February 22, 2007

Dear Blog.... A Message From David Mackenzie

I have only just plucked up the courage to read these reviews. Wow they are really quite nice! I think that's the first time the Hollywood Reporter has said anything nice about one of my films. Phew!

This is of course the trade press. They are usually very pithy and aimed at the industry - and can be pretty swiping in their insults as I have learnt personally! Most of the normal press will hold back their opinions until the time comes to release the film.

Well Berlin was pretty intense! After a gentle warm up, we hit the day of the screening with a big wall of press and TV interviews. Some of them were what is called 'round robins', where you have 8 or so journalists sitting round with their microphones asking you questions, and some were one on ones. Most of these were video interviews. Jamie, Sophia and myself worked our way through each group or individual, getting circulated by our lovely PR folk (big thank you to the ever calm and sweet Matt Sanders) every 15 minutes or so.

I don't know what it is like for an actor - where lots of the questions are more personal and tabloidy - but I tell you it is pretty damned relentless and you start to lose all sense of what you've said before. I am so glad I decided to have an early(ish) night the day before because last time I did this with my previous film was on 1 hours sleep! Too painful to repeat.

While all this was happening, the film was being screened at the main press screening in the big Berlinale Palast cinema (1600 seats - only a few years old and one of the best cinemas in the world). Just as that was finishing we were whisked away to attend the press conference for people who had just seen the film. After a couple of well needed glasses of champagne, we went out to face the banks of photographers.

The experience of being almost blinded by the hundreds of flashguns is so intense - what it must be like for the big stars is unimaginable. For me it is almost overwhelming. But fortunately they were more interested in Jamie and Sophia, so I was able to sidle away after a short while to let them get on with it. Stepping back to watch, it was lovely to see the two of them together arm in arm with huge and genuine grins for the cameras - they looked so good together.

Then we had to face the press in a different room - by far the scariest part of the whole process for me. We walked out into this room with about 400 people in and sat down. They were clapping like mad - so maybe they liked the film , or maybe they were being polite. I hate all this stuff because I don't feel particularly articulate in that environment but the questions were not aggressive (they can be) and luckily Jamie was on top form and answered 80% of them. He was so funny and endearing and articulate (and I am not just saying that) that it all seemed easy.

Then time to prepare for the big premiere screening. Time to get the suit on (I had to pay for it btw - not one of those designer freebies that actors get to model! - ugly directors aren't going to sell any clothes) and head down to the prescreening drinks. Fantastically so many members of the Friends of Foe society had made it out to Berlin to be there for the film. It was lovely to be surrounded by so many friends for this brief moment of sanctuary.

Then the official world premiere of Hallam Foe! We had to get into cars to go to the red carpet - kind of odd considering it was less that 100m from where we had gathered, but I guess one has to arrive in style!! So we get out with the flashes and the bright light (so bright the flashes are kind of irrelevant) and walk the gauntlet of the red carpet and into the Palast.

In the press conference we had posed for big formal pictures and they were up on the walls of this enormous cathedral of cinema. We had to sign our pictures. (last time I was here I tried to thank Dieter Kossick who runs the festival in writing and I spelt his name wrong - I asked him how to spell it and he said like Pieter which of course is not like we spell Peter here, so it's only partly my fault. But I still cringe about it 2 years later) I decided to tread carefully and just signed my name in the bad scrawl that is my handwriting. Jamie meanwhile scrawled in huge lettering 'Hallam Foe was here' over his portrait.

We took our seats with big spotlights on us and enthusiastic applause and the film started. Help!!

The screen is huge and the print looked great, the sound was perfect and the audience laughed in all the right places and went silent in all the right places and the one and a half hours went by really smoothly and I only cringed a bit (I normally cringe a lot more which is a good sign). And then the last image of the film cut to black and the audience exploded into applause, cheers and whoops. We had to leave our seats in the middle of this and get ready to go on stage. The credits rolled (with the lovely Franz track going on) and when they were over more applause and I had to go on stage and introduce Pete Jinks (writer of the book), Matthew Justice (executive producer), Gillian Berrie (producer) and then my two stars Sophia Myles and Jamie Bell. The clapping was huge and felt great and someone came on with flowers for the girls.

But any thoughts I might have had about making a speech or thanking the Friends of Foe in the audience evaporated. I was like the proverbial rabbit in the headlights (as I always am in these scenarios - we should have had Jamie and Sophia do some talking, they at least know what to do in front of a crowd!). So we all gave a quick bow and modestly walked off with applause ringing in our ears.

After the clapping subsided we gathered ourselves and went off to a small Berlin music dive bar called 8mm (appropriate name for our roots I think) to drink and be merry. Which we did!

But I think now is the time on this intimate little blog to do what I should have done on stage while the audience were cheering and clapping and thank all those people who made the film possible. And in particular on this occasion to that all those people who were with us that night who worked on the film.

Pete Jinks, writer of the book, Ed Whitmore, co-screenwriter, Tom Sayer, production designer, Campbell Mackintosh, gaffer, Sean Gascoine, my agent, Alexandra Ferguson, line producer, Neil Cairns our production accountant, Jeremy Gawade, our lawyer, Alastair Mackenzie, (my beautiful brother and) exec producer, Matthew Justice, exec producer, - as well as just about all the films financiers - Peter Carlton and Katherine Butler from Film 4, Peter Touche from Ingenious, Carol Sheridan from Scottish Screen, Lenny Crooks (formely) from Glasgow Film Finance (And Hamish Walker) and the entire team of our sales agents Independent, Luc Roeg, Ana Ayesta, Andrew Orr, Sarah Godwin and our UK distributors BVI led by Robert Mitchell with Lee Jury and Charlotte Tudor. Jonathan Rutter and Matthew Sanders from Premier PR, Bart McDonagh, Clare McKinney and all the Domino Records team, Nick McCarthy and Alex Kapranos from Franz as well as Anna Duffield and Brian Coffey from Sigma, Tiernan from Film City Glasgow, Colin Kennedy, Lee Thomas and many of our long suffering partners (plus anyone who I have been stupid enough to forget - sorry)

Thank you guys for being there and for being part of the team Hallam. Sorry I was too tongue tied to say so when I was on stage, but I was enjoying the clapping. Thank you very, very, much.

'It really is all glamour!' as my brother used to say when we were picking up cigarette ends off the wet ground on our first jobs in the industry as runners.

David Mackenzie

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November 1, 2006

Another video clip

I have another video clip from Mr. Mackenzie. This one was made on location while they were shooting from the treehouse.

As you can just make out, shooting in such a confined space with a phone is cramped enough so it doesn't take a great leap of imagination to figure that shooting with a 35mm kit made for very tight space in the treehouse. To get round this we had flying walls built into the structure of the treehouse (walls that we could take off to give more room for the camera unit). Although we didn't actually have to use them in the end Tom incorporated that aspect into the design so that we would have maximum flexibility when we did the shots with the treehouse on the ground.

Hallam Foe, a film by David Mackenzie starring Jamie Bell

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October 31, 2006

Director's videos

Also in the raft of emails I got yesterday were a few video's David had shot on his phone. Here's one of the dubbing theatre in Copenhagen.

The team were joined by Gillian yesterday who has gone out for the final two days of the mix to cast her eyes and ears over proceedings.

Here's the gang at work:

Hallam Foe, a film by David Mackenzie starring Jamie Bell

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October 30, 2006

Director's Snaps

I got a raft of emails from David this morning with photos taken on his phone during production.

I think this is great, how often do you get to see the pics the director takes on his mobile as he goes about his daily routine?

Here they are:

The Treehouse

Mr. Bell in his treehouse

Mr. Nuttgens (DoP) and Mr. Bell

Hallam Foe, a film by David Mackenzie starring Jamie Bell

Posted by colin kennedy at 3:01 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2006

Countdown

We have begun our countdown of the final aspects of production, although it is still slightly undefined we probably have a little over a month to complete the film.

Thankfully we are no strangers to stress, so the last minute feelings are not alien here.

David and Colin after another week at the coal face.

As I write, however, I have just met up with DM mid-blog and he has an interjection to make:

These feelings may not be alien but it doesn't stop them from being a major struggle. We're juggling sound (music, dialogue, foley, effects, etc), print-grading, end roller, credits, logos, music info, video mastering (stuff that will become the DVD etc) de-spotting (removing spots frame by frame, cleaning up essentially, although there is a man for that!), publicity materials, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Anyway, I feel like I have to be in three different places at the same time.

I know in three weeks this will probably be over, and we'll all probably have a huge emotional crash - where everything feels empty again and technically I'll be unemployed again.

BUT!

I am SO looking forward to it being over. And to be able to sit down and watch the film in its completed form.

Then I'lll probably go and get drunk and cry a lot. Which is what I normally do at the end of a film.

Posted by colin kennedy at 12:45 PM | Comments (3)

September 22, 2006

California Sunshine

I have just received a link to one of David and Gillian's shorts, California Sunshine.

Cal Sun, as it is affectionately known here, was one of David and Gillian's early collaborations. It's a great short but the quality of this link is pretty suspect. (I will try and find another way of being able to watch this and other shorts of D&G's)

The film stars Al Mackenzie, David's bro, and Susan Vidler, Al's partner, amongst other notable cast members including brief 'extra' appearances from various members of the Scottish filmmaking axis.

Enjoy!

Posted by colin kennedy at 1:43 PM | Comments (2)

September 21, 2006

Word back

This morning David posted a comment after reading yesterdays No News blog which I think should be posted on it's own really, so here are David's words:

Just arrived back home in Glasgow after the 'picture lock' screening in London. Essentially it was an opportunity for all interested parties in the film to see where we have got to and give it the thumbs up. This (thank f***) they did in spades. The new stuff we shot last week has made a great difference to the overall feel of the film and understanding Hallam and his journey - as we always knew it would - so there was a paplable sense of excitement from all involved.

For me it was a good experience too. Not the usual cringes (well not too much anyway) and plenty of laughs in all the right places - although it is not a comedy, there are plenty of funny moments.

For a director showing a film to an audience it is always a nerve-racking experience. But there is not much more gratifying a feeling than hearing the sound of laughter rippling through an audience (in a place you want that is - it can be horrifying if it happens in a place you wanted a serious moment).

When I made short films, most of them were comedies and you got a really clear sense of when it worked when you heard the audience laugh. A loud public laugh is so much easier to read than a private quiet tear or a blink of fear.

The last 2 films I have made have been pretty serious dramas, so I haven't felt the thrill of a funny moment landing for a while. It certainly is a buzz when you get it though.

Note to self: do more funny stuff!

Posted by colin kennedy at 11:07 AM | Comments (5)

May 8, 2006

Domino Records

We are working with Domino Records on the music for the film.

A while back I spoke to David about what this means and how this slightly unconventional way of using music will impact on Hallam Foe.

Check out the site for a truly eclectic selection of music www.dominorecordco.com

D.
I’m looking forwards to having a chance to DJ the score. In normal circumstances one gives a film to a composer... Now, doing a contemporary film its fantastic to have a chance to put the music I’ve been listening to for a long time, over the last few years, maybe into the film.

Laurence & Jacquie from Domino

I’ve been inspired by my relationship with Domino Records and we’ve been trying to arrange a way that everything I do in the film musically comes from them and their sister imprint Geographic, which is run by my friend Stephen Pastel.

Stephen Pastel

I’m hoping that we do the whole film without relying on any scored music. What worries me, of course is an action sequence or something like that when you need to have it really shaped to the sequence. But still the challenge myself and my editor face is to construct even those sequences within the music that we have within that Domino spectrum.

So I hope it goes well.

Q. From that point of view would you consider, having identified specific tracks, then working with specific artists for specific scenes?

D.
One of the things I talked to Lawrence about, who runs Domino, is about in some cases instead of getting masters of the songs is getting the Pro Tools files to go in there and do a certain amount of editorial work ourselves – obviously with the consent of the musicians involved. The other thing is that my sound editors, Savalas, they’re quite a musical bunch themselves and they’re always providing me with sound design which in the normal case I actually find regularly gets dumped ‘cos the music gets put on top of it and you can’t really here the sound design anymore and what you can hear just clouds up the music. So you end up without a lot of the things they’ve worked on. So I’m actually hoping in this case there’ll be a space for those things to be there, so the kind of weird sounds and bumps and clangs and tensions are things they always do create in the sound design but I’ll be able to bring to the foreground this time because I won’t be having score to kind of cope with that.

I’m very excited by it and I hope that its an experiment to gather rather than create and that’s a different kind of thing.

The are one or two well-known bands but I can’t name names now.

Posted by colin kennedy at 8:19 AM | Comments (7)

April 20, 2006

Tank stuff

Last Friday we went down to Pinewood to shoot some more stuff for the scenes at the loch. Unfotunately I wasn't able to go, but David was of course there, and who better to hear it from than him.

He's on set right now but I'll get the words from him when we wrap.

Posted by colin kennedy at 5:36 PM | Comments (21)

April 10, 2006

Coming to Edinburgh

So why does Hallam work in a hotel…

More from Mr. Mackenzie...

Now we’ve moved back to Edinburgh, or to Edinburgh which is exciting. We’re staying in the Caledonian Hotel which is actually where erm part of the film is set.

So it’s a) quite nice I’m staying there and I can walk to work quite easily without even going outside, which is kind of nice erm

And it’s kind of delicious for me because many many years ago umm my first full-time job since leaving college, school, was em as a room service waiter in the Caledonian Hotel. And I’ve never stayed there, I stayed there last night and it was a very pleasant room and I actually used room service – and gave them a tip of course – and eh it’s a kind of quite delicious sense of things coming round on a circle in a kind of way because at least part of the inspiration for Hallam getting his job in the hotel was based on my experiences of someone a similar age to him.

Posted by colin kennedy at 1:36 PM | Comments (8)

April 9, 2006

The 35feet high club

Today we shot a sex scene in a treehouse. David shared some thoughts on the journey to the set…

The only way is up

…scary day today we have our, our first sex scene in the film. Umm. It’s always a fairly nerve racking experience, obviously, particularly for the actors. Ermm terribly exposed scenario for eh them…

Emm

My sort of principal is to, in a way, make it as kinda real as possible. And eh, sort of, all the sort of awkwardness of, of real sex, as opposed to the kinda sort of, you know, glowing kind of eh fakery of normal movie sex.

Eh so…

You know.

I hope that’s what’ll happen. Erm it’s a major scene, because its sort of something that shouldn’t happen, and its going to happen in a very awkward space, Hallam’s treehouse, and it’s the end of an act, so, and there’s a lot of dialogue as well so its all kind of pretty scary.

I think the idea is probably shoot out the dialogue first and then move into the scene.

I rehearsed it yesterday with the actors [Jamie Bell and Claire Forlani] and em, you know, I think they’re, they understand the choreography of it. So we just kind of have to let it go the way it goes…

I’ll ask him how it all went on the way home.

Posted by colin kennedy at 9:34 PM | Comments (16)

April 4, 2006

Tough days ahead...

Chanby House

Today is our last day of interiors at the Chanby House location. I managed to get a few words from David on the way into work this morning. It seemed appreciated that the last word from D was completely unedited so here's another go at it. If anyone feels it's a bit of a disjointed read reported like this then let me know:

Today is my last in the interior, or in the house which is Chanby. Erm. And I've got a lot of things to catch up on. Cos, as you know, things happen, get delayed and slowed down, so I've got a scary day ahead. Ahm. Just trying to get it all in.

The film unit is running really fast and efficiently at the moment, which is fantastic. I've got an amazing team. I don't know how many shots we did yesterday but a lot. We got through stuff that we never thought we would get through.

This is probably the most challenging day in terms of schedule so far. But its going to get worse anyway. But if we get through today [all the work on the call sheet] it'll be really really really good.

erm so erm ah

very excited but slightly nervous.

Tomorrow we're doing two days of filming in the loch. Which is a beautiful loch. erm The weather forecast unfortunately says UNSEASONABLY COLD. ahm which I'm sure eh Who knows how accurate these things are but what I do know is its a beautiful morning today eh The puddles on the road have definitely got ice on them. Eh. So for eh my core actors, two of which have to go into the loch, ermm, more than once as well, it's going to be a pretty horrifying day. ahhmm

We've obviously got a stunt team, divers, we've really got everything we can to protect them, but the reality is that there's no way around them getting into that loch and eh I know that that (cough) that's a pretty scary experience.

I've actually had people going into water in the last two of my films, so its a bit of a theme, and its always a bit of a number. You always um, you have to wait, ehm for the people to get warmed up... your shooting time goes down because you're waiting for these things.

We're trying to make sure everything's as smoothly planned out as possible so we get, what is actually quite a complicated day, within the schedule.

So...

Posted by colin kennedy at 9:46 AM | Comments (4)

April 3, 2006

David & Giles

Here's a shot of David Mackenzie & Giles Nuttgens (Director of Photography) going through their endless process of deliberation and discussion.

Giles Nuttgens & David Mackenzie

The director and D.o.P. have a very importannt relationship. Between them they decide how the film is going to look, so all the blocking (positioning and movement of the actors), camera movement and lighting is discussed in order to get the right emotional state of the scene on to film. The set is then lit and fine tuned for each shot. This is a lengthy process with many people involved - we have 5 people in the camera dept, 3 in grips and rigging, 6 sparks (run by the gaffer), and that's just in camera and lighting. Other departments on the set are sound, standby costume, make-up, props and carpenters, continuity or script supervisor, unit stills (photographer)...

Posted by colin kennedy at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2006

Opening scene shoots today

crappy weather
photo: colin kennedy

This is a direct transcript of a conversation I recorded in the car on the way to set with David this morning. We have a tough day ahead…

I’m shooting the opening scene of the film today, or at least part of the opening scene today, which involves a crane, it’s a situation. Aaahmm. The Weather is not being very kind to us. This is Scotland and you have to get used to shooting in the rain in Scotland, you have to get used to shooting in inconsistent weather in Scotland... ...And take it on the chin. But there are certain things that erm narratively don’t quite make sense, aahm, for example erm having sex, ahm, in the mud and the rain in quite the same way you would do sort of alfresco on a summer day in Italy. Ah, so, I have a choice of slightly bending the narrative eh in order to compensate for that. Or, continue to perpetuate the myth of the Scots people being hardy and prepared to go at it any conditions.

So these are the choices I have facing me today

David Mackenzie reading his shotlist

I'm off to put my wet weather gear on.

Posted by colin kennedy at 10:28 AM | Comments (3)

March 28, 2006

blog

When I first thought about doing a blog for my new film Hallam Foe, I immediately thought about all the creative opportunities it would allow to give access to the intense world of the film making process. My old friend Hugh Macleod has been pretty much in the front line of the blogging revolution and through him I have been able to watch the blogosphere blossom, despite being a little retarded on the techno front myself - I have written many screenplays (including the one for this film) but I can only type with 2 fingers and still can't get a bitTorrent to work on my computer.

I am now just one week away from shooting the film. Most things are in place but it has been a majorly torrid time to get here. Even at this stage there are many things that could go wrong and the whole house of cards that is every film could collapse - not for the first time I might add. My film Young Adam collapsed 3 weeks before shooting and it was only the resolution of my lead cast Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton to keep loyal to the project that allowed us gather up the pieces and start again 7 months later. Naturally this was a scary and unpleasant time for me and everyone else who were fighting to get that difficult film financed - in a brutal commercial world that couldn't understand a film about loneliness, sex and grief. But we got there in the end and I am very proud of the result - not that I wouldn't make a couple of changes!

The point is that the whole infrastructure of financing, casting and crewing a film is in incredibly delicate thing. In my ideal world I would like to blog about the crazy adventures that have taken us to the point of being about to shoot Hallam Foe. Over the last few weeks, myself and my friend and assistant Colin Kennedy have been gathering material for our blog and getting excited about the whole idea of being able to expose the inner workings of our machine. I like to think of myself as an honest kind of guy who speaks candidly and openly about anything I want - even if it involves uncomfortable truths. But I have begun to realise there are certain things that I can't really speak about in this blog. Not because anyone is telling me I can't - I can and it is enshrined in my contract that I am allowed to - but because I have a responsibility to walk carefully in this fragile little ecosystem we are building and if I don't I could destroy the whole thing.

This means that the Hallam blog cannot promise its readers the total open access that it could have in a more robust environment - although I bet it is a whole bunch more open than any other attempt to do a blog for a film. But I can't say some things about things like the processes of negotiation that have got us to this point, because I need the continuing support of my producer, my team, my cast, my financiers, my sales agents, my distributor, my agents and a whole host of other people. For example, a major executive decision was made by one of our key financiers today that has significant ramifications on the film, for better or for worse who knows. But I can't tell you what that was right now.

Colin sees all the things happening around him with wide and curious eyes and has loads of ideas to put on the blog. But, much that they are dramatic and incredibly fascinating, a significant amount of them are simply impossible for any of us to comment on. There are no go areas I am afraid and I want to be honest about this - particularly at this stage where we are closing the finance, which is a massive legal undertaking with literally hundreds of contracts needing to be negotiated by everyone involved, especially the eight organisations that make up our financial structure, and which will affect all elements of the film. This affects various creative decisions that I have to make - not in a cowtowing kind of way, more a rolling with the punches kind of way.

Gary Oldman was once quoted (I think) as saying after his amazing film Nil by Mouth was made that directing a film is like rescuing your favourite things from a burning a burning house. I can totally empathise with this. In a way everything is about compromise and the trick is to compromise as cleverly as you can.

But this is a film in which the director (me) has much more control than most films. It is being made by my own company. The producer Gillian Berrie (who I hope will be contributing to these pages too) is an old friend of mine and not the cigar munching exploitative kind of c**t of producer cliches. I have written the last four drafts of the script and am free to adjust it as long as I don't destroy the schedule or budget - both of which are incredibly tight, so in truth I can't suddenly decide on a helicopter sequence or stunt. It is not a studio movie (although we have BVI/Disney as our UK distributor and Film Four as one of our key financiers) so I don't have a team of executives telling me what to do. I am sure that I will get some pressure down the line from some of the financiers to adjust the edit in one way or another (most likely to make it faster or to play with the ending). But contractually no individual body has the right to force these changes.

In the world of film-making, unless you are making self-financed movies, this is an incredibly rare and special thing. I had a horrible experience on my last film where various elements of the edit were forced upon me by a particularly foolish Hollywood executive, in my opinion to the detriment of the film. So I have fought very hard to be allowed control of the edit of this film. If I am honest I haven't totally won the fight. But, in the spirit of necessary compromise, I am in a much stronger position. At last resort, if there are disagreements on the film's final cut, we resort to a committee of three - myself and one person from 2 different financiers. Of course this means I can still get shafted, but not without the opportunity to put up a major fight. It ain't the holy grail of final cut, reserved for only about 10 directors in the world I think, but it's a lot closer than most directors get to go to it.

Over the course of the next few weeks we will be reporting from the frontline of the film shoot and we will carry on right until the film is finished and out on the screens. I hope there will be juicy things that are added daily and that it will be a blog worth returning to. It is a very full on experience directing a film, so please excuse me if I don't contribute as much as I would like. But Colin will be passing on my thoughts all the time and I will do what I can. Don't expect every wart to be here on these pages, but I do promise you that if you keep reading, you will get an open and honest account of the slings and arrows of making this film with as many warts and all as I can give without breaking the toy.

Welcome to the beautiful nightmare.

David

Posted by David at 5:17 PM | Comments (8)