Thursday 3rd February 2000
My next media incarnation is to be a production manager. Today we reviewed our previous projects and split into our new groups. JD is the director, Helen is on camera, Michelle is sound and Heather will be our editor. The brief is set and a �docudrama� is set to fill our media lives for the next 6 weeks.
Thursday 10th February 2000
Today I have a meeting with J to get the project underway. We meet in old mill learning resources and he explains his idea. James Dean, the actor and person will be the ambitious subject of the film, meaning we will have to recreate a 50s atmosphere. I can see J�s passion about the project gleaming from his eyes and flowing speech and trust in his judgement. Initial discussions take place about the content of the film, and I attempt to revise on several elements of his life. Ultimately I feel we can suggest the right kind of feeling to the piece in terms of costumes and settings, but a lot of it is down to the acting. He also gives me a reel of printouts of a pitch for the lesson later and an appraised sheet that outlines key moments in his life.
Later on I present this to the two present members of the group and we decide to run with it, mainly on the back of JD�s enthusiasm and the fact he usually knows what he wants. A lack of knowledge on the subject persists and I hand down second hand information remembered from our earlier conversation. This is a trend as JD will be absent next week as he�ll be in America, he�ll E-mail a Treatment through before next week and we decide to be in contact immediately after his return. This absence means we are paralysed until after then.
Saturday 12th February 2000
We have a Treatment, but it fails to shed that much light on the production. It has a list of locations such as train stations and an alarming amount of cast members but I can�t do anything until I have a script. That will be after reading week.
Wednesday of reading week
I ring JD up and we have a little chat about the project. Nothing much to report. I am a couple of hundred miles away and can do nothing without a script. JD progressing on the script. Ringing him up was more of a tokenistic gesture.
Tuesday 29th February
Fresh from my half term break I return. I burst into my acting for camera lesson to find JD. I am introduced to the script we will be working from. My initial impressions are that it�s pretty cool but there may be a bit too much dialogue rather than actions. However considering the nature of the resources at hand it is hardly surprising that we cannot recreate magnificent images from 50 years ago. A lot of the content was going to be the written, or spoken, word.
Anyway I have to break it down. Work it out, digest it all. Make a start by trying to rake together some actors. We are in an acting lesson, which is a help. We ask some bird called Claire if she�d be interested in being Christine White. She tentatively says she is but she�s busy. Gavin and he agrees to be in it. Debbie too, although we�d like Claire to play the role more than her as she looks more the part. Discussions take place
Thursday 2nd March
We end the day by looking around Barnsley pubs. This is a recce of the possible locations for the first shoot, which will be on Wednesday. O�Neill�s is selected as it has patricians that look a bit 50s. The manager is also really sound and his main concern is how many drinks he'll sell to us. I blag that we�re all a bunch of alcoholic students and he�s really happy with the whole idea. The location for our first shoot is sorted.
Monday 4th March
This Monday morning I go into college and put all the breakdown sheets into the computer movie magic section. It takes around an hour, as I need to be 100% certain that everything is covered. I get Jay to check out I have done everything right and then set around breaking into logistical side of it. An hour or so later I am phoning up the showroom cinema in Sheffield and asking them for permission to film in their wonderful location on Thursday. It is all sorted out but we will have to compromise the smoky atmosphere in the auditorium. It will just be an empty room full of seats. There will also not be a beam of light flickering through the theatre. We will have to intercut between stock footage of a Marlon Brando film and shots of James Dean in the cinema to achieve the best effect possible.
Jay has asked his family to be involved and the office scene seems destined to be in his sisters workplace in Sheffield. Her being the actress who plays Jane Deacy. We have basically all the elements, we just need to weave them into a tight tapestry. The exception for this is the shoot at the station which one of J�s relations has agreed to play the part of Winton Dean, we need a child. This is our main problem and Cal gives me the number of a child actor. However there is also the possibility of another member of Jay�s family playing this part and I opt to hold back until we know about this.
Tuesday 5th March
Today a period phone is very much on the agenda. I scour the second hand market for a traditional clunking black hoofing phone. Then a tour of the charity shops is on the cards. Both avenues prove unsuccessful and a couple of hours later I head towards college and acting lesson, where there is a final piece of casting to do for tomorrow.
Debbie had agreed to play Christine White, and we knew she was available and willing, so someone was definitely going to play this part. However Jay had his artistic heart set on Claire from the acting lesson, who looked more like the actual character in real life. Anyway we asked her and she couldn�t do it. She showed us this really mad timetable of rehearsals for this play she was doing. 9 AM to 8 PM every day with no lunch break and that she would do it in a couple of weeks. Debbie is playing Christine White.
We also agreed to meet Gavin in the Firkin later to hand him the script and chat about his role and get drunk. We will be shooting tomorrow.
Wednesday 6th March
Our first shoot brings us to O�Neills. It is early afternoon when we lug all the equipment out of stores, into cars then from cars to the pub. This seems really strange for me, as I don�t have anything to do. All my work has been done getting us here. Now we�re filming there�s not much to do other than chill out, nick sips of people�s pints and read the paper - a role I fill adequately. Then we are set up and I am called upon to wave my big boom around and generally help out Michelle. After a couple of takes the DAT machine starts acting really strangely. Instead of recording sound when asked, it records a bit, stops, then starts going backwards. There are about three false starts before we decide to get it to the DAT doctor at Honeywell.
Pile into Michelle car and we are on our way to hunt down Alf, like hundreds people do every day. He plugs it in and, surprise, surprise, it works perfectly. We trundle back to O�Neills and from there on it works fine.
The rest of the shoot goes OK, but we over-run a bit and I have to miss my scriptwriting lesson. The second set up involves static camera as we are going to use jump cuts. A tripod and then we�re on the go. Members of the cast changing their positions at each shot. Ryan is dossing around in several takes, pulling a variety of faces and amusing antics. Ry is an extra, the GUY who says �Jimmy you�re girl�s in the paper!�. Shooting seems to go OK but they did start playing music in the background for a couple of takes. I asked Michelle if it was intrusive and she seemed happy with it, so it should be OK.
Thursday 7th March
Today we are filming in the Showroom cinema. I have to get to the shoot by public transport. I have to collect the DAT machine that I booked from music and make my way across to Sheffield. This goes to plan and at half past nine I am standing beside the platform, ticket and DAT machine in hand waiting for my train. And waiting and waiting, after three periods of waiting I waited some more. I waited through my break from waiting, then through a bit longer. An announcement rung around the station. The train was knackered. I would have to wait some more. When it came the waiting was over, or so I hoped.
The carriages were there but we had to wait for another train to push us along. Progress was agonising and when it came the carriage creaked into life. Motion towards Sheffield, the showroom and filming. It took ages, blue smoke bellowing out of the straining engine. It was like a weasel pushing an elephant.
I arrive an hour later than expected to find our crew enjoying themselves laying around in the cinema. They�re all set up but haven�t shot anything yet. A little while later Shooting commences. Firstly a pan across the seats to James Dean, who looks remarkably like someone from Doncaster. I am involved here as a token extra, sitting on a seat a couple of rows in front of him. Three pans later we move on to a medium long shot and a close shot of James Dean being fascinated by the images flickering before him. We�re done for this location. Onwards to new media horizons!
We lug our equipment through the middle of Sheffield, stopping for breathers and to relieve the person carrying the monitor. This is a cause of much arm strain and annoyance. It has the handle on the most awkward place. Anyway we soon find ourselves in an office.
Set up and shoot then Leslie (JD�s sister) starts to do her make up and get into her costume. We have to wait for her lunch hour in the little room we are in. Doss around while waiting and we also work out the shot and set up. Soon we are on the go. I am on boom again and several takes are filmed. The period phone isn�t in period so, the shot dictates that it will be quite close with just the handle in shot. That is it for the day and we wait around for a lift to the station.
Monday 13th March
Today I find myself running around Honeywell like a madman. The DAT is booked up for the weekend by the other group, and we�re both shooting on Sunday. It�s ridiculous that we�ve only got one of them between three of us but the inevitable run to the music block to beg for theirs happens. It�s booked up as well, says Richard Holmes and chock a block until April. The other problem is for the last couple of weeks a mini DV camera is being used by someone called Frank Peters. Frank Peters????????? Time is spent trying to work out who he actually is. Ringing registry reveals he�s a third year music student. So I�m stuck really and see Alf, who says he�ll look into it and see if it�s a priority. As a reserve I book out the Supercam and the older equipment which, despite an obvious difference in the outcome in terms of quality, is looking like the most likely option.
We also talked with Stacey about her role as Vampira and suggested costumes and stuff like that. This is JD�s area (not that he�s particularly into costumes and make-up).
Tuesday 14th March
We�re booked on the edit suite today to get some material digitised. However I have been unable to get in touch with Heather. Last night I went around her house and couldn�t summon a reply. I get somewhere this morning as someone else opens the door and explains she isn�t back from the weekend yet. I decide to give the time to the Dennis Nielson group, as the sooner they�re finished, the sooner we can get on. They owe us about three or four hours on the equipment.
I actually caught up with Heather later. I finally get her phone number, which seems pretty poor, but if I haven�t seen her how am I meant to get it? Anyway she�s told about tomorrow�s filming at Medowhall and is welcome to turn up.
Wednesday 15th March
We meet at one and bundle the equipment into two cars. Set off for Medowhall and soon we are setting up in Island rock diner. Filming goes really wonderfully, although I end up missing my scriptwriting lesson for the second consecutive week.
Thursday 16th March
I grab the DAT from music, which I�d booked out on Monday, and we record the phone in lot. In its conception the shot Jay was meant to conceal the phone with his body. This means a bit of positioning is required on his part. Again I am on boom and also do a couple of clapperboards. We have to wait each time for the recorded message on the phone �please hang up and try again� to shut up and avoid the cleaners around Honeywell. Noisy vacuum cleaners etc. Then we�re all set to do the other side of the phone conversation we recorded on Thursday, �I�m sorry I can�t make this scene � I can�t handle it�. This goes without a hitch really. Then I give the DAT back to music, we store the rest of the equipment in the Gallery and take the MiniDV camera to Wetherspoons.
A couple of shots of Jay bursting out of the pub and looking upset, then surely a cinematic first as the actor and cameraman hold the camera together as they walk along the road. This is to add extra stability to the shot which has proved mildly problematic in its previous takes. More film in the can.
Friday 17th March
I had only a couple of things to do at the start of the day. I had to get a stills camera from Photography - I envisaged no great problem there as I had chatted to the man who lets them out and he told me to come back to him today to pick it up. I also had to get a phone, no great trouble as a cream phone was located in the gantry from our previous exploits, mock up a newspaper and collect the equipment I�d booked out.
I started by, after my electronic media lesson, mocking up my newspaper. Jimmy Dean has died! Stop the press! I start of my mock up by printing off various headlines in the macroom and stealing an old paper from the journalism room. I don�t care, so long as it gets done. It kind of gets done by around two. It looks a bit shaky, the title is too big, bits of paper are flaking off and it�s a bit uneven. I decide to get the signature for the equipment. This is where massive problems arise. Dennis has gone home early. Milan tells me that the only other people who can sign equipment out overnight are Sam Wilson and Alf. Alf�s not in on a Friday but this Sam Wilson character should be OK. No � Sam Wilson is ill for the first time in about four years. Can anyone else authorise equipment? Of course not! This results in a problem. I stay calm and try and think logically.
The next couple of hours see me at the height of my negotiation powers. Annoying John, badgering people, trying to get in touch with absent/ill people to get some kind of verbal conformation then I see Ryan. He tells me that the Supercam�s at Clare�s house and she�s about to go out for the weekend. I have to get there fast and get it into my house. Run to Hopwood street, drag the supercam to my house. A second trip to gather a box of loose wires. Skirt around to grab a stills camera then I�m negotiating for a microphone, here and music. John says that the supercam isn�t booked out over the weekend. I explain that it�s at my house as I thought it was. A dilemma for him as to whether to let me take an unauthorised microphone.
In the end I manage to swing it. I can�t possibly go home, get the supercam and tripod and come back in time for the stores closing so he lets me take a microphone. I negotiate for the 416 and even have to ask for a tape � this is really cheeky but in my running around and all it had slipped my mind.
A long day, but I�ve kind of got myself out of it and we are set for Sunday. One thing is for sure, if I get robbed, I�m dead.
Sunday 19th March
Helen comes around in the morning to pick up the equipment we have illegally stored in my room. I am to get to Doncaster by train as Helen has stuff to do beforehand. Again, delays and stuff mean that I am unable to arrive as early as intended, then I have to scour the train station for the group. I catch the tail end of the shoot then it�s off to Jay�s house.
The paper looks awful! It has been rushed and folded in its transport via Helen. We try to patch it up but the pritt stick isn�t sticky enough so we have to use it anyway. Then we record the Pier Angili scene and James Dean on the phone to his Dad. It is at this point we realise that the boom mike isn�t working for some naff and annoying reason. It�s unexplainable but it happened!
Tuesday 21st March
We are booked on the edit suite all day. Things don�t go too smoothly and most of the day is spent digitising material. I hang around, flitting back to see the boring process of getting material into the computer, but the Director and editor are in the edit suite and my job is almost done.
Wednesday 22nd March
Today from four we are in the edit suite. I am in my scriptwriting lesson, after a temporary absence due to filming. Anyway by the time I return up the gantry at about seven all is not well editing wise as most of the stuff has been lost, due to the computer crashing. They didn�t save it.
Thursday 23rd March
Our last shoot today. We have the equipment we can, everything apart from the DAT, our actress, Debbie and our location. We set off to Ryan house. I sit in the front room when they are all crowded into the kitchen. Several takes are captured. Then its back to college.
I have negotiated the edit suite from about four, from the mushroom group. Myself and JD wearily tread into the edit suite at this time. We have the DAT and if it�s in the machine by the end of this session then that would be something. We have our stock footage, Marlon Brando film and something from Nightmail � a train. They are in the right place as we have cued them up in the library while waiting for the other group. Now we are ready to go and all we need is an editor! I phone up Heather and she says there�s some family stuff going down and that she can�t do it today or tomorrow. Oh well!
This night is problematic. The first thing to go wrong is that the DAT is broken. We have the tape, we�ve worked out how to digitise from it, but after all this we can�t put it in as the eject release is broken. What can we do? We try to put the music in, but can only digitise half the track as there isn�t enough memory. Over the last couple of days we�ve gathered by watching other people edit that there�s this thing with blue tennis balls on a grid that can help, but we don�t know where it is, what it does or how to use it. It�s frustrating and we�re stitched!
Friday 24th March
We have a guest in the editing chair today, Mr Ryan Bracha. His Dennis Nielson video complete he lends us some valuable time. Heather will not be with us so Ryan is like a superhero, substitute editor.
I take a break from being in the edit suite but by the time we�re kicked out, around half five or something, we have the opening sequence (including music) and up to about 6 or seven minutes. This has not got DAT on it.
Monday 27th March
At around eleven I come into college, hoping to find us editing but expecting us not to be. My suspicions come true and I look for JD, who I know is looking for me. Apparently Michelle was looking for both of us but we never seemed to meet each other.
Today editing is painstaking. We put the film about bullfighting in the computer and cut some stuff together. We have to give the other group the facilities. We use this time to grab the DAT off them and record the voice over for Winton Dean, who is being played by Jay. Sneak into the first aid room and soon it is completed. Then for the second editing session of the day, both of us fumbling around trying to ache our heads for inadequate knowledge. Neither of us have really been trained on the media 100 and this causes us great problems.
With a lot of assistance from Lee we are informed how to digitise DAT tape and the voice over seems a straightforward and painless procedure. We also sample in the sound of a period phone from the sound effects library. The next task requires Lee again. We get a MiniDV camera and intend to digitise the scene that we did last, Christine White and Jimmy eating uncooked pasta at Ryans house. Lee, who is about to go home, tries valiantly to explain how to hook up the camera to the edit suite. Showing us wires and explaining that this connector goes into that and that goes to this and this and that go into something else. He is greeted only with confused faces. We don�t know anything about this kind of thing, we haven�t been taught. Jay�s December is well documented and there are reasons why he missed the editing lessons. I�m only familiar with linear.
Lee inevitably does it all for us. We press play on the camera and our footage comes up on the screen � magic! Unfortunately the sound is just a distant buzz and there is no DAT because there is only one in the entire place. We decide to digitise the remaining footage that was lost in last weeks crash. We can�t do this as we have no concept of where any of the wires go and we�re set up from a miniDV cam and we need to input SVHS. We ended the day begging for an extension.
Wednesday 29th March
Another editing day. We decide to meet at one. I am there, I get the DAT machine from stores and headphones. Michelle arrives, the headphones don�t work. They are replaced. We watch the film in its rough, unaltered state. Then Alf is called upon to show us how to synch up the DAT to the vision. We�ve completely done this the most long-winded way and the operation is tedious and complicated. We haven�t put clapper boards in with every take, deciding to keep the camera and DAT rolling. Also we have said scenes and takes and not slates, meaning the whole process verges on a mumbling web of confusion. I am an observer, craning my neck to see what is happening, trying to grasp snippets of information. The main work is done by Alf and Michelle.
Heather arrives at around half three and still JD is nowhere to be seen. I don�t blame her for being late as my final words to Jay yesterday were to let her know about today. I can�t ring mobiles on my phone. For some daft reason it says �barred�. Perhaps it�s a pub.
Once Heather and Michelle are here I sneak off and go and work on the write up. Under an hour later Heather comes up to me in the library and says everyone has gone home and that she is about to and that she wont be in tomorrow. I ring up JD later that night and his Mum says he�s really ill. I leave a message asking him to ring back. Scotland loose 2 � 0.
Thursday 30th March
Things are getting very silly. Again I ring up JD and his Mum tells me that he�s on his way here. He arrives. And the lesson goes on. We put more DAT on, it�s synched up but the editing must go on further.
Friday 31st March
We have the equipment and we edit away. At about three I raid the sound effects library for the sound of a steam train and soon it is in the computer. We have a version of the film, it has no titles, no DAT in scene nine and is mildly too long. I suggest we hand it in its unfinished state, as these considerations are hardly going to get us another 10 per cent of marks. Anyway we don�t know how to wire up the edit suite to record SVHS so we couldn�t really hand it in anyway, as we don�t know how. In the hour after the desk shuts and college closes Ryan puts the titles on. It seems like it�s dragging on until Monday.
Monday 3rd April
Today we have the edit suite booked from half one. Michelle is called and the remaining DAT is put in and synched up. There is a shot with no DAT, the bit where Jimmy is reading about Pier�s marriage to Vic in the paper. We must have recorded over this little segment as the second days filming kicks in at this point. I patch it by fading the sound up for the line - it sounds really awful - the background noise is raised way too high. Ryan is helping us again, but departs about half four to spend his food vouchers.
We leave college at about half seven and really think nothing about it. It�s just the way it is now and such voluntary long stays have become a matter of course. We get yet more tuition on how to actually edit and I learn about the pan control for the left and right channels. Oh! There�s rumours that the editor�s on holiday.
Tuesday 4th April
Today the video is all but completed - we need to hand a copy in. Again, we don�t know how, so Lee is called upon. We get a copy handed in but the levels are atrocious. The range is way, way too great. Pier Angeli scene (recorded without a working mike and no DAT) is so low it�s barely registering while Vampira is distorting well into the red. I hand the thing in anyway but we will come in on Thursday morning to try and get the level�s level (the edit suite is booked tomorrow). It should be fun.
Thursday 6th April
It was!