A short film currently in pre-production.

The Premise

On December 15th 1969 John Lennon played a concert at the Lyceum in London. The last time he played with George Harrison.

The following morning he and Yoko travelled to Montreal for a meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada to discuss World Peace.

Suppose ..on the way  …he was caught short .. it had been a mad rush since the concert ..and he didn’t have time to go to the ..

So  he stops the Rolls Royce at a random house.   ..asks the owner to use the toilet.   …but the flush isn’t working.   …and the owner is left with John Lennon’s turd..

Actually based on a true story, told me back in the sixties by a friend who was visited by a Beatle, who left behind an unflushed poo …which he kept unflushed for days.  :-)   ..until his Mum insisted.

 The script

“Brilliant. Extremely charming, great comic timing and pace.”

“This is a fun script.. it’s amusing …- and works really well. Characters work well. Dialogue is very good – nice one! The arena works well and feels authentic.”

The cast

Being chosen in the next few weeks.

Filming

May – June 2013 somewhere in the south of England.

Unbelievable

…   maybe ..but read this

John Lennon’s loo fetches £9,500 at auction for Beatles fans

A porcelain lavatory which John Lennon told a builder to use as a “plant pot” has fetched £9,500 – nearly 10 times its guide price – at an auction today.

The loo was used by the music legend when he lived at Tittenhurst Park in Berkshire between 1969 and 1972.

Lennon told builder John Hancock to keep it and “use it as a plant pot”, after he installed a new one.

The toilet was stored in a shed at Mr Hancock’s home for 40 years until he died recently.

Auction organiser and Beatles expert Stephen Bailey said: “It is unbelievable. We had bids coming in from all over the place but it went to a private overseas buyer.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/28/lennon-auction-beatles-memorabilia

…and trying to decide which should take priority. It’s probably not very clear exactly what I’m talking about, but to explain..

Over the last few days, two tasks have made it to the top of my on-line “To Do” list. One task is complete the script breakdown and  arrange the auditions for my next short  film. …enticing titled John Lennon’s Turd .  (more to come on that in a later post)

Actually I realise that’s two tasks, but in my mind it’s sort of one, as it’s one project.  So in my mind I see them as one task.

Anyway the task at the other end of the filmmaking spectrum is to enter my short film “Love” into some film festivals.  It’s some while since I personally entered a film, as I’ve been working on other peoples films, so haven’t had the delight of doing it recently.

I  far prefer to do the preproduction. I find that working towards making a film is far more pleasurable and exciting and I’ve been putting off doing the film festival applications for ages now.   It’s probably my subconscious ..the fear of rejection … so if I don’t enter  …then I won’t get rejected.

I’ve set myself a deadline of 1st June to finish filming John Lennon’s Turd  (JLT from now one), so I really do need to get a move on. I’ve shortlisted the actors  and just to need to audition them.  But I decided to temporarily call a halt on that ..and hit the festival entry processes.

Gosh it’s a slog ..isn’t it?  Uploading files in the right format, stills, CV’s, filmography, checking everybody’s name is spelt right  etc. etc.

They want a poster?     Oh dear I better design one.   Two days it took me  …well in between Facebooking,  a bit of hedge trimming, celebrating Lucy V.Hay’s feedback on one of my feature scripts “Excellent ” she said  ..watching In the House  by  Francois Ozon. Fascinating film …all about writing.  Sorry I digress.

The poster ..  I wanted images of the sinister man (Lula) and the young girl (Holly) ..with the title “Love”

But the problem was how could I combine those elements without it appearing to be some sort of film about a weird relationship between and older man and a young girl?  I think  I finally managed to get the right look.

Here it is.

What do you think? I’m quite pleased with it. Though I’m not 100% sure about the tagline “Can one word stop him”

“I just love the images and style of this piece! It really grabbed me. Looked like it was shot on film. Not sure why I felt this. Was the sound recorded live, or done in post? Any image adjustments you care to share? Brilliant! Thanks for this.”

Audio..

First off, the sound was prerecorded for this video. So it was recorded to give the best quality and then Steve sang along with the playback during each take.

If you want to record a live session …and only have one camera, then record the whole of the performance, preferably onto a separate recorder, then replay back from this audio recording as the singer/musician sings/plays along with it, as you film the other angles.

In editing I linked and lined up the 20 (!) shots we filmed for the first number. Easy and automatic with FCPX multicam feature. So I then had 21 tracks ( including the prerecorded music track) to intercut. We had far fewer tracks on the later numbers,as we were limited for time.

The film look..

“It looks like it was shot on film”  Well this may have been because of a variety of techniques.

24P

I shot on the PanasonicGH2 at  24 fps progressive, which I haven’t used much before. I have usually shot 1080 interlaced, as I’ve been wary of the potential for flicker in moving camera/subjects. ( I used to shoot a lot of 16mm film) So this will have certainly reproduced the same effect as film.

Lighting

I also lit it with strong back lighting. So as I filmed from the right,  we keep the left light brighter and reduced the right. Moving to filming from the left, then the left light is reduced and the right increased.

This can be difficult though if the camera moves. We were filming using a moving jib, which as it moved in, tracked from the right hand side to the left hand side. So what had been a strong dramatic back light became a flattening front light.

This limited the amount of movement I could use. We also had the problem that as soon as we arrived, the rain stopped, the sun came out and was clearly visible through the curtains on the left  hand side of the studio. So I had to shoot most of the performances from the front or left hand side.

Editing – Image adjustments

It was edited in Final Cut Pro X.  After editing I also used Crumplepop plugin Tonegrade on the first two songs and  Finisher on the final song.

The Tonegrade plugin produces a sort of HDR effect.  It simulates the properties of high dynamic range (HDR) photography,  with an expanded range of detail in both highlights and shadows creating the dramatic stylised image I wanted.

The final song  had a different treatment. It was heavily desaturated

So it all seems to worked out well. Copies of  video DVD are now with promoters down in the warm Greek Islands.

Discontinuation of Motion Picture Film production

As previously announced, Fujifilm has stopped production of the majority of Motion Picture Film products by March, 2013.
We would like to thank you very much for your patronage during the long history of manufacture, sales and marketing of these products which will continue to be available until the inventory is exhausted. Please contact our worldwide distributors for availability information.

http://www.fujifilm.com/news/n130402.html

How long before Kodak does the same ?

..and it was nice to be working indoors for a change. We shot four numbers in 6 hours. ..but we spent 2 hours of that rigging the jib and lights. In the end we only used three songs in the final edit.

In this sort of video, it’s not selling the music or the track, so I believe there’s no need to have any sort of story line or exotic location shots. It’s designed to sell the performer ..to show their personality and performance skills.

Here’s the video.

I think if you don’t have a big budget, then less is more effective, so we filmed in a blacked out studio with strongly dramatic backlighting.

Roy Perkins shot with his GH2 as second camera, Jude was rigger and lighting and Rachel Stephens was production assistant. ..and photographer.

She got some good shots as we worked.

Steve was really pleased with the results and he’s off with the results to Rhodes in two days time. …lucky him.

Technical stuff:   more details here 

We used a simple set up with three lights and Jude handholding the fill light. We were using a 12 foot jib and found that we got shadows on Steve’s face with a fixed fill light, so Jude dodged around the jib with a battery LED light.

I shot on my Panasonic GH2. I had concerns about having to use autofocus on the jib, but the focusing of 14 -140 lens worked perfectly.  You have to use autofocus on a jib, unless you have full remote focussing.

In addition to the Panasonic zoom I also used my Pentax 50 mm 1.8,  and my new SLR Magic 12mm 1.6 lens and the Lumix 14mm 2.8 when I did a few Steadicam shots.

I was surprised that the 14mm Lumix produced an annoying strange intense green flare spot when shooting into the lights,  but I  took the green out of it in FCPX.

I used some fairly extreme grades in the FCPX colour grading as I wanted to go for the dramatic look.

http://www.screenwritinggoldmine.com/fearless-pitching-offer

REVIEW “The Fearless Pitcher’s Handbook”  

Why is pitching so scary?   I think it’s something to do with the fear of laying yourself open to ridicule.

You’ve probably spent months or years on your project, reached into your psyche to drag out the emotion, which is now embedded in the script.  But now you have to sell it in a minute.  . . . and the more important the listener, the more important it is to succeed, so the more scary it becomes.

I really love Philip’s style and I think it’s an invaluable roadmap to the art of pitching. It’s also reassuring that he originally hated pitching. He concentrates on the tactics of short  pitches from the 20 second, one sentence logline up to five minutes.  He details when to arrive, what to wear, context, content, etc. – even what to drink! 

But equally important is his advice on the subtext of pitch meeting. What’s going on under the surface? Including  “Lateness –Yours and theirs” – Guess which one is acceptable?  He also suggests how you deal with their lateness.  I’m not sure I would have the courage to follow his advice though.  But what I found really useful is his brilliant tip on the psychology of pitching.

A neat tactic to switch your attitude from fear back into your comfort zone.  I’ve read many books on pitching, but this is very straightforward, practical and based on his own experiences, like his excellent “Write a Screenplay package”  

There’s no magic formula, but follow his advice, put in a lot of hard work in preparation and your next pitch will be better.

Phil Peel

Tags: Phil Gladwin, Screenwriting Goldmine, screenwritinggoldmine, pitching, writing, screenwriting, review, Philip Gladwin

“What we haven’t read yet is a short that we can actually COMPARE to the finished project. Well that’s going to change today. We’re not only going to read a short, but we’re going to see what it looks like on the big screen (or your small screen.) …..  It was interesting  going back and reading the script, because there were some key differences between the two. Those differences are worth discussing as they had more of an effect on the final product than I think Rob knew.”

It’s fascinating reading this in depth analysis of a 2 page script.  …plus nearly 100 comments. Many comments on the changes between the script and film. Criticism of some of the changes the director (me) made for financial reasons.  However the script they were reading was an early draft, before I saw it.  The creative changes I made in the film had actually been nearly all made in later drafts of the script.   I’ve only just tracked down and read the original script. So it’s ironic to read the debate.  For what it’s worth I believe Rob Burke’s final draft was the best. ..but I would wouldn’t I ?

Having so many people discussing your work though is hugely informative and an education.

Here’s some of the comments from the ScriptShadow discussion.

Displayed a pretty clear message in a powerful way

Execution could have been better.   I think they cut too much, especially the character development.

So overall, big congrats for a professional-looking short that packed a punch at the end  I was engaged and felt genuine tension    

Thoroughly enjoyable!  

Didn’t enjoy the film much, very amateur 

Very nicely shot – particularly the opening

The production value is commendable

The perfect short  

Short, sharp, sweet and memorable 

It packs a mean punch. Congrats!

I think the director did a fine job with the revised draft of the script. Well-shot, well-framed, editing is great, love the little girl.

I still like the final version, but it’s so true — the script was orders of magnitude better.

This is one instance in which the final film actually elevated the script.

It was all well-lit and looked good.

Execution could have been better

Switch to subway was genius

I don’t think the movie was shot in a way that very well supports the new material (the little girl should receive more camera time, and the man should receive less)

The short script was great. Good story, well-done for short page length. I DO NOT like the changes in the film, other than the subway.

The director, technical manager and engineers sat inside in air-conditioned comfort. The camera took several crew to lift them onto the tripods. Now not only have the cameras shrunk in size, but the OB truck can be replaced by a small rackbox and laptop.

All can be carried in a small van, but now you have to find a place to put the vision mixing equipment.  …and it’s often in a cramped small store room or even a corridor. (Haven’t done one from a toilet yet)

It’s often not very comfortable. Either too hot or too cold. The recent “En Masse” Rock choir concert at the Point in Eastleigh was of the “too cold” variety.

Here is Ruth (as PA) and I  swathed in overcoats.  …and we’re still cold despite having a radiant heater under the table.

Supper was multiple pizzas.

..and I discovered a good use for the fact that Macbook Pros run hot. I could use it for keeping my pizza warm! But luckily I had eaten the pizza before I needed to use the Macbook again.

The filming went well…with the ATEM mixer and Balck Magic Intensity Pro running into the MacBook via thunderbolt. Seems very stable

First time I’ve used my new jib, with the underslung head. It worked well.

…..but unfortunately we had to clear the theatre quickly and didn’t have time to properly coil the cables, so I ended up next day with over a half kilometre of tangled cables in our kitchen …and hall ..and sitting room.

Untangling cables is best done in a large space. So you can pull them all out and coil them separately. Once they are tangled it’s a bit of a nightmare in a small space. So extracting the first 50 metre length took an hour and a half! ..but as you clear more and more it gets a bit faster.

I’ve got some great feedback so far.

Filming “Love” in the Underground