...and another thing.

I didn't realise this was up yet, so belatedly here is my interview with Greg McLeod for 4Talent at the screening of the new Brothers McLeod short Codswallop.





Here's the trailer.

Film Dash blog on 4Talent

Ian's blog on the weekend's Film Dash action for 4Talent is now up on their website, check it out here.

Film Dash: Digital Galore Round Up

The evening of Film Dash started in true form, by dashing. I fetched a camera from the lovely Warren from @Warblefly and then ran off to the briefing - starting these things already sweating shows that you're serious. A friendly atmosphere was brewing at the Custard Factory and Ian had even met a fan of The Outsider. All anyone knew about the challenge was that we had to make a 1-5 minute film in 48 hours based on a specific brief. Everyone’s brief would be different. The winning film would be screened at the event, ‘Into the Light’, a celebration of Birmingham born film producer, Sir Michael Balcon. When the time came we got our brief:

• Incorporate the spoken line, "I don't believe the world has been in such a terrible mess since the flood."
  
• Somehow reference the film, 'The Cruel Sea'.

How nautical. By now Ian really needed the loo so we headed back to my new flat/office, tip-toeing around the subject of trickling water, floods and the cruel ‘it just went down my leg’ sea.

The most exciting thing about the challenge was to learn what we could (or should) do in that time. We knew we could write quickly and wanted to work to that strength. We’ve also filmed sketches very quickly, especially with Tom acting. But bringing everything together and making it look good within the time was the trick.

Pizza, brainstorming and a couple of shakedowns of the whiteboard got us a nice script and a schedule by 2am on Friday night. Not too shabby. On Saturday morning Tom was getting into Mr. C. (Mr. C would have liked that) and all was go! We got a couple of shots done and Sara Leung kindly came round to fill in for the part of the girlfriend.

Apart from, or because of, the lack of crew, actors, and equipment, filming went pretty smoothly. By 3pm we had started editing the first lot of footage down and unleashed Max Fitness onto the world. Snippets of other people’s film’s were starting to pop up in various guises at this point which added to the chase. In the evening we unwound at the pub. Later, we started tightening right back up as Ian and I broke the back of the editing overnight. As expected there was way too much footage, so we stripped down and cross-faded our way to safety.

3 hours sleep later and in a cold sleeping bag, Tom said reassuringly something to me about sausages. I agreed that I liked sausages. A shower, a cupper and a McScwadge burger later, we were back in action. After a couple of reshoots, sound work and some tutting at some very dodgy cuts we were done! It would have been lovely to chat to everyone at the hand-in but by that point we were shattered. Unaware of the relevance we finished the evening with a couple of pints of Landlord. So, so tired.

In the end, I think we can be quite chuffed with our script. It had a few nods to Hitchcock and fitted the brief in a nice Ealing farce comedy sort of way. Whether it came though as well on screen I don’t know. Looking at other people’s films, particularly Dunkirk, maybe we should have gone a lot shorter, simpler and quirkier. Whatever the weather, Film Dash was amazing. It was a great laugh, it taught us a lot and we were part of a really buzzing filmmaking event. It did what it should have done, it left us wanting more! Bring on Film Dash ’09.*

Louis ‘Pumped’ Hudson

*Just realised Pete Ashton said almost exactly the same thing.

Here's a slideshow of some pics taken from the weekend.

The Landlord

Our Film Dash entry The Landlord is now up for public consumption.

A group of all the Film Dash: Digital Galore! entries, including our effort, has been posted on Vimeo

Check it out, leave us some comments on what you thought of it and remember, it was ALL done within 48 hours with limited resources and no actors, well apart from Tom. I recommend watching the other films in the group too, particularly Dunkirk by Pete Ashton and co, it's like Wall-E but set in Digbeth.

We'll be posting some photos and video from our shoot soon with a little bloggy round-up from Louis I think. So brace yourself for some behind-the-scenes action.

Featured on Dailymotion... again

Dailymotion, the website that sounds like something it isn't, has featured us in their 'Funny' section. Nicely tucked between a CNN report and the new Coen Brother's film trailer on the homepage as well.

Max Fitness

Oh yes, we have a new film! It's called Max Fitness, and this is what it's about:

'After a failed career as Britain's second-favourite celebrity fitness coach, Max Fitness turns to German morning television for a final shot at cellulite-busting stardom.

Available on VHS, audio cassette and minidisc!'

Tell us what you think with a comment and a rating if you're that way inclined.

Film Dash update: Totally scripted, cast, locations scouted and schedule planned. Half filmed, waiting for night for scenes of darkness. We're happy so far!

Many thanks to Sara Leung for joining the cast too!

Ian, Louis & Tom @ Dice Productions

We need you for Film Dash!

With Film Dash drawing ever nearer (17-19 Oct), the time to get organised has come. We've got part of a team and some potential locations, but we'd be happier with a couple of extra pairs of hands (and eyes and ears preferably).

We've got Louis for directing, editing and other technical wizardry, Tom for acting, spontaneity and writing and I'll be on writing, ideas and bits of everything else in between. Here's what we're missing:

What we need: A decent camera (ours is a liability) and some more hands on deck.

What we would like: Some sound recording stuff, some lighting, someone with cinematography skills.

Who we're looking for: Someone who has any of the above, is prepared for an intense but rewarding weekend, won't rock the boat when it comes to ideas and realises that it's for fun as much as anything else.

Having Louis' flat in St Paul's Square is a bonus as we'll be close to the briefing and hand-in locations for the mad dash to the finish line, and it will double as a location and war room (not literally).

If you think you could help or know someone that might want to, get in touch and we'll see what we can do.

To the Dash!

Ian