Diary
A new project and our next assault upon the world of film-making. We are to make a short film about someone with a public and private face. Our mission is to outline them both in a short film, 6 or ten minutes depending on whether the personality is living or not. Initial suggestions include the Chuckle brothers, who we believe run a shop in Rotherham. They live at a level of showbiz that matches their talent. Other suggestions include some Barnsley comic, who used to visit a restaurant Deb used to work at. There was a connection of one of her friends jumping out of a cake to frighten him on his birthday or to dance for him or something - a way in anyway.
More hopeful suggestions that arose in the second band of discussions concerned Deb�s stronger contacts with people in the local area. She knows some grandson of one of the Busby players killed in that tragic aircrash. But the most assessable person is an actor who was on Debs old course Louise Atkins. An actor friend who has appeared in several television roles. A lead role at an early age in the BBC drama �King girl� as well as a series of bit parts in Casualty, Soldier soldier, Band of Gold etc. She is the logical choice, due to the really strong accessibility to her. In the absence of almost half the crew, the selection is made. Apart from getting a Treatment, minor discussions and an introduction to the DAT machine, nothing really happens before Christmas.
Monday 10th January 200
Fuelled by a lack of entertainment I find myself thinking about our film. I ended up spending 20 minutes or so mapping out rough ideas for the piece. Under the title �what I would do if I was Debbie but I�m not Debbie and she isn�t me so she might not do what I would� I wrote a minimalist kind of plan of ideas concerning the structure of the piece.
A glitzy glamour opening sequence introducing the programme. Acting - images of Oscars, women in dresses that cost more than Rwanda , big cars etc then to gradually intercut this with images of Louise doing what she does, making cups of tea or whatever. These would be as matched as possible (eg - Sandra Bullock arriving in her Mercedes - Louise Atkins getting out of a ford fiesta) or a stark cut between the famous �Hollywood� sign on the hill and the �Elsecar� sign at a lonely railway station.
Supplementary ideas were a bit daft, drawing her a chalk star to mix in with the famous ones on the pavement over there with a mock awards ceremony being the weakest suggestion. But I�m sure any creative input would be welcomed and I decided to suggest them all to Deb the next time I see her. Perhaps she may want to develop any/some of them.
Next day at acting for camera the ideas are suggested and receive a luke warm to welcome response. I will never hear of them again.
Friday 14th January
We assemble at the designated hour. We are to meet Gavin McDoogle- a performing arts tutor who taught Louise. Deb seems to have organised the interview and we are all present. That is until someone returns the DAT machine. We have to wait around for the equipment to turn up, the time ticking down before the interview is scheduled in the Old Mill. Toby and Debbie continue on their embryonic versions of the questions. At the moment they only have a few, a fact that I find quite disturbing. I offer to lend a hand and ask what they want out of the interviewee, they don�t seem to know. I hassle John to get more equipment.
When I return it seems like we are not interviewing him today, even though we now have the required assistance. Returned by a rival crew at about 20 to ten. The interview was scheduled for ten and Debbie says we should postpone to another day. She asks each one what we think we should do. Most people seem to agree with the deferring option but I think we should press on. We�re only ten minutes behind schedule and Gavin seems a responsive and understanding interviewee. Considering the tight schedule, I think we would be mad to forfeit this arrangement, especially as we have got the precious DAT machine that is booked from Monday to Thursday afternoon. Ultimately the interview is called off.
It turns out that Gav was teaching at the time anyway, so if we had got ourselves and our equipment there on time we would have found no one to interview. Perversely it turned out for the best.
Saturday 15th January
Saturday morning - and for once it is the morning. We meet at Barnsley station at 9 AM prompt. After running through the DAT last night and practising it I am reasonably relaxed and very happy considering the hour. Soon all four of us were on the short train journey to Elsecar, where we seem destined to meet the star. After arriving at her house we run through the equipment and get set up. She arrives downstairs and what a glamorous actress she seems to be. The truth is that I am instantly frightened of her, but Deb and her seem to get on and she is willing to help us.
We move outside. The cables from the boom mike wrapped around me with equipment slung over my shoulder. DAT machine etc. We walk looking for locations to film, Deb and Louise leading us around this foreign and desolate area. Debbie has stated that she would like to film the interview when they are walking along. A couple of locations are dismissed due to background noises and one would have involved Adam walking backwards down a hill. In the end it seems we are heading towards the park.
On the road leading to it we find ourselves attempting the first shot to be recorded. The idea is that Louise and Deb will be walking along and talking. Adam will be infront of them with his camera my boom will have to directed just below the frame and out of shot. This involves the camera and sound personnel moving at a similar pace to the presenter and interviewee. This procedure seemed too complicated. My sound is complety unusable - it is invaded by footsteps and the inevitable clunking and mikerattle. Adams camera work, he tells me later, is shaky and awkward. A stationary camera position is the way to go. We shoot in the bandstand.
Debbie gives a vague licence to roam as far as the camera work is concerned. I position myself out of frame with the boom below the frame. Toby is playing the part of second cameraman. This means we don�t need to take any specific cutaways, well we don�t anyway. Deb launches into a series of questions which takes about three or four minutes. This is to prove the cornerstone of the film as far as the interview was concerned. At the end of this really long take there is a collective outburst of relief from the crew, required to maintain their positions for ages.
Louise suggests filming by the bridge. Deb complies and, very soon, we are filming by a bridge. Afterwards myself and Adam, being fun individuals, decide to have a childish game of that thing where you throw sticks in a river and see whose stick is the most streamline. After a couple of attempts we work out that it�s pointless, as the sticks seem to sink or fail to comply with our commands. We continue and catch up with the others.
Then, for some reason, Deb has decided to film her and Louise doing the same thing. I fail to see the artistic merit and the whole thing looks bizarre. Again the sticks don�t appear out of the other side. �You�re an actress� Adam says �pretend!�. Louise responds with a glare. Eventually though we have what Debbie wanted.
The next shot is Debbie walking towards the camera with Louise and very soon we are playing in the playpark, Adam dossing around on a horse with a spring inserted up it�s rectum. �Ay cock, that�s suppost t� be fur babbies!� the park warden yells from his shelter. A game of crazy golf makes the day seem better and soon we are heading back to Louise�s house to grab the rest of our equipment and get out of this stingy place.
At the train station I am ordered to assemble my equipment. I do this hastily and Adam is also in demand. As I am setting my levels I hear vague mumbling about a train coming, thinking it is in some way connected with the shot. We are ready and Debbie says a half improvised (but plainly thought out the main points) dialogue to camera. We haven�t used a clapperboard as Toby, guarding some equipment on the other side of the platform, has it. After the take I point this out, saying there�s no way we will be able to synch this up. �Well..� says Debbie as the train starts to pull up. Then it comes to me what the mumbling about the train had been � we�re going to get on it! There�s no room for my protests and suggestions that we should do another take and catch the next train, as I have to grab all my stuff and leap on board with everyone else. Day of filming is over.
Thursday January 20th
This is strange. In the absence of any information we assemble in time for the lesson. A reasonable turnout ends up having a cosy chat. Debbie seems really stressed about the workload of impending deadlines, documentary scripts and essays and vaguely decides to leave the film to concentrate on these matters. No progress is made.
Tuesday January 25th
The magical roller coaster ride that is the life of Fraser Campbell sees me in Wilkinsons buying a clothes horse. There I stumble across Toby in a chance encounter. A brief conversation about the production is inevitable where it unfolds that he doesn�t really know what�s happening, which, as he�s producer, is really bad. We hastily arrange a meeting to start editing tomorrow at ten, but this knowledge is currently only possessed by him and myself. Why remains a blur, but as the master of my newly acquired washing aid, I find my first task is to ring up Deb and the rest to arrange this encounter.
Later that evening I sacrifice several 10p pieces for the hopeful good of the project, but succeed in getting nowhere and only nearly skirting around somewhere on my fruitless mission. The problem is that I haven�t got Deb�s phone number so an investigation is in place. Calls to Paul and Adam prove no return on my 20p investment. Michelle is engaged (quite to who I�m not sure). After extinguishing these avenues I am left little option but to do something else, with five a side football providing a blissful escape.
Wednesday 26th January
The day passes in a glorious blaze of happiness - yes it doesn�t involve any work of any kind. Not least on our dying film, that will require a frenzied period of resuscitation in order to limp in any form, to the finishline that is the deadline. I did get through to Michelle and got Debs phone number, but she wasn�t there. In the absence of any alternative information I will turn up to the lesson tomorrow as usual.
Thursday 27th January
I arrive to the lesson and hang around with the other group as time lapses into that designated to the lesson. Then from below the gantry that possesses the non-linear edit suite, I see the bobbing faces and movement stirring below. The director and producer have arrived.
I fail to recollect the lesson exactly but one of the first subjects on the agenda is the mysterious phone call Deb received last night. I just wanted to know what was going on and suggest we meet earlier as editing the thing in under a day doesn�t seem feasible. I also noticed the golden globe awards were on and would tentatively suggest recording them if she wanted to proceed with the approved (but subsequently ignored) opening sequence. But my efforts have been to no avail and seem completely irrelevant in the current climate, so remain unaided. The next moment I recall is it�s the day before the deadline and our artistic leader and boss doesn�t even know how long the product is going to be. This hardly inspires confidence and a feeling of impending doom replaces the optimistic vibes of us getting it in on time.
To my sheer dismay I find that we are required to do some filming! A hasty phone call to Adam who can�t make it as he is struggling along with other projects. Again perhaps a mode of communication before an hour before filming an interview. The equipment has to be assembled pretty fast and various people are floating around the building, each as confused and as bemused as each other, seeking Dennis and tracking down DAT machines (etc).
At around three o�clock we, minus our preoccupied camera operator (who can�t be expected to disregard other educational matters without sufficient warning) head out of the Honeywell gates. Not convinced about the amount of vision currently inputted into the final product, I enquire what kind of music will be used. The response is a mixture of shock and overwhelming surprise. �Shit! we need some music!� was Toby�s articulate reply.
Then comes the stupidest part of the day. Tragically bizarre. Deb wants a shot of Old Mill theatre exterior or something which has to be gathered before the blanket of darkness (often called �night�) descends. The interview is in Huddersfield road site. I suggest that, as I am on sound and therefore carrying a fairly awkward amount of equipment, I should go straight to Huddersfield road. This will logically cut out the journey to Old mill and it is wise not to double back on myself. I head off alone in that direction after a hazy agreement to this idea.
I wait and wait. After waiting through this time I wait some more, reading a paper and finding sinister laughter about the bizarre circumstances of the film. After about 20 minutes what I suspected, dawned on me and a physically shattered Jonathan Baker explains that the interviewee�s in the Old mill after all. I should be annoyed but the lunacy of the situation far overwhelms such desires that isn�t really in my nature anyway. It is perhaps a sign of the flagging belief in the project that we start to plan our next film on the way back, tentatively batting around ideas of people�s lives, wicket after wicket falling.
The interview proves to be the last activity of the day for me. I am back in my role as soundman after a wandering absence. I am mentally unprepared as the shortage of time means I haven�t got my reassuring notes on the DAT machine. Anyway the levels seem OK. I can�t hear JD asking the questions but these can be re-recorded (rather hastily) at the edit stage while the interviewee�s responses are irreplaceable.
Deadline Friday
At a couple of minutes to 4 o�clock I am on train, coincidentally with Adam by my side. I point to my watch. �Look - in three minutes time the project will be handed in�. We both laugh. We also joke as we pass through Elsecar that it is really Hollywood, hosting a whole bunch of acting stars, one of which has been in the Bill. It�s cruel, but amusing.
I also explain the day�s events, how JD narrowly missed out on his editing opportunity after being mildly late for the meeting with Deb. We phoned Toby�s mobile - further reducing my pile of 10p�s and he says its going OK. I only have time to outline JDs absence and that he�s hung high and dry, as he doesn�t know where Toby lives when the money runs out. He didn�t ring back.
I see Debbie in the library a couple of hours later. �How�s our film?� I ask. I get a clouded reply as she is pre-concerned with other matters. I can�t hang around as I have a train to catch, not knowing I shall be sharing it with Mr Hewett. That�s how I left it on deadline day.
Tuesday 1st February
I see the final programme today. It�s a couple of days late.
2000