So, what's been happening?

...alot has been happening!

For the last couple of days, we've been holding a mandy.com casting session, for all mandy.com actors. I still haven't made a decision on Joseph or Chris's character and time is running out! We plan to shoot on July 7th and 12th, and I still haven't chosen the leads! I do think however, I've found the right guys for the part, its just all about making that final decision. I know I've been very indecisive about it, but I personally believe that casting is the most important part of the filming process. The wrong actors can make or break a film, no matter how good the script is. So I'm taking the time to find those right people.

LOCATIONS:

Several issues arose with the locations I had originally picked to adhere to the script. The first location being the Aldwych tube station. The beginning of The World Beyond the Wall, calls for Joseph, the main character; to come home from work on the tube. To film something on the 'tube' involves alot of phone calls and paper work. Permissions between the official transport of London and the specific tube station you are going to film in are essential. And planning the least busy times are also important. This week, I learned that the station I had planned on shooting in "Aldwych" station, had been shut down due to security reasons. It is because of this, that I am left without an opening location scene. This causes me a lot more work than would have been necessary. For those of you that don't realise, the Aldwych station tube, was a station once on the Piccadilly line, but was shut down due to maintenance problems in 1994. Since then, it has been the ideal place for filming tube scenes, as they allowed a train to enter the station every now and then at the discretion's of the director.
Read more here:
http://underground-history.co.uk/aldwych.php

Long story short, that location is no longer available, leaving me to find alternative routes. I am currently looking for a tube station that has less business than any other during early morning hours. Hopefully I will find what I am looking for. (Or have my main character catch a bus....)

Another location, which is fairly important for this film, is a red Brick Wall. (Hence the title, The World Beyond the WALL). Now originally, what I had imagined, was this wall, would be a red brick one and in a back alley with a dead end. Unfortunately, the city of London is built in blocks. And because of this, there is hardly any such dead ends available outside. So in this case, I had chosen to move the location to interior, (more specifically) a warehouse called Cinnamon Warehouses, which was a beautiful establishment complete with rich red brick walls.
Once again however, weeks later, I was denied this opportunity because of over booking. I am now left to fend for myself. Luckily, I'm open to suggestions, and not so married to my ideals that I postpone the production to find exactly what I envisioned. A wonderful company by the name of SPACE-2 Consulting Ltd. They happened to find me a nice place, that will be demolished at the end of July. An abandoned print room.



This is a photo of some of the rooms. We will see how the recce goes.

Stay tuned for more hair raising updates!

Page of the storyboard.

Just scanned a page from the storyboards i'm slaving on.
Take a deep breath and behold..

Storyboards... results of auditions.

So lately i've been stuck at home, battling my ever persitant allergies. It's because of this I haven't really been able to go out and location scout to the extent that I've needed too. All is alright however, because in the meantime, I've been drawing up storyboards!
For those of you that don't know what a storyboard is; it's something like a comic book, usually hand drawn, representing the order, style and types of shots that will be implemented during Principle Photography(the shoot). Here's a really cruddy picture of the first page of storyboards for this production:


'Looks like they're sitting at the bottom of a dirty fish tank right?'

The results of auditions that took place on June 9th - June 11th turned out to be pretty inconclusive. (I want to give a big thanks to all who helped me however. If it wasn't for you, i never would have been able to pull this off. Thankyou _Fareed, Bonni, Tabitha and Chris for booking the rooms, waiting for actors, having to talk to me and wait. Out of the 21 actors scheduled from Monday thru Wenesday; only 7 showed up, and six of those actors came with the intentions of trying out for the character Joseph's part only. One actor auditioned for the part of Chris. So I find myself very indecisive. Torn between several issues. These issues are far too many to list..so lets just say, i'm much more indecisive now than I was two weeks ago.

I have decided to contact another casting agency in the hopes that a better set of actors will present themselves. Most likely I will hold another casting session in the days following the (18th of June). These auditions will be individual sessions. Not nearly as preplanned as the talent circle group was.

Here's a picture of my assistant director (Tabitha) and myself viewing the audition tapes back:


The ideal posture for creative thinking.

Tomorrow i'll be location scouting through Richmond Park. Wish me luck!

Auditions and Location Scouting.

I haven't posted in awhile, but I have an excuse.
The past few weeks were absolutly mind bogglingly busy. (That might not be a word, but that's how busy I really was.. ..really!)
I finished up the final week of classes, passed all my exams(somehow), and dove straight into the pre-production of this unfinished short film. I am still learning as I go, so some things are very nerve wracking, yet exciting none the less.

One of the many things I did the past week was LOCATION SCOUTING.
Things needed:
1. London A to Z map.
2. Pictures of location from www.filmlondon.co.uk
3. A friend, or a girlfriend.
4. An idea of where you are going and how to get there.(WARNING: THIS RULE (MUST)BE FOLLOWED IF YOU ARE BRINGING YOUR GIRLFRIEND ALONG. ..IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME ..THATS FINE..I WARNED YOU.)

So far I have found 3 of 10 locations. Several Location Scouting events have been scheduled for next week. Hopefully we find the locations needed for the right price!

Casting will begin next week on MONDAY the 9th of June 11am till 3pm. It will last for three days. Hopefully everyone can make it at such an early time (that goes for myself as well). I have about 21 actors auditioning for the two male leads. I've given everyone around 15minutes to audition, so hopefully that will suffice.

I'll keep you all updated on how it goes.
Stay tuned.

- Jason


PS:
Location scouting can be a very dangerous experience if you have no sense of direction what so ever. If you are one of these people (like me) I suggest you hire a location manager, who will find the place for you.