Day 29 Tuesday October 30th ...

Julie Paul Daniel & Matt

Filming in the toilet...!

5.08am

 
Nearly finished. Wonderful stuff in the last few hours all with no problems. Malika and Callum's shadows on the walls as they enter the office. Sark's last scene in a whip pan. Her delicious shriek and finger pointing Almodovar-esque. Callum saying good morning reflected in the clock then tilting down to Fahra. Office mayhem with Jode, a toy zeppelin and flying helicopter, which I will intercut with Marrlen in Callum's office. Rhys' office runner cameo worked well I think. He will almost certainly be in the cut. Cassie improvised also with a courier, played by Yoram, one of our Executive Producers, thanks to whom we are making this film. It was lovely stuff. Cassie did brilliantly. Her line "Sorry I don't date couriers" summed up her predicament perfectly. She did wonderful stuff with Callum earlier also. Before I asked her what she thought of him as a character and she said "He's the kind of guy I should go for but never do..." She was spot on. In the twelve years I've known Cassie and the numerous smaller things I have used her for, she has grown into a wonderful actress. For her, shooting this film with me and Marc is a dream come true. I am glad to fulfil that dream. She deserves it and much more.
 
5.30am
 
Shooting Callum in the toilet. We would be nearly out of stock now if it wasn't for a friend of mine, Bill James, kindly donating some to us earlier. I am shooting Callum reading his book low with wide angle lenses. It's like an Orson Welles scene a bit. Last up will be Jode's mushrooms improvisation. Before Grace left I said "Thank You" to her in a really soulful way. I meant it more than any other "Thank you" I have said in the last four years. I meant it DESPERATELY. It may be a shock to some people but, for me, this film started preparation when I met her, when she put her hand up with a question at a lecture I was giving with Jeremy Zimmermann, my faithful casting director and I saw her instantly as Sark.
 
"Ditto" she said back. I hope it is equivalent for her.

5.59am
 
Alessa just said "well done" to me as we wrapped but it was a team effort. We got it. A long night but a productive one. Stupidly I had wrapped sound before doing Jode's improv. I recorded it on Pete's HDV camera. I didn't think there would be anything sound wise to record but he came up with some wonderful bits, lines and squeals. Beautiful stuff. On the final take of Jode, Sophie, an office extra who has given hair, makeup and costume major nightmares, had the temerity to ask me flirtatiously "Can I say action?"
 
My head span and I glared at her, eyes bulging I imagine as Marina clocked it all. I said "You need twenty years of pain to say the word action." She crumbled like a pillar of sand. Not even Roger, with thirteen years hard service would be allowed to utter those words on my set. Not a chance.  
Robert Bresson once said "The final direction you give to the actors is the word 'action', how you say it, the speed, the intonation, the pitch, they are all a subtle directions." When a man is running down the street frightened, the 'action' must be loud and scary. When the scene is intimate and loving the 'action' must be like soft caress full of warmth. Earlier when I shot the courier scene, for instance, the 'action' was full of positive joyfulness to help Yoram find his confidence.
 
Being a good director, for me, is about being complete. Using everything. Every trick. Every idea. Every technical thing. Every opportunity to make the film better. Every opportunity to express something communication-wise that can contribute to the whole. It's not just a case of "Saying action" or "Cut" to be a director. Not a good one, I think anyway.

6.19am
 
I am now in Jonnie's car heading home. In my mind I am editing the film. Now it is tangible. Something to be moulded. Cutting points. Intercuts. Rhythm. Pacing etc. I can see the shots I have made and how they will come together. I have nearly all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle now. It's just a matter of finessing them into place to make a whole.
 
It's funny how your brain changes, switches over form one thing to another. It happened suddenly. Here in the car a few minutes ago. I hadn't thought about such things before except in the practical sense when I am shooting. Amazing really. Will I go back to the other way of thinking on Thursday for the last few scenes? Julie, last night, dreamt she was at home watching the film on TV. For me, I now am watching it too. But in my mind, my personal cinema. Again, like when I first configured the film creatively and thus imagined it complete, the film has a perfectness, not subject to the joyful but also debilitating process of shooting. Great!!!