Chapter 17: Mastering

With the film coming to completion this is always the most difficult hurdle - getting it off your computer onto tape!! Enjoy the video as myself and Paco Sweetman (From The Beta Brothers and Editor to my previous two features) master the film onto a Standard Definition Digi-Beta tape (We will show you the HD one later) ready for the Cast and Crew private preview on February 17th.

Chapter 16: Sound Post-Production

Usually the post-production sound period never lasts as long as it has on this production, roughly over seven months, which has included the music score, foley, atmospheres, sound effects, ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording) and full mixdown. Due to the nature of the production, the fact it has been produced on no money (Well 10 Grand but that all went on the Shoot) has meant that the speed of completing the film slowed right down as we were limited by everyone's availability and taking on paid work etc. Having locked the picture at the end of June it's been a very trying few months (I even moved flats and was homeless for about a month bumming around on sofas) but we have persevered and finally got there. The above video gives you a taster of the trials and tribulations of Sound Post Production.

Chapter 15: Soundtrack / Score by Jehst

Underground Hip Hop legend Jehst gives an insight into his approach to working on a film score, showing us a taster of how he uses the elements of hip hop production, using an Akai MPC 2500 and Logic, to produce a unique cinematic soundtrack. There is even a taster of the main theme. It's an honour to work with an artist I have long admired, my debut feature "The Plague" (2004) was inspired by the High Plains Drifter / Falling Down music as well as taking my whole guerilla approach from the uk hip hop scene, over the years I have made three music videos with Jehst - Nuke Proof Suit, Mengi Bus, Dunya - and I can be found shooting / editing as part of the YNR (Young N Restless) Productions record label. It's been a privilege to be able to work so closely with an independent and outspoken artists such as Jehst and I'm excited about having got him to do a film score. It is an incredibly unique soundtrack.

Chapter 14: Disaster Strikes!

Bad Things Always Come In Three's... the continuing saga of post-production as disaster strikes!! Will the film ever get finished?

Chapter 13: Post-Production

Since April my life has been in front of a computer editing, editing, editing. It's been a rollercoaster to say the least. But the end is in sight. The video above gives you an insight into my bedroom setup as well as showing you cinematographer Nicholas Winter grading, Sound Designer Jeet Thakrar working on pro-tools, and music producer Chemo preparing the sample food for hip hop legend Jehst to get his teeth into! Plus if you watch right to the end you get a teaser clip of the film. Coming soon.

Dissident Island Radio Interview

Coming to the final stages of post-production which I will be blogging very soon! Until then check out the two videos above - an interview with the fantastic team at Dissident Island. Discussing my critically acclaimed debut feature "The Plague" (2004), the more troublesome second feature "Kapital" (2007) funded by the Manchester International Festival and of course "SSDD: Same Shit Different Day" (2009) as well as talking about Collective Vision (2003-2005), The Beta Brothers (2004-2007) and heading up the video department of hip hop label YNR (Young N Restless) Productions. An honest and frank chat about D.I.Y culture and guerilla film making. Check it out. 

Chapter 12: Re-Shoot

So we shot a majority of the film over three weeks in January 2009 and since then February / March has been a roller coaster of recovering, doing day jobs and various nervous breakdowns. The usual kind of thing that a film crew encounters when working their guts out for nothing more that the crazy passion to create something of worthwhile value. As mentioned in my previous post (The Bonus Chapter) I have also been filming over the events of the G20 for an opening montage, to give an impression of Britain now, and will still be compiling images / footage as the next few months unfold. Over two days in April (6th and 7th) we returned as a film crew to do a re-shoot and pick up those valuable elements that were missing from the film. Have a watch of the video and get a little taster of life on the "set" in the continuing chronicles of Runner Gawain. As I write this I am sat at my computer editing the film which I will also keep updated on the blog. Plan is to have it cut by the end of April, Music composed and produced over May, and sound tracklayed etc and mixed by June. Crazy schedule. So lets see how it goes.

Also got a very cool mention in Volume 3 Issue 6 of "ACADEMY" the official magazine of "The British Academy Of Film & Television Arts"! In the "Talent Spotting" section with SSDD getting a great plug and also Bash The Rich being mentioned which we are planning to shoot in June/July 2010 (The Bash The Rich Film blog will be updated soon!).

Bonus Chapter: Upsetting an Agent Provocateur

Okay a brief "Bonus Chapter" I felt needed blogging in the process of the films production. I was out on March 28th 2009 filming a "Put People First" march and mainly focusing on the large anarchist rally planned for 3pm at Speakers Corner. I am using this footage, as well as filming over the G20 protest days on 1st & 2nd April, to be used as an opening montage sequence for my new feature in setting the scene of Britain's current climate. And what an interesting climate it is. I have posted the entire rally (Sorry I missed the last two speakers!) on youtube and you can watch it in the player above.
Despite media scare stories of dangerous anarchists in motor bike helmets welding bankers heads on sticks, the day basically consisted of a well co-ordinated and colourful bloc marching in unison, and culminated in the rabble rousing Speakers Corner rally. It was during this rally that a bizarre number of events unfolded concluding with my near arrest.
As the footage shows I was stood basically in front of the step ladder making sure I could get a good angle on every speaker, the following events I am about to describe I did not get on camera as my focus was to ensure filming the speakers as opposed to documenting the activities of those around me. About 20minutes (During parts 4/5) into the rally a man dressed all in black swooped up to the step ladder, keeping very low to the ground, tipped the contents of his bag out and exited in an incredible speed. Left on the floor was roughly six small black packages. This suspicious behaviour instantly caught the attention of myself and others around me. I lightly stepped on one of the packages, could feel it was hard and gently flicked it to someone stood about a metre away. All the time still filming the speaker! The person next to me used his foot to open the package, aware not to put fingerprints on it, and a catapult was revealed. Everyone was very conscious that these weapons had no place at a public rally and were kicked by various people, though not myself, under the metal fence that can be seen in the back of all my footage into a fenced off mounded area of waste ground and out of harms way. One speaker, a ginger gentleman sporting a special brew can, warns the crowd intially of the catapult saga as he had an arguement with a cameraman who was going to keep one! Thankfully they were convinced to throw it also under the fence. Twenty five minutes approximately later as the rally was reaching it's end I noticed in the background a police man climb over the fence on the other side of the mound of waste land furthest from the rally, starting to pick up the packages and show them to other officers situated by the road, by this time I had to stop filming as illness and tiredness meant I missed the final speakers. During this time I spoke with friends stood behind the right hand side of the step ladder and I noticed the officer now showing the catapult to officers stood close to the rally and pointing in at us all. The officers body language and use of radio began to raise suspicions that the police may be gearing up to possibly take action upon such evidence on the large crowd gathered enjoying the rally. Reading the mainstream media alone you get the impression that the police are itching to crack down on people and "up for it" so therefore I was concerned that a violent incident was about to erupt due to very suspicious circumstances. The final speaker finished and I quickly got the microphone and announced the events that I had seen unfold, warning that the police were preparing to react and the rally had been stiched up. The event very quickly dispersed with lots of people warning me that the police were pointing me out. Walking away I noticed that the police were definitely preparing to pull me over as I was being followed and when I walked pass a strech of police vehicles roughly six officers took me aside out of the path of others leaving because they "Wanted to have a word". Having witnessed such questionnable events and feeling the mood of the officers I was convinced that they wanted to arrest me and the fear of possibly having something planted in my bag was certainly running through my head. Before the officers could explain why they had pulled me aside I explained the events I had witnessed, the suspicious black objects, the fact people kicked them under the fence as no one wanted the rally to be associated with weapons, the reactions of the police when finding the catapults, the reason why I got on the microphone to announce these details as the possible threat that unneccesary violence and heavy handed policing was about to occur. I was forthcoming to give my details and reasons for being present, as a filmmaker who likes to make films with integrity and meaning I have never shyed away from voicing my opinions, alot of information on myself is in the public domain and therefore I had no reason to hide anything or feel intimidated about giving the police my name/address etc although in hindsight their reason for stopping and searching me is factually incorrect. I knew co-operating as best as I could was the only way I could diffuse the officers initial hostility towards me. This wasn't the time to be cheeky. My initial fears of possibly having something planted on my person were thankfully dissolved as I kept a close eye on the officer searching my bag and by this time the police officers became joking and friendly, especially after my wity line that I had an i-phone and was thus a crap anarchist. I was given a "Stop And Search" form and allowed to go although I noticed some of the same officers waiting outside the pub I was drinking at and noting down what friends I left the pub with. Looking back on the Stop And Search form it doesn't particulary make sense that they saw me kick a black package, especially when you watch all my footage and see that I was stood infront of the stepladder surrounded by a crowd and out of view of any police, it was only after I had told them what I had seen that they said this was the reason and justification for stopping, searching and taking my details. Plus I never admitted to kicking them away? I was filming and could never have kicked objects from under the ladder over to where the fence is in the back of all my shots. But to be honest what was more suspicious was the reasons for these black packages being dumped under the ladder. Why were they wrapped up? Can you imagine what would have happened if someone thought "What's that?" picked it up, unwrapped it, and all the photgraphers/ journalists around the speakers would have possibly reported "Anarchists with catapults", more worryingly what if a Police Officer or FIT photographer saw this discovery? This incident could have ruined a brilliant public rally. It didn't. But the events are very suspect if you ask me. An Agent Provocateur?

Chapter 11: Teaser Trailer

Ever since I started making films at the age of 14 with cobbled together bits of domestic equipment, I always began the edit by cutting a trailer before I started the actual film itself. This is a tradition I have continued over the course of all three of my feature films. When I first began filmmaking I edited on a standard home VCR, a slow and often laborious method of working through a process of pressing play on the camera and pause/record on the recorder, but it taught me a strict discipline and stern patience when making films. The reason for cutting a trailer first I guess is mainly because the daunting thought of actually beginning the edit of the film is far to overwhelming, so therefore by putting a trailer together it helps you express how you feel you want the film to be. There is nothing new about this approach to be honest, it is many due to the fact that also at the tender age of 14 when I first began to embark on making short films, around my house on a Video8 camera staring most of my family, I read Robert Rodriguez's "Rebel Without A Crew", a no doubt inspiring oracle of guerilla filmmaking for generation, where he used a very similar technique. At that age the book had a profound effect on me and I know that amongst the filmmakers I have worked with closely (Paco Sweetman, Dean Puckett, Nicholas Winter, Karan Kandhari) it has also been an instrumental inspirational tool. So as we begin the post production period for my third feature film "S.S.D.D (Same Shit Different Day)" I present the teaser trailer  in HD. Enjoy.     

P.S. I've noticed my blog cuts off the right hand side of the video so please check it out on youtube. Click here for HIGH DEFINITION or STANDARD DEFINITION. And spread it!

Chapter 10: Production

So from the 12th - 31st January 2009 we shot a feature film. The cast was six main actors with a handful of smaller roles and a crew of about nine at most. Having had a week or so to reflect on the production I can say that it was in parts extremely stressful, probably because I was writing scenes as we were going along as well as the production team trying to secure locations during the shoot, but in absolute honesty I am delighted with the footage and performances. The making of video above will tell you a lot more than I can probably express here right now. Admittedly it isn't the best making of mainly because the shoot was so hectic, but I do believe that it captures a true essence of the films production. That essence being fun. If you can't keep things together and remain creative and playful under pressure then the production can topple like a house of precariously placed cards. But thankfully when you have a really tight team of cast and crew, no matter how small the numbers and how epic the idea, it is incredible what you can achieve when all pulling together with a vested interest to create a piece of work for a purpose. 

The post production is beginning to steam on. And a TRAILER will be coming very very soon.   

Chapter 9: Scripting.

So I begin filming on Monday 12th January for three weeks. This blog and accompanying video is entitled "Scripting" as opposed to script writing or anything of the such, because it best sums up the approach I have taken to the script. Having started with a seven page outline which was workshopped with the cast in december and filmed on a camera, I have spent the festive period of Christmas and New Years locked away in my bedroom transcribing these sessions and crafting them into a script format. These will be used as our blue prints to improvise around when on set. This is a process I have developed over the course of my previous two feature films specifically for this project.

The rest of the video gives an update into the ongoing production, from finalising all the last minute details, and meeting with my cinematographer Nicholas Winter and sound recordist Jeet Thakrar. Lots still to do! Filming starts very very soon...

Chapter 8: Rehearsals

For the rest of the week (15th - 22nd December) we worked over the scenes outlined in my seven page script. These were improvised numerous times, tried and tested with different motivations or changes in dynamics, and filmed on my camera for reference. Working with such a talented cast, who are able to embody their characters to such believable depths, makes this a highly enjoyable process. There is no right or wrong with improvising. It is just testing out the characters - seeing what works and what doesn't. It has been a very fun week. Finally seeing the story and characters coming to life in front of my very eyes. I plan over the christmas break to adapt these rehearsal sessions into a dialogue script - feature length from a seven page outline - which we will then shoot with in January. There will still be further improvisation from the script during the filming period but it is wonderful to have a structure and outline to work with. The whole point of this process is to get the best of both worlds - the believability of improvisation and the focus of a script - to hopefully capture some incredible performances. Enjoy the video, these are only some teaser bits really, didn't want to give too much away. It has been an inspiring time and I can not wait to start filming!! On the negative side everyone has been ill... Guess it is that time of year... 

Chapter 7: Cast Workshop

Day two of the workshop period involved bringing the whole cast together for a day long group workshop. One of the problems of film school is although it teaches you an aspect of a films technical production you are very rarely taught how to work with an actor. For myself as a director it is really important to build a strong team of performers all with a vested interest in creating the project collectively. I have been lucky enough to have been surrounded by a lot of actors and most importantly my sister Becky - Producer, casting director, facilitator and actress  extraordinaire - we have a wonderful working relationship, I guess it helps being related, who i can always rely on helping facilitate relevant team building and character based exercises. The video gives you a great insight into the day. The first half was divided into games and exercises and the second half of the day was used for devising scenes and hot seating. The cast is wonderful to say the very least. A very exciting beginning to the whole rehearsal / workshop process.

(A BIG THANK YOU to Tom Greaves from Overthrow Films for shooting all the documentary footage. Cheers mate.)

Chapter 6: Character Breakdown

Day one of our workshop process began today starting early at 9am on a Sunday! The day consisted of each actor coming in for a one hour slot working with myself and producer Becky Finlay-Hall to breakdown their character. The hour is spent talking about and writing down the past history including family, schooling, interests, hobbies, relationships etc. Basically a human beings whole life up until the day the film is set. Vast amounts of tea is drank over the course of the day. This was a highly enjoyable experience, the cast is a fantastically talented and enthusiastic bunch, plus it is always great fun discussing and creating characters. Today we just focused on the "lives" of the characters, so that the actors can begin to formulate and discover the intricacies of the people they are to embody, before we embark on the scenes outlined in the seven page script. These seven pages will be workshopped into an 80 minute (roughly - don't hold me to it!) feature film over the next few days.   

The cast consists of Samuel Anoyke, Richard Oldham, Isaac Ewulo, Paul Marlon, Clare Barry, Angela Hazeldine, Eleanor Lawrence, Mark Rutherford, Conrad Murray, Kevin N. Golding and Gay Lambert.

Chapter 5: An Actor Prepares

It's late. And I am tired. Health wise I'm hanging in there and feeling relatively unscathed. This is just a mini interview with lead actor Samuel Anoyke I thought would be nice to blog before we embark on the whole process of workshopping. It is Thursday 11th December, though technically it is three am in the morning so it is Friday, but being pedantic aside it is only a matter of days before we begin the rehearsal process. The first day starts Sunday 14th December, working with all the actors in individual slots to brainstorm their character backgrounds, then Monday 15th is a big group workshop involving the whole of the company and some great exercises and games! Then from Tuesday 16th until Tuesday 22nd December we will be workshopping all of the scenes - creating the dialogue and developing the character dynamics - which I will then go away with over christmas and attempt to put into a script which we will begin to film on the 9th January. So not much really. Oh and I will still be blogging the whole experience. If any rich widowers are reading this and would like to take me away on holiday at any point in February then I am always open to suggestions... 

Let me say a few words about Samuel Anoyke before I flake off to bed feeling sorry for myself. I met Sammy back in 2002 when he was being taught by my sister and producer Becky, we originally shot a short film together as part of his college course, and from this first meeting I knew he was the actor to star in The Plague. Sammy truly has a natural talent when it comes to improvisation and thinking within a characters world, though he has never had any formal training, his raw performances and approach to acting has always been a joy to work with. Though his time keeping is terrible. 

In fact the whole cast is going to be a joy to work with!!! All of whom you shall meet over the course of the production. I am very excited. But still very tired.

Not long now...

Chapter 4: Pre-Production

My life seems to be one long infinite "To Do List". It just never ends. As you scribble one thing off another five more pressing issues rear their ugly heads. This is the essence of pre-production. Sending lots of emails. Making lots of phone calls. Writing lots of lists of things to be done. Overusing the words "lots"... It's like tunnel vision. The date for the shoot has been set. January 12th-30th. The rehearsal date has been set. December 14th-22nd. Now all that needs to be done is basically everything... The video says it all. The Directors greatest ever get-out clause. Let me pass over to my producer...

Chapter 3: Brief Insight into Audition Technique

This is a brief glimpse into an audition technique developed by my sister Becky Finlay-Hall (Producer/Casting Director) and myself from our previous feature "Kapital" (2007). The whole film was improvised, being shot chronologically with characters meeting for the first time on screen, so we needed an audition technique to fit this form. We would get the actor to turn up 15minutes before their audition, they would find a piece of paper asking them to think of a story to tell, once they entered they would sit and tell us their story. Not in character but just naturally as themselves. We would then ask them to re-tell the story, focusing on whatever part they want, and being free to change and elaborate but with a specific motivation such as "depression" or "anger". This is a very telling technique. The video above is just a brief glimpse of us using this technique but also playing with it, notice how Becky argues with Eleanor near the end, provoking and pushing her. This is by far not an "original" technique but this is how we have developed working together over the course of two previous features. The script we are working from is only a seven page outline, we plan to workshop all the dialogue and develop the characters during our rehearsal period in december, and I hope to show a lot more of an insight into acting and improvisation. 

Chapter 2: Visual Identity Introducion

Well it may seem strange that the second chapter is dedicated to the "branding" of the film seeing as we haven't even fully cast or anything but with this project I am trying to keep one step ahead. To me it is one of the most important elements, nailing the visual identity of the film, and I highly enjoy communicating meaning through whatever visual medium. The video above is the first introduction of working with Graphic Designer Jim Towning and Overthrow Productions who has worked on both my other projects. This will develop over the course of the production and I will blog the results as the design unfolds.  

Chapter 1: Introductions or How To Make A Film On No Money

Okay the first blog for my third feature film "S.S.D.D: Same Shit Different Day" has finally arrived - an introduction of sorts to give a little bit of background to the project and introduce the key characters. We plan to workshop the six page outline during December and to shoot for three weeks in January. The hope is to try and get the film into the London Film Festival - deadline July 14th - and to also self distribute the film in the UK in conjunction with the independent cinemas across Britain. As well as hopefully putting it out on dvd and possibly taking it abroad - specifically New York - to drum up some support. All of this on on money... enjoy the ride. I am hoping to give a humble and honest look at making a feature film for nothing to show how the guerilla film makers does things differently from the industry. The next few video blogs will be showing the secrets behind auditioning, workshopping and improvising with actors etc. Lots planned. Enjoy the first video.

And check out the youtube channel.

Foreword: The Politics Of Cinema

I felt a slight prologue would be apt to begin my blogging and making of SSDD (Same Shit Different Day) with a few thoughts on why I make films as I sit here with my freshly printed six page script outline. It is a question commonly asked - where do ideas come from to make films? My own personal opinion and drive comes from a social, creative and political standpoint. Daily we are saturated with images and meaning, intended to sell us products and instill the status quo, cinema as an industry conveys messages. But an industry is dictated to make profit. So what sold well before will sell well again. Hence why we get bullshit middle of the road crap like "Four Weddings And Another Notting Hill" palmed off as British cinema!

I believe cinema can be a powerful tool to tell the stories and experiences we go through daily in everyday life. And this is why I make films. The people and situations I experience around me in present day London inspire my need to make films. The injustices inherent in this unjust system. The video player above (In 3 Parts) is a Resonance FM interview recently broadcasted on Ian Bones "Anarchism In The Uk" where I talk about guerilla filmmaking, cinema and politics which I think sums up quite well my whole approach to writing and directing independent feature films.  

A nod to Haskell Wexler's "Medium Cool" and Lindsay Anderson's "If..." is needed.