So I’ve finally got the film from the 48 Hour Film Project up onto youtube, check it out in the embed, or go watch it on youtube (where you can enjoy it in HD goodness) …
Of course there are flaws, but I’m pretty pleased with the result for a film made in such a short period. Hope you enjoy it, appreciate any feedback …
(and as mentioned before, thanks to everyone involved, it was a great weekend!)
This weekend saw the London 48 Hour Film Project. When the wonderful Beth (producer on Out of Office and Sandwich Rap) invited me to join her team as a writer and editor, I leapt at the chance. So Friday afternoon I moved into Beth’s house, and prepared to meet a whole bunch of new people and work non stop with them for 48 hours. I was nervous, I was excited, I was wishing I’d managed to get hold of some hard drugs to keep me going …
The rules are pretty simple. You are told the genre your film should be, and are given a character, prop and a line of dialogue that have to be included in it. This is obviously to ensure that the film submitted has been produced in the weekend, but it’s also a good way of focusing the approach to what needs to be written. Or so we thought … after much kicking around of ideas, we finally settled on an idea that we felt was going to be do-able in a day’s filming, and started writing the script. From the discussion I drew out a basic outline of scenes, and then we started whittling it down from there. Jane patiently allowed me to pace up and down in the kitchen while we built the first half of the film before finally succumbing to her need for sleep (I think around 2:30ish). And then I worked with the remains of the group to nail the second half.
And finally, around 5 o’clock in the morning I finally finished the first draft of the script, and went to bed for two hours. It was clearly going to be a long weekend.
The filming went pretty well, as far as I could tell. As soon as they were setup in Brockwell Park, I snuck for a bit of a nap, so there may have been all sorts of problems, but it looked good when I started getting footage for the edit. As I started work, our composer (who was beavering away in West London) sent over some music (Dropbox was proving to be a very useful collaborative tool for us), and I started to apply that to the opening sequence. As the crew left the park, I joined them in the fading light to head back to Beth’s.
The light was a problem. We had a whole other scene to shoot outside, but there was no way we were going to be able to set up and get all the material we needed for it before darkness descended. I looked at the script for five minutes, panicked, and then culled half the dialogue and moved it inside. It worked fairly well, but I do miss the original scene; it really helped define the relationship that little more solidly than we achieved in the end product.
The edit continued into the night, and I finally had a first rough draft put together by around 4:30. A luxurious 4 hours later, I was up and back at the computer, showing the rough cut to Izzy, our director. Tweaks, shot changes, etc began, fiddling with sound (Brockwell Park is under a flight path, and we definitely had some problems there), and then finally we locked picture around 2:30pm. This gave Kevin time (just about) to tweak the timing of his music, whilst I got on with the grade.
And bang, around 5pm, we had a finished film, and I cockily said “Ha, 48 hours, we can do it in 46″. Oh how foolish I was.
The 48HFP requires the film to be 4:3 SD, and we had filmed in 16:9 widescreen. I knew all of this, and already knew how I was planning on putting it together. Which I did, and it worked fine. But then I thought, oh, I’ll just check it looks okay fullscreen. Which is when panic, and the consequences of working so intensely on it, caused me to cock things up a little.
Because it was 4:3, and my laptop screen was widescreen, the film appeared to be in a box. This is to be expected, but my addled brain froze. What the fuck is going on!?!
I then looked more closely at it. There was a thin black line on either side of the picture, something had gone horribly wrong. And there ensued many, many different ways of exporting video. After many trials and failures, I found a way that seemed to solve the thin line issue. But this required a whole new render, and it didn’t come out until 6:30pm. We played it back, and it looked great. It was fine, it was going to work.
And then about 1:30 in, the video went screwy. For some reason, several of the shots had scaled badly. Instead of being nicely letterboxed, they were 4:3, and only showing a small portion of the shot. It was 6:30pm, and everything was going very, very wrong. I needed to render again, which can take up to an hour!
It was time for a new plan. We had to deliver the film to the Curzon, Soho, by 7:30pm. With only an hour to go, I decided to send the earlier render (with the thin lines on either side issue) in. So I put it on a memory stick and half the team headed off with it on the tube. In the meantime, I’d try and fix this latest problem, and then Beth could drive us in with it.
But it was taking too long. Far too long. So I decided to copy some of the original stuff across, and I’d then try and remove the thin lines just on the laptop – I could work while we were driving.
A twenty minute race through the streets of London ensued. It was 7:20, the deadline was in 10 minutes. And my software was telling me I had 20 minutes to go on the render. In desperation, I went into the Curzon, and asked if they could test our earlier render to see if it would work. A brilliant woman (and in my mind beautiful, wondrous goddess) stuck the USB stick in her laptop. She opened up the file. And it worked. Miracle of miracles, it worked!
Much rejoicing and relief. And then Russ asked me which version of the film I had given him.
My stomach dropped. I didn’t know whether we had just tested the one I knew worked, but had the knackered shots in, or whether it was the earlier version which had the thin lines and I didn’t think worked. But by this point it was too late. There was no way of knowing.
Now, if I had written this story, it would be at this point that I would describe the brilliant screening where it wall worked amazinly well. But sadly, this is a true story, and that’s not what happened. We all got together at the screening last night, and settled down to watch it. And, 1:30 into the film, it all went horribly wrong again.
Gutted.
Fortunately, by this point I had gained a bit of perspective, and whilst I felt (and do feel) that I let the team down at the end, I’m also aware of the fact that competition or not, we did finish a film in 46 hours. A film that everyone involved seems to be pretty pleased with. I got to meet a bunch of people that I hope I will be able to work with again, I was able to write and edit under pressure, work remotely and locally, and had an absolutely brilliant time into the bargain.
I’m really looking forward to the next one. I promise that this time I will keep a cooler head, and maybe have a printed check list of steps for getting the export right first time.
[edit: The video is embedded in this blog post]
[for the really big news, feel free to scroll down, but if you have the time, why not enjoy the holiday with me?]
Several weeks back (and what feels like many moons ago), Claire and I did something pretty special. For the first time ever, we went on a summer holiday together. Generally, I’m more of a winter holiday kinda guy, and I had somehow managed to keep Claire on this path for 3.5 years. But sadly I gave in and we were jetting off (sorry planet) to Thailand.
Of course, I wasn’t actually upset by this, I love Thailand, and was looking forward to going back there for the first time in about 7 years. We flew via Doha on Qatar airlines. Qatar have good seating space, and good in-flight entertainment. Unfortunately their screens are too reflective, which makes watching anything quite dark a bit rubbish, and Doha (the hub that all flights go through) is a *very* dull airport. There was also a serious communication failure on the return flight around delays on the second leg, which basically leaves me grading them as a big fat *FAIL* as an airline, and I won’t be recommending them to anyone.
But that’s enough negativity, let’s talk about the fun stuff!! When we got into Bangkok, we were whisked to our hotel in a plush Mercedes, complete with bottles of mineral water and cool towels to mop our heated brows with. As a birthday treat, we were lucky enough to be spending a couple of nights at the Plaza Athenee, a glorious 5 star hotel with brilliant rooms and service, a fantastic pool area and eye-popping breakfast buffet.
Outside the hotel
The view from our room
We spent a couple of days there, using it as a great base of operations to wander the streets of the city, which was as busy as I remembered. Taxis, tuk-tuks and mopeds all vied for space on the multi-lane arteries of the city, diving into tiny gaps with the minimum of fuss. The moped is clearly the best way of whizzing about, but also the most dangerous – we spent much of our time on foot, although Claire and I did grab a tuk tuk one evening for the fun of it. We had eaten at Harmonique, a gorgeous little Thai restaurant over near the river, and then walked over to Pat Pong with the aim of going to Radio City – a brilliant bar I had visited last time I’d been there. Having promised Claire the joy of seeing a Thai Elvis, we were gutted to find that it had closed down. But we still got to enjoy the night market, and watch various Brits abroad getting pictures with the lady boy in the small bar that we popped into for a quick drink. It felt like we had to try out the Tuk Tuk once, in spite of Claire’s misgivings. Of course, random reversing on busy highways and an insane sense of speed ensued, and we loved every minute of it.
Being the rainy season, we also got to enjoy some spectacular storms; we were woken up on our second night to find our usual view completely obscured by the torrential downpour. Dramatic flashes of lightening crazing through the blackened skyline gave us our only glimpses of the washed out streets below.
After a couple of days in Bangkok, it was time to head off to Phuket, where we would be staying at the luxurious Marriot Vacation Club. We were booked onto the night train that would take us down to Surat Thani, after which we would take a 5 hour bus ride to Phuket. Having pissed off the cab driver by giving him a fairly miserly tip (I imagine he had far greater expectations given the hotel we were picked up at), we were enveloped in the bustle of the train station. It had much the same feel as Paddington on a Friday night, the strange mix of hollow echo and crowded bustle that transport hubs have. Thai television blasted out to the patiently waiting locals, as various westerners with overstuffed back packs wandered around trying to work out what they were doing. Of course, we had no trouble at all, and we even found time to pick up a copy of the Guardian before boarding the train!
An English Wooly Liberal abroad!
The night train platform
The train itself was great, there is a romance and a joy to long distance rail travel; you feel so much more a part of the journey when you really experience the distance involved and stay in contact with the ground. Watching flashes of light from dwellings beside the track as we clicked and clack through the outskirts of the city, a genuine sense of adventure took hold. After some faffing around, we eventually secured a bloody good meal for next to nothing; brought to our seats where a table was deftly constructed from kit form. We hadn’t been able to secure a first class cabin, but second class still offered air conditioning, and seats that turned into beds. There was some paranoia about our suitcases which meant we had them at the end of our beds instead of in the aisle, but we needn’t have bothered given that we failed to get even a wink of sleep. The lighting remained on throughout the night, and the flimsy curtain they provided did nothing to block it. In fact, all it did was prevent the air conditioning from circulating over our bed, leaving us a little hot and grumpy.
All this was soon forgotten as dawn broke, and we were able to watch the countryside rattle by. Cows snuffled in the rich grass by the tracks, not even glancing up at clanking mechanical beast rolling along beside them. Orange-robed monks shuffled down dusty tracks, and rough looking shacks dotted the landscape. Time seemed to slow down as we clanked our way through villages and towns, the clean, damp air a welcome change after the cloying dirt of Bangkok. One of my favourite memories of the entire trip is standing by the open doorway of the carriage, soaking up the beautiful Thai countryside.
The bus leg of the journey was not quite so exciting. Exhausted, I soon passed out for most of the journey. A tepid, cloying, drifting sleep enveloped me, catching brief snatches of rude shacks and beautiful but tired looking temples. The sun streamed through the glass, beating out the air conditioning to leave my eyes gritty and my tongue like sandpaper. I was glad to finally arrive in Phuket.
After a slightly angry debate with a taxi driver who didn’t seem to understand the principles of haggling, we eventually arrived at our destination, about as exhausted as when we had arrived in Bangkok. But, greeted with garlands of flowers and the most refreshing drink I have ever tasted, we soon bounced back. The resort was beautiful, even if there was a sense of it being something of a compound, with no easy access to anything outside of it. The apartment we stayed in was fantastic, and the service second to none. A beautiful place, it suited my plan perfectly.
THE BIG NEWS BIT:
After a couple of days settling in, enjoying the various pools, drinking the lovely cocktails and soaking up the sunshine, I proposed a sunset walk along the beach. The horizon glowed a fiery orange, the odd cloud drifed darkly over the the still pale sky. It couldn’t be more perfect, so I took Claire’s hand and tried to explain all that I felt without waffling too much. Then I went down on one knee, and popped the question.
And she said yes! A great relief, as the holiday might have been a bit awkward had she decided otherwise! Of course, this was the highlight of the holiday, and we celebrated it with cocktails and a fantastic meal out at the Italian restaurant in the resort. We wanted to try and tell as many people in person or at least over the phone, which is why I’ve been keeping it quiet online, but this weekend was our cut off point for seeing people, and so we can now talk about it openly!
The sunset view not long after I asked
Cocktails to the right!
The rest of the holiday was brilliant. We talked a lot about our plans of course, and we drank waaaay too much. We discovered Shuffle Board in the local pub, I mocked Claire’s inability to play pool (I was still very popular for asking the right question, so I could get away with it 
We stayed in the resort for a week, and it was utter bliss. Beach massage, lying around in the sunshine, hiding in the apartment watching the rain coming thundering down, honestly it was brilliant.
After Phuket, we headed back to Bangkok, and had another great time there. We had ordered some tailor-made suits while we there, and enjoyed getting those finished off, and also watched the England win the Ashes. This was possibly more fun for me than it was for Claire:
There’s more still to say, but if you’ve even made it this far I’m impressed. It was a brilliant, brilliant holiday. Thanks to Dad & Jane for everything, and thank you to Claire for saying yes!!!!
As recently noted, I have finally got around to porting Claire over to my old iPhone (thanks to Dave for keeping me up to date by providing his hand-me-up). This would have been done ages ago, if it weren’t for the fact that Claire’s phone couldn’t sync with her laptop, and I didn’t relish manually typing in all her numbers.
I had assumed that the iPhone would automatically import the contacts, but I couldn’t see any function that would do that, and some searches online seemed to confirm that it was not possible. So I dug out my old sony ericsson, shoved Claire’s sim card in there, synced the contacts across via bluetooth to her laptop, and then setup the iPhone to sync with the newly created contacts.
This took a bit of time, was a little fiddly, and generally I could have done without it. Imagine my dismay when, having updated the iPhone to 3.0, I almost immediately discovered the “import sim contacts” button that sits in the “Msil, Contacts, Calendars” section of the phone settings *sigh*
Other than that, it was all very straightforward …
Ever since I bought my iPhone, my approach to listening to music has been changing. When you have a vast collection of music, and a device with limited storage, you need to find a way of selecting music to go on that device. The approach I’ve taken is to start using the ratings mechanism – anything I’ve rated at 3 stars or over is automatically synced to the phone. I then have a random selection of music from the remainder (minus anything I have rated at 1 or 2 stars).
If I’m in the mood to do some rating of my music, I stick the unrated playlist on shuffle, and try to remember to rate each tune as I hear them. But now that I’ve built up a good solid list of rated tunes, I quite often listen to the rated playlist on shuffle. This is great, as you wind up with a personalised mix of your favourite tunes. It can be not so great though, as my tastes can be quite varied, and suddenly having Mozart’s Requiem come on during a party can be a bit weird.
But I digres, the point is that fairly often, a song will come on and I’ll think “I’d love to listen to the rest of that album now”. But there’s no way of quickly switching to the album from your current playlist. Of course, a secondary problem to this is that I might not have the rest of the album on synced, so it would also be nice if you could have some kind of rule which pulls all songs in from the same album if one of the songs is rated.
Anyone know if there are any apps that provide that kind of functionality? I’m sure there’s nothing for the iphone, but it’d be good to have on the laptop.
Case in point – Lucky by Radiohead has just come on – immediately want to listen to the rest of the album
