. Also I couldn’t find out if the re-scans had finally taken place. Daniel for instance was still waiting for two frames to conclude the VFX.

On Thursday morning I discovered that the scans had taken place on Wednesday night but that John Claude wanted to check them. At the end of the day he had still not concluded checking them so I had to wait until the next day to find out if we were going to get any grading this week.
 
This morning brought confirmation that we will be able to start the final mix on Monday. The final phase for the sound looms into sight! I couldn’t get hold of Rebecca or JC at Midnight all day. At the end of it I found out that JC hadn’t liked the scans and that he wanted them redone!! I now must speak to Rebecca Monday about when we can continue grading. Roger is free Monday and Tuesday but not Wednesday. I have no idea when I am free as I will be mixing from the start of the week. Probably it will take 3 days.

A couple of hours ago a bombshell was dropped on me by Steve Lindsey. He e-mailed me to tell me one of the Vanessa and the O’s songs I am using is now un-clearable! Apparently it is part written by two Scandinavian guys and their publisher is being idiotic. I was absolutely aghast and told him we are doing the final mix on Monday and that he couldn’t do this to me.
He asked “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
Of course the answer is that “I didn’t know!”
The problem was Steve had sent me contracts for all the music so I assumed they were ready to be signed. Apparently he had thought so too!!

I can’t believe my bad luck. Should I postpone the mix? Should I delay mixing reel 3 where the now offensive bit of music is?

I’ve decided in the end to do neither. Caroline, luckily, is free for an hour on Sunday before the race. I will either use a discarded but already cleared piece of music, something Steve finds in the next 36 hours or some of Marcel’s score but no matter what I will make a decision on what to use this Sunday. I cannot delay the mix nor any part of this film. I MUST FINISH IT!!!

That will turn Sunday into an epic day. It is a year since sitting in the caravan in France with Roger and The Ginger Beacon, that I saw Lewis throw away a 7 point lead in the last race of the season. Now Lewis has the same lead going into this year’s final race. God I hope he wins. And that the year of defeat will be erased by a glorious victory! Please God!!!!

I have a 1996 bottle of Pol Roger waiting for the championship win. It has been waiting to be cracked for four years now.

On Sunday I made the decision needed about the replacement music track. We went with a track that we had used before discovering Vanessa and the O’s. It was a positive choice. Afterwards I scooted back to north London see the race. The tension on the last three laps was ridiculous. I was screaming at the TV. Until Lewis crossed the line and it flashed up 5th, I wasn’t sure if he had actually done it. I sobbed with joy after cracking open the champagne.

The next day on the way to Denham I shed a tear again seeing Lewis on the front and back pages. Dreams can be achieved. What a great start to a week!

On that day we completed the mix for reel one. It was enjoyable and creative stuff, working with Axle, JD and Nic. It was great. I thought we would do two reels a day but instead we did one. Nic told me it was normal to take a whole day on reel one and that we would speed up.

The only down point that day was that I discovered from Rebecca at Midnight Transfer that not only were we waiting for the scans of the shots that had been wrong or missing from the conform but also we were waiting for scans of shots that we had already graded but had somehow got corrupted. We had stepped backwards not forwards. Instead of being 75% of the way there with picture as I thought, we were back to 50%! Also this day was 6 months exactly since I first delivered the EDL. 6 months of grading!

On Tuesday we had technical problems with the desk and lost half a days mixing time. We would have lost more if JD hadn’t have volunteered to ride over and collect a software disc. Despite this delay we were able to complete reel two.

While waiting for JD to return, a bomb dropped. Roger called me to say they were unhappy at Deluxe about things I had written in my blog about Midnight Transfer. As Synxspeed is right next to Deluxe in Denham I immediately went over to see them. I wanted to see Terry Lansbury but as he was out I saw Clive Noakes and Ian Robinson. I apologised unreservedly for upsetting them. It was not my intention to criticise either. It is certainly not theirs nor ANYONE at Deluxe Film’s fault. They have not been involved at all. In fact I wish they had been!! Clive and Ian are much loved and respected figures in the UK film industry and rightly so. They are “film-maker friendly” as Midnight Transfer used to be.

We sat and chatted for 15 minutes and I told them a brief history of things. When they found out how the handshake agreement between me and the previous owner of Midnight Transfer had been partially unpicked by the new management they were surprised. Clive and Ian, I feel, are like me. They are old school. When you shake a man’s hand and look into their eyes you honour that commitment no matter what. Many times in my life I have made promises that are ultimately to my detriment to keep but I have kept them because that’s what I feel you should do. My grandfather had that sense of honour and duty and it’s in my DNA.

That night the world changed. Barack Obama won. As Nic was busy Wednesday I was able to stay up all night watching. What a great week!

Thursday the mix resumed and we completed reel 3. Jonnie, who is over from France for a few days, popped in the afternoon. It was good to see him. Normally I don’t like Producer’s being in the mix but with Jonnie it’s a bit different.

Friday was even better. We completed reels 4 and 5 doing some great work. Jonnie popped in again with news of some new investment. Much needed. So we are now 95% of the way with the sound, firmly ahead of the picture. Monday we will mix the big one – reel six.

I couldn’t get hold of Rebecca on Friday so I spoke to John Claude. Like Roger, he seemed a bit annoyed by it all. He had been able to put in the re-scans on reels one and two but not the others. In desperation, I tried to call Rebecca’s boss, Richard Fish. The receptionist told me that he had abruptly hung up his mobile on her saying he would call me back next week. Hopefully he will be able to move things forward.