Step back to November 25th 2008, halfway through construction of the set for The Dark Side of the Earth’s pilot scenes, and take a tour of the workshop. Featuring an interview with the elusive Ian Tomlinson, production designer extraordinaire. Filmed by Gerard Giorgi-Coll.
Directed by Neil
Blog posts from when Neil used to produce and direct his own micro-budget movies (2001-2014).
The Dark Side of the Earth: July 13th, 2010
With the last FX tweak successfully, er, tweaked, we’re now looking for a place to grade. The Dolby documents have been signed and counter-signed, so all that remains for the audio is to transfer it onto MO disc, from whence it can be transferred to the film print – when we get to that stage with the picture, which is still a little way off.
The new deadline that we’re working to is October, when the Production Finance Market is held. Carl has applied to this sort of Cannes-on-acid, speed-pitching event, which may help us secure producing partners.
The Dark Side of the Earth: June 24th, 2010
We successfully got through the “Expression of Interest” stage for Screen West Midlands funding, and have thus been invited to submit a full application.
Elsewhere, we’re navigating the foggy, monopolistic waters of theatrical Dolby certification for the pilot. When the 35mm print is finally done, I plan to share everything I’ve learnt about the Digital Intermediate process – i.e. shooting on film, post-producing digitally, then finishing to film – in some sort of vlog/podcast/moving-image fact fest.
The Dark Side of the Earth: June 18th, 2010
Earlier this week I went to Londinium for some meetings which Carl had set up. One of them was with a novelist, Tess Berry-Hart. We realised in Cannes that a cross-media approach is the order of the day, encompassing a tie-in novel, a video game and so on. Proposals for these would form part of the movie’s package.
Between meetings, me and Carl pounded the streets of London, which were paved neither with gold nor the solutions which we were seeking to some script issues. Simplification is what’s required; that has also become clear of late. But how to make the story simpler without throwing the baby out with the bath water, that’s the poser.
The Dark Side of the Earth: May 31st, 2010
Since getting back from Cannes, we’ve written and submitted a development funding application to Screen West Midlands. Most of the work was done very kindly by Nigel Quinn, a former assistant of Carl’s. It’s been a few years since I last applied, and the project is in much better shape now, so here’s hoping something comes off this one.
Meanwhile, with most people having recovered from Cannes now, we’re aiming to have some meetings in London in the coming weeks. The grading and shoot-out of the pilot still needs doing, but we’re just waiting for Joe to make one last tweak to one of the FX shots before we take those final steps.
The Dark Side of the Earth: May 18th, 2010
I soaked up my last bit of sunshine on Sunday morning, eating breakfast on the terrace of the UK pavilion, right on the beach. Then, after a meeting about The Black Donald, it was off to the station to begin my journey home.
This time the train deigned to arrive, and before long I found myself in the small international departure lounge at Nice Airport. And there I stayed for a good three hours or so. This was somewhat worrying, since all the indications were that London’s airports would close at 7pm due to The Return of the Ashcloud; thus, a ticking clock was imposed upon the situation, in true cinematic style.
When Easyjet finally announced the revised departure time, we were given UKP4 food vouchers by way of compensation. Even if the lounge had been blessed with a dazzling array of mouth-watering eateries, this gift would have been on a par with another knitted sweater from gran, but since the only food outlet was a ‘Bar du Monde’, with less options than a BNP ethnic monitoring form, it seemed downright rude. The one saving grace was the airport’s free wifi, which at least allowed me to update my nearest and dearest via the medium of Skype, not to mention searching the interweb for more information than that which Easyjet had provided (which was none). It was not until we had actually boarded the flight that we were informed of the reason for the delay, which had no connection whatsoever to the ash cloud, but was in fact a technical failure on the original plane at Gatwick.
Alas, even once in the air, the ticking clock was not silenced for me, as I was now in a race against time to catch the last train from Gatwick back to Hairy Ford. Ten minutes before the departure of this train, I was still waiting for my suitcase to emerge from the Underworld onto the Carousel of Enlightenment. Miraculously, out it came, and I reached the railway platform in time. Thank heavens for the modest size of Gatwick; such a feat could never have succeeded in the endless miles of Heathrow’s corridors.
A little after midnight, I arrived home, reflecting sleepily on the fact that I was one of the lucky ones again, having reached my destination with only a few hours’ delay. And so ends Cannes 2010 for me.
The Dark Side of the Earth: May 16th, 2010
Yesterday started with a free breakfast in the Kodak pavilion, surrounded by posters saying, “No compromise. Shoot Film.” Yet their publicity photographer was clearly shooting digital.
Next it was more leg-work, trying to catch people in between their other meetings. Things seemed to take a turn for the better today.
Carl suggested to we also try to talk to a few people about The Black Donald, a film idea I’ve had in the back of my mind for several years, and a possible stepping stone project between Soul Searcher and Dark Side.
Cannes 2010 Video Blogs
These video blogs form a tour of and a guide to the Cannes Film Festival and market.
The Dark Side of the Earth: May 15th, 2010
Yesterday felt a lot more like the Cannes I remember from 2005, chiefly because I kept bumping into people I knew. Two such people were Jim Groom (director of Room 36) and Michael Booth (director of Diary of a Bad Lad). Both were seeking distribution for their films when I saw them at Cannes 2005; both are still working to get those same films out there. Jim has self-distributed theatrically, a massive challenge – and one not helped by his lab trashing his entire neg – but is now looking to sell Room 36 internationally. Michael has shot another feature since 2005, but his producer, Jon, has only just succeeded in securing a theatrical and DVD release for Bad Lad.
In the evening I attended a screening of Born of Hope, a Lord of the Rings fan film which I briefly helped out on, just before we started building the Dark Side pilot set. Although, of course, I was not surprised to bump into cast and crew members that I knew, I was surprised to find that an actor I know from a number of recent corporate videos was sitting behind me, and in fact is in Born of Hope, though I had previously failed to recognise him in it due to his long wig and lack of a French accent.
The Dark Side of the Earth: May 14th, 2010
For obvious reasons, I can’t tell you much about the meetings that Carl and I had today. One of them was conducted whilst walking and weaving briskly through the crowds of Cannes. Another took place, perhaps more conventionally, on a patio.
Let me share with you some thoughts that others have shared with me today. I list them below, in no particular order, without passing judgement on their validity, simply to give you a flavour of the things you must consider (because if you don’t, others will consider them for you) when presenting a film project to the industry.
“Why is the lead a girl? It’s a boy’s film.”
“The poster looks like a seventies Czech TV series.”
“These kinds of films are a nightmare, because you’ve got multiple effects house all working on different shots.”
“If the book it’s based on sold less than five million copies, they’re not interested.”
“I haven’t bought this shampoo in years.”
After dinner, we attended a screening of “The Strange Case of Angelica”. It was a nice little story, about a photographer who falls in love with a dead girl he’s snapped, but when I tell you that the director is in his nineties, you will not be surprised to learn that the film moved more slowly than an Easyjet boarding queue.