Young, High and Dead Film Blog

YHAD PODCAST BLOG - EPISODE 03 CASTING AND SETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT

Episode 03 - Casting and setting off on the right foot

In Episode 3: I chat about how I managed to get a solid Cast together for the film, my unique Casting methods and the importance of this part of pre production.

The blog will precede each episode so if anyone has any questions or wants me to go into more detail on a specific part of the subject they can email me on rumpunchproductions@gmail.com or message me via twitter @rumpunchprods or FB.

Lets jump right into this weeks blog.

Acting for Auditions - Flipping a coin and gambling.

Who would be an actor? Not me, that’s for sure.  I am happy behind the camera, and because I spent near on 6 years running a Casting Studio in London I have seen and heard a lot when it comes to the casting part of the business.  There are a million idea’s and opinions online about the audition/casting process and for actors this can be information overload.  It’s really important that I mention right now that I personally feel the information and advice found below should be available to talent for FREE!  Setting up or starting off as an actor for many is not cheap and sadly for many out there, the costs involved in pursuing their dream leads to them stretching their purse strings to the point of snapping,  I hope this blog finds those very people and more importantly that they benefit from the advice below.

Know who makes the decision

So many actors simply don’t understand how the casting process works so they often go about the whole process with the wrong attitude and pick up bad habits.  Firstly the Casting Director has huge clout in who gets in the door and their opinion is often considered when the decision process happens but they don’t necessarily get to choose which actor gets the part, even big named Casting Directors don’t have that much power.  These decisions are made by the clients, aka those signing the cheques.  It doesn’t matter if the project is a huge $200 million feature film or a commercial, whoever pays often gets to be the one who has the final say in who gets the job.

The Director, Producer, Writer and Casting Director will always fight to get the best and right people but no contracts get signed until the money heads have approved and had their say.

I really think this is a huge key factor for actors to understand.  So even though the REAL decision makers are impossible to get to how can you increase your chances of winning jobs?

Never turn down an audition just because you don’t think you’re right for the role or because you don’t like the project!  

Actors unfortunately get given the least amount of information and for most actors you are fighting against a numbers game.  You have no idea what other projects people are working on!  It doesn’t matter if you hate the project at least audition yourself and get your face out there.  As an actor whether you like it or not you are a product!  You are your own walking and talking business card and you need to advertise yourself constantly!  If you really hate the project and you DO get the job, then politely turn it down.  At least you have proven yourself and met some new or important faces.

But you must be aware of the following.  Many filmmakers like to work with familiar people and not just crew.  A director who is doing some cheap tacky advert might actually be about to do a huge big budget feature, or the DP might be about to work with a massive studio.  These heads of departments will remember good actors for future stuff and they are KEY people to know, but just like you they too have to get paid and pay bills etc so never look down on a project, unless it goes against religious or moral beliefs.

Actions speak louder than words!

Most Casting Directors have to operate a safety zone around their work, no Casting Director wants to run the risk of sitting in a room full of clients and have a nutter turn up.  Casting Directors have their own brand and company to protect, so they will tend to bring in people they trust and know will do a good job.  If you book a job or get pencilled/short listed you instantly get in the Casting Directors good books.  It’s great if you can build up a friendly relationship with a Casting Director but actions speak louder than words, once you begin to get pencilled or booked on jobs and you meet the brief of their next project, the chances are you will get called in!  Pestering, begging or trying to convince them to give you a chance is time consuming for both parties, something Casting Directors don’t have much of.

Prove how serious you are about a job.  Learn the lines.

If you are lucky enough to get script pages ahead of an audition (also known as sides) then LEARN them, get off the damn page.  If you stand in the room and say “I only got these yesterday”  We know it’s bullshit!  The person reading in with you, might be the very person who physically emailed the script to your agent, so never lie, we will find out!  Even if your agent did only send them at the last minute, you should at least learn as much as you possibly can.  Otherwise you will become 1 of 5 people that day that also happens to have a broken printer or run out of ink!  Clients value their work and they might spend years getting the project of the ground.  Respect that fact!  Most importantly I can count probably less than 20 actors I have met in my entire 6 years casting who have come in, not learnt a sausage and done a decent audition.  You would not believe the amount of excuses that actors give when they turn up latching onto a script.  Watching an actor physically reading words off a page is BORING!  Your entire syntax is lost and any thought process gets lost and no matter how hard you try, the dialogue and structure becomes flat and the audition quickly gets painful to watch.

Turn up on time!  

Oh my goodness I shouldn’t even have to list this one but it has to be one of the most common things that sends a Casting Director insane.  Every minute that passes by when you are running late could be costing someone money!  Hiring a studio is not cheap and sometimes this hire cost will be coming out of the Casting Directors budget for the job, you are literally making them pay for your delay!  Believe me you better act your flipping socks off when you turn up late because you will have already pissed off pretty much everyone in the room.  

Don’t ask for another take!  

If a Casting Director asks you if you would like to have another go at a scene then of course that’s fine, reset and go by all means do the scene again.  But it’s incredibly annoying when actors ask to ‘go again’ assuming we have the time for their mistakes.  Think about it!  You straight away put them in an awkward position by even asking, and by doing the whole thing  again, this will delay the next person.  It only takes 3 people to do this before you are running behind, thus making even more actors wait.  Casting Directors will always give you another shot if they think it’s worth it, if not today, then they will bring you back in when THEY have the time.  This is ALWAYS much better than just banging the same scene out there and then.

Why?

Well actors seldom make a decent enough improvement after messing up a take or make enough of a change to the performance to make a REAL difference.  You wouldn’t do this on set, so I wouldn’t advise that you do it in an audition.  

This issue is common amongst actors who DON’T learn the script!

Don’t direct yourself or ask too many questions!

You will instantly rub a Director the wrong way by self directing, or by asking for more notes.  It’s important to note that sometimes Directors won’t want an actor to nail a performance in the Casting room,  there are a lot of key people involved with the project at this point and the Dircetor may want to hold back on certain notes or ways he wants the piece to go at this point.  No one wants to peak too soon or too early.  Also another huge factor is that often the main heads of departments like the Casting Director, Writer or producer etc may not have all the answers at this point.  No actor gets better notes than another actor.  In all of my 6 years I have never seen this!  So trust the information you ARE given and go with it, too many times actors who fish for too much info wobble their own performance, worse still with fresh notes in their head so many actors ‘mark’ these specific moments to try and convey that they understood the note.  this puts a blatant ‘prick/spike’ in the performance, we can actually see the note’s and we dabble in an un-natural world.   

Never comment on your own performance.

From my experience actors make the worst judges for what is a good audition, especially when they aren’t even looking at the screen, you don’t know what the camera is doing, so you won’t be aware of all the details getting picked up in a performance. Even if you are convinced that what you just done was absolutely rubbish, by announcing it to everyone in the room, you are quickly convincing everyone that you are no good.

Clients and Casting Directors buy into confidence and charisma, they want people who know how to handle themselves and show professionalism, theatrical outbursts are cringe worthy to watch.  You might be able to do better but the 10 people before you might have been worse!  By doing the above you just ranked yourself bottom of the list. 

I have NEVER seen an actor who comment’s poorly about their own performance end up on a select list or get booked!

Never lie.

This is the BIGGEST one!  You will make an enemy for life if you lie to a Casting Director just to get seen for an audition or to get an acting job.  This instantly shatters any kind of future relationship you might have and you run a huge risk of driving wedges between, Agents, Casting Directors and Producers.  Casting Directors despite being in competition with one another are generally a friendly bunch  who look out for each other, they know each other very well and talk far more often than you can imagine, even by working together on projects.  Lie on your CV or to a Casting Director and very soon others will find out.  This is a serious and critical part of the pre production stage, what might seem like a harmless white lie could have massive ramifications on set and cost money or in some cases cause physical injury.  Fellow actors that tell these anecdotes are talking nonsense or utter bullshit!  

This COULD be the single one thing that has the potential to KILL your career!  NEVER DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t ask about the frame size.

This one is simple,  as an actor if you adjust your performance according to the frame of the camera you instantly increase the odds of getting it wrong!  This I can promise you.  The truth is you won’t know what the clients are always after, go off of instinct NOT what you predict the camera is or isn’t picking up.  What an actor perceives to go down on tape is entirely different to what actually DOES go down.  Concentrate on what you are doing not what the camera man is doing.

On set when it matters you have to hit marks, time walking for crane shots blah blah blah.  There are so many other annoying things an actor has to concern him/herself with, and give  a natural performance etc etc.  The casting studio/space allows you to be free from these things.

In an audition we rarely trouble you with these kind of distractions, so don’t start creating them for yourself.  

Don’t apologise or ‘Cut’ yourself.

This is a BIG ONE!  Actors forget we have the power to edit with digital technology, nowadays this is super quick and easy.  If you mess up or stumble a line etc, NEVER cut yourself, apologise or make a big deal, always STAY in character.  All you need to do is pause for few seconds, take a deep breathe and overlap the bad or broken section.  It pains us when an actor doesn’t do this, before that mistake the work you might have been doing could have been exactly what everyone was after!  If you cut yourself, or swear or snap out of it, not only do YOU RUIN that particular take but by making such a big deal out of it you will struggle to replicate it smoothly, by simply pausing and taking a moment you allow yourself to remain in the ‘ZONE’ and keep all the feelings and thought patterns intact.  I cannot stress this enough, if you get into the habit of doing this you become an editor’s dream, you also give yourself more control over your performance.  

Get this right and we simply edit/cut out the few seconds where you take a moment and we send the client the best performance of the day.

Don’t make it harder than it already is.

This I have seen too many times, I am bamboozled at why an actor thinks it’s a good idea to bring along to an audition their ‘Friend’ who also happens to be a ‘Great Actor’.  Firstly.  Congratulations you just gave yourself less chance of getting the job and at the same time you just PISSED of the Casting Director!  You might as well have just said to them,

“Thanks for getting me in but I am not hugely bothered because I bought my mate along and just bypassed your system.  Oh and by the way I think I can do your job better than you!”

Would you do this in a job interview scenario?  Of course not!

Come in with the right attitude.

NEVER be rude to the receptionist or a casting assistants. We communicate all day with each other on skype and we talk, if you are sat in the waiting room laughing loud and generally annoying others, we get told who it is instantly.  Piss off the receptionist and that message comes through too.  This info MIGHT get relayed further up the line or even back to your agent, or the Casting Director.  Staff are simply trying to do their job so there is no reason to be rude or obnoxious.  Casting Directors will not want to put their clients with difficult talent, don’t be that person!  On the plus side, be nice and a stand up person and we will go out of our way for you!  

Here are a few more quick tips.

• DON’T chew gum

• DO bring water with you

• DON’T wear a too much make-up, keep it natural - Never wear Red Lipstick unless asked.

• DON’T wear bright red tops or stripey outfits - they look terrible on video, or scarves, or big earrings, or anything that could distract the viewer.

• ALWAYS switch off your phone!

I could ramble on for pages and pages, but these are most obvious things that spring to my mind.  As always with such a subjective & creative business these are just my opinions.  Hopefully this article gives you a different and useful perspective about the auditioning process that goes on to serve you well.

As I mention often, I am love working with and watching actors work, so if anyone has any questions they would like me to answer feel free to hit up the website and get in touch.

younghighanddead.com

Don’t forget to check out the YHAD podcast about the filmmaking process.  This Sunday is all about Casting!

Luke B

(Writer/Director)

Adaptive Filmmaking & Coming Out the Indie Closet

As I release my podcasts it’s started to dawn on me that I need to start accepting YHAD for what it is. Understanding the film and it’s expectations but most importantly being honest about what sort of filmmaker I am.  For a long time I have called myself an ‘Independent’ filmmaker and used the term ‘Indie’ to reference my work, but deep down I feel silly using those words, they don’t really represent me and doubt they ever will.  For too long I have lied to myself about the type of filmmaker I am and the type of work that I create,  comparing myself to other ‘Indie’ filmmakers and trying to fit in with the clique/circles that these hipsters move in.

I know I am not the only one doing this, keeping up appearances to try and fit in.  There are so many other filmmakers out there, who just like me won’t and will never ‘fit in’.  So rather than continue to sit in the dark, I am getting up and stepping out of the Indie Closet.  That’s right!  I am no longer ashamed to be who I am, plus It’s getting far too stuffy and cramped in there.  It’s high time I just came out and admitted it!

“I’m an adaptive filmmaker”.

So now iv’e come out and said it, what exactly does it mean to no longer be Independent or “Indie”?

Well put simply…. not that much really, I’m still me and the films remained the same it just has a different label and this is nothing to be ashamed of!  It’s just that I don’t fit or match up to everyones expectations.  YHAD and ME are bored of pretending to be something we’re not.  And heres why….

The word Independent is becoming too ironic in the film business.  Especially with so many feature films being a far cry from actually being financially self reliant!  You really have to question how “Indie” something is when it has to rely on public lottery funds, crowd funding or private investors.  

and this isn’t just about money…..

Surely the point of being Independent is that you rebel against the ‘Big Wigs’ and go it alone.   Furthermore many of these filmmakers label themselves as “Independent” off the back of a trend and for other reasons.  For someone like me, I had to make YHAD the way I did, I had no other option or choice but to do it this way.  No company or organisation was prepared to let me make this type of film.  So It’s important people understand the reason I made YHAD outside of a studio or other financing systems was because these opportunities didn’t exist for someone like me.

Im an outcast amongst my peers, the black sheep of the family but I’m not alone.  There are many other filmmakers out there who are also like me, stuck in a place they don’t really belong.  It’s okay to be different, infact it gives you an advantage!

For me the true meaning of ‘Indie’ has kind of lost it’s way.  I personally feel like a lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon for ‘Hipsterish’ reasons and not because they ‘truly had to’.  The term gets mis-represented and used in a whole manner of absurd ways.  Sometimes using the ‘Indie’ term to attach a level of intellect to their work.  Using the term to justify loss of money.  Using the word so they can escape the basic rules of a three act structure or simply using the trend to cut back on money.

There is a massive danger that the Independent Film Industry is becoming a giant ‘IKEA’ with quick turnarounds for cheap, short lived products.  It’s bad enough that society consumes things at such a rapid rate with huge wastage.  The big film studio’s can handle this turn around and have the power and clout to deal with consumption like this.  Can I do this?  The answer is NO

So it’s no surprise that we see so many of these Indie films all looking and feeling so …….. well how can I put it? ‘Independent’ and ‘Generic’.  Instead of standing alone, being unique and bucking a trend, these hipsters group together creating one giant Independent Industry.  Essentially becoming an exact copy of the very same Hollywood machine it opposes!  

What’s really concerning is that for most mere mortals the Indie Industry doors are locked firmly shut and just as tight as the Studio doors.  To me that seems absolutely nuts and is why I don’t operate on the same level.

I am not saying my way of doing things will be the right way or that  other people should follow suit, I’m just pointing out I don’t belong to any of this.  It’s alien to me.

So If I don’t fit in and nor does my film.  I see no point in pretending to.  I see no relevance with the words ‘Independent or Indie’.  For example you wouldn’t put ‘El Mariachi and The King’s Speech in the same box, would you?  It’s not about which one is better they both serve different people on different levels, the same goes for YHAD and lets face it.  With the title alone ‘Young, High and Dead’ ain’t gonna be suggested ‘because you watched The Kings Speech’ on Netflix is it!

As far as I can see, Young, High and Dead doesn’t fit into any boxes the ‘Hipster Kids’ are playing with. So I’m moved to my own area to play in, it looks kind of similar, it’s just in a rougher neighbourhood.  I don’t for one second expect the Hipsters to venture over and join in as I doubt their mum will let them cross the road, plus I’m over here  playing with matches!

#Adaptive Filmmaking

For a better indication about what I’m banging on about go follow my Podcasts, you will soon see what I mean.

Luke

(Adaptive Filmmaker / Writer & Director)

YHAD

YHAD Podcast Blog - Episode 02 Writing a script then writing it properly

Alongside my weekly podcasts I will do a blog specific to each episode.  These will contain useful links and info that relate to the podcast topic.

The blog will precede each Episode so if anyone has any questions or wants me to go into more detail on a specific part of the subject they can email me on rumpunchproductions@gmail.com or message me via twitter @rumpunchprods or FB.

Episode 02 - Writing a script then writing it properly

In Episode 2 I chat about the style of writing Young, High And Dead, the podcast talks about how I shape and refine my work but I didn’t write YHAD entirely unaided.

Read Professional work:

For about 5 years I ran a Casting Studio in London, here I worked on thousands of different projects from high end tv commercials, to television shows and feature films.  The biggest advantage was having access to scripts, I would study and carefully observe how the script served Actors and Directors when working scenes.  You quickly see patterns amongst good pages of work and understand why some dialogue is clunky, and with the basic tools (details below) I was able to scratch beneath the surface of a writers piece and uncover detailed subtext and layers.

Unlocking this information as an actor is extremely valuable to playing the character right, this information often is delivered to them as ‘NOTES’ from the Writer or Director (even Producer).  Scripts that fail to have such layers lack adventure and mystery within a scene. They don’t ‘LEAP’ off the page and often become the reason why elements to a story/film are predictable or lackluster.

Writing is subjective, like all art forms but there are rules and levels that define a scribble from a master piece.  For me the hidden messages and story behind an image are what makes it special or something that holds the viewers attention.  Writing is the same, if you can create messages and layers that delve deep between the lines of your narrative, your audience engage with it on an unconscious level. This is the key goal in what I try and achieve when writing.  I am still very much learning my craft and hope to improve on it with every project, so I don’t have all the answers and this blog & podcast is purely my opinions that make sense to me surrounding this complex subject. Hopefully this gives you an insight into the current methods of my writing process.

Write like a professional:

DO NOT start writing in Microsoft WORD! You might as well draw a giant penis across your first page.  You could have the best story in the world but no-one will deal with you or the project.  There is absolutely no excuse to not formatting your project properly, the amazing people at CeltX give away FREE screen writing software (avail here).  As a writer when handing someone a script you must respect and value their time, especially if you plan on having professional Industry figures read your work, If it doesn’t look like a script it won’t read like one.  It’s that simple.  You won’t believe the amount of word docs out there getting slung in bins and being instantly deleted. 

You can even download an app to write on the go (sadly not FREE anymore).

Building with Bones and making a Skeleton:

The following book was the simplest and most effective resource for a beginner wishing to write a movie, for anyone uncertain about narrative structure I highly recommend this.  I read it just before I wrote YHAD so it inspired me to knuckle down and bang through 87 pages in 30 days.

available through amazon here

For most writers getting the junk out is easy the first draft for most of us will be a pile of junk, to you it’s a master piece and genius.  But it’s not give it to someone who will be honest, they don’t need to be an expert about script developing as you are not looking for notes just general feedback.  They will ask questions about the story which will be key things you need to address. Majority of the pages will contain pure rambling junk but hopefully beneath this is a skeleton or spine to your story, it’s time to replace the rubbish.

The Writers Journey:

Now the hard work begins, in order to layer this spine and pack on the muscle and flesh to your skeleton, this is the hard part of writing.  It involves a huge amount of day dreaming over long periods of time, the re-drafting period is the only way to bury the bones of your story.  By constantly tweaking and changing different parts of your story, dialogue and characters you go further along the writers journey…….

This book is simply brilliant! That’s all I will say about it.  YHAD would not exist without it. available here

The longer you are on your journey (re-drafting) the more stories you have to tell, the more options you have as a writer. This process appeals top the perfectionists out there. Like the perfect holiday you will know when it’s time to come home and tell everyone about your trip. 

Too many writers are so heavily protective about their work they dare not mess with it, anyone who has written a long format piece like a script will know that small changes don’t exist, even the most minor alterations can have a profound affect on your story, many do not want to add to their work load so they settle on things too early.

And here is the difference!  By rushing or wanting to get through the writing process you run massive risks of your project failing.  By not ensuring it has enough flesh and meat on it to survive cold critique you become in danger of losing it. 

So timing your writing journey is a huge factor!

Language Structure:

For me this is the biggest of all and something that may or may not make sense here or in my podcast:  Unfortunately the industry and many people hold more value to how something is written rather than what is written.  For example, a page of script that is grammatically correct and structured in a way that meets the standard of our educational system doesn’t automatically make it interesting or a ‘Good read’.  Intelligence does not afford someone creativity.  Good communication doesn’t have rules and regulations.

A great public speaker or communicator or even entertainer will adjust themselves according to the response of their audience.  A writer doesn’t have the luxury of such instant feedback. So it’s imperative that their work speaks to the reader in a natural and open manner, you want the reader to have access to all the elements of your story straight away.  You don’t want to alienate them with words they do not understand or structure that is not natural on the inner ear.  Most people when reading read ‘aloud’ with inner monologue. They even assign different tones to characters, so if the words on the page are stark and rigid then you can bet your reader feels the same.  Scripts are not essays. They are stories.

The most interesting people with the best stories don’t come from Oxford or Cambridge with a masters in Political History. Those people are boring as fuck!  It’s the drunk down the pub or the crazy lady in the supermarket.  They are the ones with something interesting to say and they seldom speak RP or Queens English. 

But….. for a writer you should take an interest in the structure of language.  By understanding how people respond to language structure you are able to manipulate the words on paper to have a profound effect on the reader.  This is not taught at school and you don’t need to go into to much depth with this area, but some interesting reading for this is as follows:

You can have a simple concept for your film, but the story and characters  should be complex enough to engage an audience.  I hope with my future writing I explore this area more and get better at this.  Young, High and Dead is a cliche horror film set in a forest but there are lots of interesting things happening throughout the film that deal with the unconscious part of your brain.  I believe this is the reason why YHAD feels and looks different to so many other films, I also believe this is the reason why despite me having no money the film ‘looks and feels’ like a REAL movie and not a cheap student film.

Finally at present I really have no idea what the hell will happen with YHAD and my future career as a film maker.  I am aware of the path I tread and despite having made my debut film no guarantee’s exist for any future projects.  I love the writing process and whether I work in or outside the Industry I will continue to write scripts and stories. 

YHAD was finished many years ago now and I have 2 other very different scripts  at different stages.  I have included in this post an excerpt from a feature film that I am currently writing, I obviously cannot give any details about the synopsis or anything but I want to show an example of layout and form for anyone looking to do their own thing.  The piece is an introduction to one main character called Krystal, it still needs a ton of work and is at draft 1.4.  So in time it could change quite a bit.  Anyway hopefully it gives you a good sense of how some of the above applies to my writing.

Follow this link to read the scene:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8dUmvu29BYFLU0tY2FuMnlRVFk/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks for checking out this blog and feel free to contact me witha ny questions you have about anything relating to this article or Young, High and Dead.

Luke Brady (Writer/Director)

ww.younghighanddead.com

YHAD - Marks 1 year since shooting

As a whole year very nearly passes since filming YHAD I thought I would blog a recap of where I am now and where I was back then.

I would like to project you back in time to………

September Wednesday 15th 2010 - Luke 30th Birthday !

After spending the past 9 months with pre production it’s only now 5 days to the shoot of ‘Young, High and Dead’! Panic begins to set in a bit as there is still a huge amount top do despite it being my birthday. Yesterday I was supposed to hop on a plane to sunny Ibiza for one of best mates stag do’s everything was paid for including a huge luxury villa for myself and all my mates, I am gutted I’m not there. I had to abandon my flight and holiday because of all the things that need doing for Mondays shoot. I had planned to have everything sorted so I could go away for his stag do and come back rested and ready to jump into the shoot, also it would have been amazing to have had my 30th birthday in Ibiza! Ive never been and now im pretty depressed, the weight of a ten day shoot hangs over me like a huge shitty black cloud, will we shoot all 90 pages in ten days? What if things go wrong? I still haven’t got all the costumes or props. What if one of my cast backs out? All these crazy thoughts whizz round my head as I sit in an empty Burger King at lunch in Sutton. Sat all on my own even more angry at myself for being so stupid that a ‘Murder King’ might cheer me up! I think one more time about how much fun all my mates are having at the same precise moment whilst I’m stuck in Slutton. I throw the rest of the food away and head to next doors pound shop to do more film shopping. Don’t underestimate the great things you can get in these shops when faced with such a small budget. I exit the shop with bags of stuff for the film and head home. Every moment that day I reassured myself that it was the right thing to do by not going to Ibiza. If I had gone there is no way on earth things would be ready for the shoot. I get home and chase up the late delivery of my shackles and chains that are being custom made by a bondage company in Newcastle. Good news they left despatch today! Phew a film about people being chained to trees without chains and shackles would be impossible to convince without these vital props. I head to the shed to make some more props for the film and begin to make fake axes.

Most days on the run up to the shoot seem to blur into one another, all the jobs slowly get ticked off the ever growing schedule and by Friday Ibiza is as far away in my mind as it is in centimetres. I feel bad for the soon to be groom. I feel like I have let him down but I know he understands how important this film is to me. After the 10 day shoot I have one day off then go straight to his wedding! Hopefully I can attend his wedding a happy film maker and not a broken man! I force myself to not think about things so much and just concentrate on making sure I have everything I need for the shoot.

Shooting a low budget film is like moving house when you own nothing. You have to hire a huge van and then fill it with every possible item you can think of and afford. We were self catering on the shoot so we needed washing up liquid, tea towels, a cheese grater, tuppaware, foil, the list is endless not to mention you need to obviously load all your film equipment, costumes, props, tools etc etc. I took everything. from spray cans, to shovels, to saw, an angle grinder, axes, medical kit, fire extinguisher, pegs, bin liners, chairs, gazeebo’s, umbrellas, wellies, ground sheets. I could go on forever. We had a large van and I intended to fill it! Classic hoarding for a mobile film maker.

The Sunday night before the shoot, I went through the check list one last time. It took hours but I feel confident I have everything I could possibly need. Whether we would be able to use it all to make a film was to soon be discovered………

Jumping a whole 364 days forwards………

September Wednesday 14th 2011 - Day before Luke’s 31st Birthday !

Virtually a whole year on so what’s different? Most importantly I won’t be in Sutton’s Burger King tomorrow having lunch on my own! My amazing girlfriend is taking me to lunch in a fancy restuarant up town.

Instead of a van full of shit I now am the proud owner of a garage full of shit. I daren’t get rid of anything just incase we have to pick up a shot, once a hoarder always a hoarder.I still have everything from the shoot minus all the alcohol that we drank during the shoot. That was a key essential ingredient to us surviving the ten days. It’s pretty amazing what people are willing to put themselves through if there are a few drinks at the end of a days filming.

Knowledge has changed. I am a year wiser but ultimately my knowledge of film making has grown in so many ways I never knew possible. Before the shoot I had plenty of ‘on set’ experience but ‘Young, High and Dead’ was a master class, a PHD in film making. There wasn’t much that didn’t get thrown at us in the way of obsticles but we managed to problem solve our way through everything, technical and logistical. To the untrained eye it we must have looked like kids running around with a camera and axes. The untrained eye is not wrong on this occassion. Boy did we do some running!

When doing a project of this scale ‘a feature near on 90 minutes’ unlike short films or commercials you very quickly realise that the word ‘quickly’ will not be of any use to you whatsoever. Especially when it comes to Post Production. It’s a pain stakingly slow process, imagine trying to paint a large room with a cocktail stick.

But a year on and the film is done! It’s cut, graded with a 5.1 surround mix on all the dialogue and effects. The only two elements missing are the music (being worked on right now by Blue Daisy) and the title sequence (being animated by my brother Jonathan right now).

As well as the physical making of the film, we have come a long way with the promotional side of things hopefully leading to them all important sales. Slowly we have been gaining interest in our film, it’s now up on IMDB with various articles in online horror sites. Our website will continue to grow and change and we are gearing up for a full scale attack of how we might actually get people to watch the damn thing.

After this weekend we will begin to orgainse a screening for our wonderful cast and another screening for friends, family, cast and crew and any potential people who can help bring YHAD to the masses. Autumn is always a great month for celebrating, most people are experiencing some form of ’ a sunshiine come down’ so I think a huge knees up celebrating the film is needed too. This important night has also been a year in the making.

The most important things to reflect are that making a film is probably the hardest thing I have ever done, both physically and mentally. I don’t expect anyone to understand the amount of hours put into YHAD but for the past few years now I have had 2 full time jobs. YHAD has led to me missing out on lot’s of social events and for any budding film makers about to do a similar project you should perpare yourself for a few years of solitary confinement within your film. YHAD has eaten lot’s of financial holes in my tattered bank account but hopefully It will pay off. I never risked my mortgage or anything silly but I have had to be extremely frugle with pennies and I do believe I haven’t been clothes shopping once this past 12 months, or bought a cd or dvd or anything deemed a luxury for me. Any spare money after bills have gone into the film. Pretty much the same financial struggle I was in a year ago as a would be low budget film maker.

Now I intend to wrap the project, sell YHAD and go back to leading a normal life but If the film works out where people like it and we get paid well enough, I guess I might be doing all this over again pretty soon! I better start clearing out my garage. :)

Luke

www.younghighanddead.com

Final Cut Pro X - Review/thoughts - don’t be a hater

Ok thought I would do a quickish blog about Apples latest addition to the final cut family.

All over the internet are harsh reviews and some less impressive tutorials with lot’s of editors slamming Apple & the software. I have been using FCP X for a few weeks now and just wanted to highlight how FCP X is working for our film ‘Young, High and Dead’

We cut YHAD in Final Cut Pro 7, which worked really well for the edit. Normally if you have bucket loads of cash (which we don’t) you then export the EDL (edit decision list) and create an online master, which is then used create the Sound and Grade.

At this point final cut pro 7 could only take us so far, it’s ability to do colour correction & grading is pretty clunky and you have no ability to easily create a 5.1 surround mix and monitor the mix on a home system.

Now lot’s of professionals will scream out that home systems are not calibrated etc blah blah blah. I know this I used to work in a VT department in Post Production so my knowledge of legal levels etc in both audio and visual is probably more advanced than most guerilla film makers.

SO just as we tightened up our picture edit Apple release FCP X, everyone bitches about it and complains. But this actually could not have worked out better for us. We already had our edit so I just exported the film as separate chapters for each of the following:

Video Track

Audio Dialogue track

Audio Effects track

Guide Music track

I needed extra drive space but the outcome so far has been totally worth it. I then imported everything into FCP X using it’s transcode method - (more details about this below) and very quickly compiled the whole film together in the timeline. So despite not being able to import the original EDL I have my picture locked edit in FCP X.

One of my favourite features with FCP X is it’s surround sound panning box, It’s extremely easy to use and allows me to quickly create keyframes and pan the audio which ever way I want. Even more important is that somehow Apple have fixed it so you no longer need any additional hardware to monitor 5.1 in real time. I just hooked up my laptop to an optical cable and plugged it into my home cinema system. OK just to note I am lucky enough to have a decent amp with a great KEF surround system at home, allowing me to mix everything at home instead of an extremely expensive sound studio. FCP X can be a little buggy at times and has crashed a few times on me, however Apple have made FCP X so it auto saves with every click, no need to remember to do this or wait for the program whilst it saves everything is done as part of the ‘Background Process’ another key feature.

Of course like all software the system is only as good as the operator and I don’t pretend to be an expert in sound - but for Independent film makers like myself struggling to finish their film for little or zero budget this is by far the fastest and most cost effective way to do it.

In FCP X the colour correction tools are basic but actually allow you more control than any other FCP program that I have used. I used to grade on Avid Media Composer and by comparison previous Versions of FCP have been shit! Of course you have apple Colour but in my opinion FCP X can give you a great style and look quickly and cheaper. If we manage to get any money for YHAD I will probably get someone to do a full grade on something like ‘Davinci’ but right now I FCP X is doing a fair job so far.

By transcoding the raw Pro Res footage FCP X works a lot faster and considering this is Apples new version of ‘Offline’ media the quality is actually really good.

I don’t know how I feel about using FCP X to edit an entire film in, but I think so many short sighted editors have been too quick to dismiss this software. I think many fear that Apple are giving a huge amount of control to ‘Non Professionals’ I think Apple are highlighting that good story telling and cutting doesn’t need to be complicated and that we should all be open to changes to Post Production. Many ‘Offline Editors’ I have worked with over the years have very little or no knowledge about ‘Online Editing, Sound Mixing & Grading. The same goes for Online Editors not knowing about Offline etc.

For me all that matters is the result not what software you used to do it, I have heard shit sound mixes coming out of Pro tools because the editor rushed the job. The same goes for Grading in some well known London Post facilities.

FCP X has giving me the control I needed over my film and solved lot’s of headaches and money that I don’y have.

There are lot’s of decent tutorials on Youtube however it’s such an easy program you will grasp it pretty quickly like I did. I am about to have a play with Motion 5 after the grade on YHAD and see how it fairs, I will also keep you updated with how I get on with Apples newest version of Compressor.

Luke

(Source: younghighanddead.com)

Future projects/Future Scripts

Not sure I should be left alone to think alone for too long! I spent the morning doing more DIY and painting wood, but it got me thinking about new idea for a film. I think I may have reached a new low and am slightly concerned that most of my writing so far has involved quite a lot of sick and twisted plots. But I have an idea for a character and story so fucked up and evil It would be a crime to not to go ahead and write this script.

So as soon as YHAD is done I have to finish my other script which I am halfway through and started writing before I even conceived YHAD, that too involves a horrific ending and complicated characters, it’s a thriller and is completely different to YHAD.

I am itching to start writing again, it’s been too long, but I will just let the characters and plots brew in my head before I put pen to paper. I need to see YHAD through to delivery as that baby is not quite born just yet.

(Source: younghighanddead.com)

Mission Impossible

An interesting article by Indie Horror on FB, got me inspired to write this next blog…

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/IndieHorrorOrg

It notes the difficulty in finding decent horror within mainstream markets is non existent. I could not agree more with this article, the sad truth is that if the commercial doors were a little bit  more ajar instead of being firmly shut, perhaps more opportunities would arise for Independent Writers & Film Makers, the Studios & Distributors and most importantly the fans.

Horror fans prove their loyalty and commitment to the genre by searching high and low for pieces of work which they wish to enjoy. I think there is a huge gap in the ‘horror’ market place and many big corporations and Industries surrounding the Genre would benefit greatly from this.

So for our film ‘Young, High and Dead’ the hardest work is building a fan base and getting our project known. By comparison actually making the film was a piece of piss. I have contacted many publishers, web and editorial to try and get some support around the film, the reality is no-one is really that interested or they are restricted because we are NOT a big studio or company that has done something as a unit before with a previous track record. If the film was to get picked up no doubt they would come knocking in their droves.

I fear that many great Independent films get lost or struggle to see the light of day because of the lack of support out there. Mainstream advertising is expensive and a complicated business, I fear an all out guerilla campaign with YHAD, something which I am reluctant to do, I want our film to have the opportunity for fans/audiences to like or dislike the film and for it to compete on the main stage. The reality of this happening is extremely small, I can only hope the support builds and that once people actually see the film it’s true value will shine.

Like all industries that have ‘Independent players’ proving your product/service has the ability to stand up and get the seal of approval it so desperately needs will always prove to be our biggest challenge. This is when the real hard work begins.

In any competitive business you can only hope that true talent shines through, however we are constantly faced with the complete opposite.

We are definitely living in a world where it is WHO you know and not WHAT you know.

Luke B

David vs Goliath is standard for Independent film makers.

(Source: younghighanddead.com)

Thinking time. The only way to make a film.

OK so it’s been a hectic few weeks as always, but not with the film. I have been on an urgent mission to decorate my hallway ahead of a carpet arriving next Saturday. It’s hard to believe but outside of making a film, the world keeps moving and you have to try and keep up with both.

But whilst I have spent endless hours stipping paint off of wood, sanding, filling and painting I have found a great way to take some time out from the film without spending money I don’t have on a holiday or watching a box/staring at a screen. Bored of that. In one of my earlier blogs I mentioned how 90% of the writing process for me is thinking, well since the shoot I have done so much work, I have not really put this into practice for Post Production. I am always active on the film where possible so it was nice to have downtime and let things sink in over the past few weeks. Holding a 90 minute film in your head and doing a million and one things can kind of fry your brain a bit, especially when it comes to making informative and direct decisions. Something I am not the best at.

Ultimately, whilst I have been doing DIY (something I am very good at) I have geared myself up for some ‘no nonsense’ work and approach to the next few stages of YHAD.

I am going to finish off the grade, tweak the sound and harrass every person I can find who can help me better the film and sell it.

I made this film as a cash cow and now it’s time to milk her dry and make some steaks. Yes this might destroy poor ‘ol Daisy’ but I created her for this very reason. I didn’t write ‘Young, High and Dead’ for a college project or to sit on my shelf in a fake DVD cover I made in photoshop. She’s a product that is hopefully fat enough now to sell. Perhaps that’s the reason I was always reluctant to name her! I’m still not convinced about the name, but hey it’s out there now.

I am sharpening my knife as I write this and Daisy looks fucking terrified. I look at her like a big fat juicy piece of meat, I don’t feel bad as I know there are plenty more where she came from, I need to find myself a decent butcher who knows how to get the most out of this beast.

It’s tough kid but it’s part of a films natural cycle, who fancies a beef burger?

(Source: younghighanddead.com)

MAKING OF A LOW BUDGET HORROR FILM TIPS & TRICKS - PART 003

I thought I would throw out a few random tips that are not exclusive to the genre of horror but are essentials for the ‘low budget’ film maker.

Carry a decent tool kit!

On young YHAD I cannot even begin to express how important this was, on a film shoot all manor of problems arise and a decent tool kit will fix most things, It will be the things that you couldn’t possible prepare for that could potentially delay your film. Here are some of YHAD’s problems that occured and without my trusty tool kit, we could have really been screwed on time and our all important schedule.

Some seem laughable now but when you are on set and these things happen, the schedule on a shoot like this makes these things critical issues! Hard to believe I know.

1 x Pair of pliers to remove the lid on a ‘lighter fluid’ prop.

1 x sharp hand axe to chop away branches on set, chop up firewood, chop down trees’, threaten cast (only joking). I used my axe’s more than I held a camera!

Zip ties - These little fella’s come in use for virtually everything, one day the weather was so bad we had to winch up ground sheets high into the trees to act as shelter for the cast & crew, without these we would have got very wet indeed and not shot a single frame.

Padlocks & Chains - Like a shiny bike sometimes you have to leave your possesions in strange places for a while, human magpies might try and fatten their nests so be cautious. That age old saying ‘one man’s junk is another man’s treasure’ is only too true. One night we had to chain up some things overnight in the forest. There was no way around this other than a trusted padlock and fat chain.

Set of Spanners - One day the actual car we used in the film, wouldn’t turn over. The Immobiliser kicked in for an unknown reason, we were due to film the car in the next scene and needed to move it. Without our spanners to reset the car battery etc (size 14 to be precise) we would have been stuffed.

Decent ladder - It’s quite surprising the amount of things you might have to do that involve climbing. Of course RumPunch Productions take health & Safety very seriously and I am a highly skilled/trained climber of ladders.

Decent battery powered drill - I love my drill and I can find any excuse to use it. On set we had to drill small holes for the eyelets and zip ties as explained above for the shelter.

A wheelbarrow - Film making soon becomes dull when you have to carry hundreds of boxes over rough terrain, everyday we had to empty our large van and get everything to the set in the middle of the forest. With a tiny crew, carrying everything by hand was just not practical or time efficient.

Set of G cramps (not G Clamps) & a folding work bench, Safety gloves, goggles - Lots of day’s I had to angle grind something sharp, or saw something. when you are on set you tend to work super fast which is fine if you are not holding something that could slice your hand off in a split second. Despite doing things quickly I made sure everything was fixed down and I was as safe as poss.

To summarize you need to be prepared to fix anything. So glue, duck tape, precision screw drivers etc they all come into play. Don’t rely on your Gaffer or DP to have these things. Save time and money (DIY shops aren’t cheap), if it is needed at home you can guarantee it will be needed on set! I have listed just a few scenarios but there were tons more, I think my helpful point is made.

A large stump that need removing called ‘Thabo’

The ground ‘Sheets of Saviour’

We had to keep our Lollipop Man’…. er I mean ‘Producer’. Fashion was clearly not a priority for Sam Alani.

Our trusty ‘lil red mini metro’ gave use to my set of spanners and we returned the favor by throwing two buckets of blood at it!

(Source: younghighanddead.com)