News room scenes

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:51:17 > Production

We were incredibly lucky to be able to get the news room at the Bristol Evening Press/Western Daily Press to film a few key scenes between Ryan (Chris Hatherall) and Kat (Siobhan Bermingham).  We'd never have been able to get the location if it wasn't for our unit photographer Dan Regan pulling some strings and, of course, the powers that be at the newspapers giving us the green light.  Thanks on that one goes to Andy Wright for getting on board and supporting the film.

The location did exactly what locations are supposed to do.  It didn't just provide us with the right look, but the atmosphere of the place definitely added an intangible element of reality (our buzzword - horrible term, sorry) to the performances.  Chris and Siobhan are full of energy on screen and they run the perfect line of sticking to the script and ignoring it at the same time. 

The result?  Energy and passion.  Fantastic giving that we had to shoot four short scenes in the four hour window that we had at the location.  The planning was great, the execution was great and it is a perfect example of how being really prepared can lead to increased spontaneity on set with vibrant results. 

A case in point was that we were able to add an unscripted scene which was created on the spur of the moment.  This was the only time that this was done on the production and credit has to go to Chris for suggesting that we need a more defined introduction to Kat and her professional relationship with Ryan.  We improvised a quick scene and, now that I've cut it together, I can't imagine the film without it.  Thanks Chris. 

Despite our shooting style I'm not usually a fan of full improvisation, but on this occasion Chris laid out the argument well (actors are very very occasionally right), we were ahead of schedule (believe it or not!) and I knew it could be pulled if it didn't work (yep, my OCD means I always need a Get Out Of Jail Free card up my sleeve).  This is the kind of collaborative approach that we've been trying to achieve on the film and hopefully this is a feeling that has come through to everyone who's been involved. 

- Si