I’ve done another couple of very pleasant directing jobs for BBC Magazines, interviewing editors of print and online services from Radio Times to Gardener’s World. All extremely interesting, and on the first shoot, before christmas, I was kindly donated some of the children’s magazines for my little daughter, which lasted us quite a while.

The second shoot was yesterday, and was calmer than December’s, despite also having iPad video material to cut on the same day, so my cameraman friend and I sat side by side in the Magazines office with our MacBook Pros, cutting away, and I switched attention from one job to the other a bit until we’d finished.

Very sad to hear that Pete Postlethwaite died early this month. Wasn’t my mate or anything, but I’d done a couple of films with him - Mary (daughter of Bill) Nighy’s “Player”, and Sean Crotty’s “Waving At Trains”. The picture above is one of Neill Phillips’ brilliant production stills from the latter film.

“Waving At Trains” was written by a friend of mine, and then coincidentally produced by another friend. We stayed in a hotel in Cromer, and I was in the room next to Pete. He was unfailingly friendly to me, and my main memory of that stay is when we emerged simultaneously at 4.30am one morning, and he had a pint of Guinness in his hand. That’s one way to cope with brutally early call times...

A generous bloke who did jobs on merit, not budget, as far as I saw, and a considerate team-spirited actor who’d always check everyone else had got what they wanted on a take. And obviously he was a bit good, acting-wise. Sad he’s gone.

I recently inherited a voucher for a training course at the NFTS from a friend who couldn’t take advantage. Having had a couple of longer jobs lately, I thought that a week in Beaconsfield might be a nice career-useful leisure activity.

Apart from the Alan Partridge-like sensation of living in a service station hotel for a week, it was a great week. I studied Craft Editing - though I’ve been cutting in Final Cut Pro for quite a while (as well as other software), I’d never had formal training in the creative side of editing. Obviously, most people can happily learn that by trial and error, but that leaves you slightly set in your ways, I find. It’s invigorating to have your rationale for each cut challenged by an editor; to examine and justify your instincts, and see some of the ways on which you become attached to cuts, where you should really stay flexible and willing to change.

Also, the course tutor had edited lots of Peppa Pig, and as I have a three year old daughter, I felt able to say, with some confidence, that despite the amount she must have watched her shows while cutting them, I bet I’ve seen them more.

One of the school screenings while I was there was “Made in Dagenham” (very enjoyable), after which the film’s producers chatted to the students about the film in a way you’d never get at a public Q&A at a film festival. Also, as Stephen Woolley’s old producing partner Nick Powell founded the NFTS, it was a rare opportunity to see those producers of so many brilliant British films of the 80s talk candidly together about the industry.

Had some trouble with a faulty MacBook Pro that arrived last week, but I've managed to work around the lack of a reliable laptop for backing up rushes from the EX1, getting through a shoot in Bath that also involved 9 hours of driving on a Bank Holiday Friday... My ankles hurt after that.

So this week we headed to Bologna for a film about bilingual education. Very encouraging to meet some teenagers from a non-privileged background who've decided to double their schoolwork for the cosmopolitan benefits of being properly bilingual with specialist vocabulary for their subjects.

Bologna's very pretty - a nice city centre with duomo and lovely piazzas, and San Luca, a church overlooking the city from the hills. We cabbed it up to there to shoot some panoramas, and then walked four miles or so back to town down the steep hill road, which has an entirely covered walkway for pedestrians with 600-odd lovely old arches, little shrines, frescoes and everything. Scenic, and full of locals out for a run.

The school we filmed at was named after Galvani (who invented galvanising, and, I learned, started out trying to reanimate frogs with electricity...). Also learned that the reason English lasagne falls rather short of its original model - Bologna's native dish (as opposed to spaghetti bolognese, which the locals think is English, though they might give you tagliatelle with ragu) - is we don't cook it with an extra layer of pasta over the bechamel to stop it going rock-hard, then throw that layer away. Had some lovely food :)

Seems we just got back in time, as Bologna's about to be closed by volcano ash again. What happened to the government while we were away, though? Registered so Jo could proxy vote for me, but poor Nick actually lost seats. That's what happens if you went to Robinson; don't get your hopes up.

4 hours after returning from Italy, I was piled back into my car for a night shoot in a Rochester warehouse. The short, "Three", was all done in one night, and it was nice to meet the amusing and charming folks on it, even if I was so tired after 26 hours awake that my repartee wouldn't have been up to much.



After recording a very interesting lecture by Sir Ian Wilmut - who cloned Dolly the sheep - this week, I found myself trapped in the building by a big crowd (plus security) awaiting the next speaker, Richard Dawkins. Stayed to watch, as I'm a fan of his books (if not his rather pompous, public-school tone, though he can't help his breeding any more than the Galapagos tortoises, I suppose). Slightly dry overview of excellent "Greatest Show On Earth" (audiobook version read by him & wife Lalla Ward - this being Cambridge, someone asked him if he'd only married her cos she was a Dr Who companion...)

At BAFTA Tuesday night for a screening of a Screen East film I worked on last year (location sound and dubbing mixer) - Things We Leave Behind. Turned out nice; lovely grade, pleased with how it sounded on a nice system, and speculating what famous behinds had graced the chairs in that BAFTA screening room... John Hurt was on my train again (which is so much better now I can catch it at a small village station, not compete for parking in town).



Spent Thursday in London, too, shooting an event at the British Academy. It was a debate about whether Critical Thinking should be a standalone subject, or incorporated into all A levels (if not GCSEs). A bit of a technical challenge on the day, but interesting subject matter.



A quick one-day short film job on Saturday, doing sound for Azeem Khan on "Disorder". Lovely crew assembled by m'colleague Becky Adams, including top bloke Gerry Vasbenter DoPing. Should be a nice, tense and atmospheric film, with a nice chase - Gerry broke out the rickshaw, which is always a bit of fun (and running :)

Usually attributed to Martin Mull or Elvis Costello, "writing about music is like dancing about architecture" is an appealing enough aphorism that I've certainly said it a few times over the years. So just to demonstrate that those of us nodding sagely are a load of cynical old curmudgeons, my mate Monika has made a film in which she dances about architecture.

Time to finish "Grace" for Screen East this week, now that the lead actor had recovered her health. It was an incredibly cold couple of days outdoors in Cambridge this week, but we kept going as it was nice to see everyone again - and as demonstrated by the entirely sensible Henry Garrett in the picture above, the new cast cheered things up a bit too.

Amid the mad scramble to finish everything before the weekend this week, I had the pleasure of seeing Andy from Bruizer again, on a nice, straightforward little job for the NHS at the Duxford conference centre. Needless to say, had to dive out and take a picture of some planes even though I suspect that's not strictly allowed...

Busily trying to shoot the training videos I wrote last week at the moment. Finished a loooong shoot day in Cambridge, and I'm being sent to Coventry again tomorrow with m'colleague Neill to finish the "live-action" shoot. Bits of animation and screen-shots yet to grab.

It was also the screening of Wasted, the teen drugs and alcohol awareness film I did some work on earlier this year, this week at Cambridge's Arts Picturehouse. Pete had done a great job cutting it, and the kids in the cast and youth workers were all justifiably proud of themselves.

After a week to let our mix percolate, we returned to Things We Leave Behind for a few tweaks. The only problem was transferring the video file to me. Even at 3GB, we have 10mbps connections, file-sending services, and I've got unlimited webspace. How hard could it possibly be? And there's a 1.5GB version if uploading was taking too long. We had all of Saturday, after all. And you can do all this stuff very easily with these fast broadband connections.

So after four-hour uploads that the fileshare service then revealed I wasn't allowed to download without paying a joining fee, and various other attempts, I started in the evening. Finished at midnight. The new mix was uploaded by around 1-2am, though I'd flaked out by that point. Hope it all works for the online today!

The last of this years UK Film Council/Screen East short films, Grace, shot last weekend in a freezing cold Cambridge. Turns out it was much of the same crew as Waving at Trains, so it was lovely to see the familiar faces again, and roll out the sound cart after a few weeks of editing and corporates. Unfortunately, amid some other bad luck, we lost the third day because the main actor got ill, so hopefully there'll be a remount soon.

Owing to a bit of brutal stabbing by my GP on the previous Friday, I wasn't feeling too good (and was trying to manage a dressing and a pharmathon of drug-taking around unpredictable mealtimes etc), so it was lucky that m'colleague Julian (who's booming for the film) had recovered his health well enough to provide some extra brains. We still froze outside for a couple of very long days, though.

What perked things up a lot for me was the most junior cast member - my friend Liz's youngest, Jamie. It was the first time I'd met him, and after missing my daughter entirely for a couple of days because of early starts and late finishes, it was very nice to have a sensible conversation with a baby amid all the adult gibbering.

Just finished shooting a part-time project for yoof drugs and alcohol awareness for my friend Pete. As with most worthy sources of funding, money's been a bit tight and so it's largely been the two of us plus brilliant youth workers, and the cast of teenagers.

I'm periodically reminded that stuff that seems like common sense to adults (punctuality, remembering your costume, not breaking your arm etc) is still untested theory for teens. I'm also reminded that you'll do some real and uninhibited acting, and risk looking a pillock, more readily when you're young. This is because, despite your self-consciousness, you think you're probably a genius. So some performances that would be hard to get from amateur adult actors. I think it'll be quite surprising.
The most dramatic bit so far has been shooting a car crash, aided by the real emergency services instead of some thesps dressed as rozzers. The ambulance crew, police and two fire and rescue crews were incredibly patient with the inevitable glacial pace of filming, and were actually pretty good at their lines! The Rescue Vehicle actually got called on a proper job halfway through, but we'd shot it arriving, so no problem.

Unlike filming an operation, which made me feel that I'd hate being in the anaesthetist's room beforehand etc, this was an oddly reassuring experience. Watching the crews cutting the actors out of a turned-over car, I was surprised by how slick, careful and compassionate they were.

Bloodythirsty, though. As the scene was at the end of the story, it had only definitely been decided in workshopping the script that the protagonist would survive, and that someone else should be killed in the accident. The emergency services chaps persuaded everyone that there should be lots of fatalities... I've seen a rough cut, though, and it looks great.
Looking forward to the premiere with the kids attending; hope they'll be chuffed at how good Pete's made them look.

Up to Bruizer in Suffolk to record some additional dialogue for "Things We Leave Behind". What a lovely spot - on an old RAF base, in the fire station, with room for gear and edit suites, and plenty of quiet, open space around.

Lovely to see the guys again, too!

Had a rather more civilised evening's work than is sometimes the case today, recording a string quartet performing the score for a short called Exit Strategy, which I did sound on a while ago.

Nice bit of variety to be in Christ's College with my recording kit, listening to music for the evening, rather than running around with a heavy soundbag round my neck :)

(Photo by Chris Harris)

It's the Screen East Digital Shorts season again, and this one was another short-notice job. "Things We Leave Behind" is Andrew Brand's film this year. It's a nice, slow-build atmospheric story. I'm doing half the location sound, some ADR and the mix at the end.

I've had to split this job with a friend, as it was so short notice that I already had work on a couple of the days. The last day, I worked 8am-4pm in Cambridge on a corporate, then drove to the wilds of Norfolk and shot until 2am with Andy and the gang. Felt a bit run-down the next day; I think I'm too old to hold down two jobs now :)


Anyway, I couldn't have hoped for a nicer bunch of people than this crew. Being a Screen East funded film, it turns out I already knew several of the crew from elsewhere, but the new faces were very friendly an down-to-earth, and it was lovely to arrive on the first day and effortlessly get shooting in the first hour. Doesn't often happen, especially on low budget!

The actor playing the lead impressed us all enormously on the last day. I won't blow the ending of the film, but he wakes up to find himself in a certain amount of trouble, and we turned over for a one minute shot and were still frozen five minutes later, so much had he drawn everyone in. Very uncomfortable and psychologically horrible. You know, in a good way.

Sounds commonplace, but the practicalities of shooting scenes like this (as with horror films, too) usually mean everyone's concentrating on not wobbling a crap prop, or squirting the fake blood in time, or whatever. And everyone can see that the scary thing isn't real, and in fact looks exceptionally pony other than the little bit the camera sees. This was no different - the "set" was propped up in a kitchen, and had art dept people balancing on it etc. So an actor managing to psychologically disturb a knackered crew despite all that has done well...

And by contrast, there were some top-notch kittens in the barn next to one location.

I’m currently working with a Cambridge artist on assets for the effects shots in Last B&B. I’m hoping to get temp effects created with the art assets (meaning textured drawings of buildings etc) so that I can give FX artists a clear idea of each shot’s requirements.

Anyway, even though we’re only looking at still images at this early stage, it’s really exciting to see some frames of the film with a bit of fairy tale apocalypse in the background...