And finally...days 4 and 5 of the shoot!

Apologies for the delay in documenting the shoot days as have been distracted these past few weeks, but thought I would cover both day 4 and 5 before I forget how each day was, as it already feels like so long ago!

Day 4 was always going to be the longest and most challenging of the film, from a logistical as well as a storyline perspective as the scenes we were shooting were the standoff in the film, where Bonzo challenges Mr.Fernelli to a clown off to decide the best clown in town and the resulting battle.

We were filming in 'Woodies' freehouse in New Malden from around 8am until they closed at 11pm so after a nice hot breakfast, we had a team briefing, outlined a schedule and what we wanted to achieve in the day and everyone got to work. One of the first challenges was, as we had to make the pub look as if it was night-time, shutting as much light out of the pub as possible, which is difficult in any location...let alone a pub that opened at midday!

Luckily the owner Linda and her customers were very accommodating as we basically took over the main part of the pub. This was also the first scene we had shot with both Bonzo and Fernelli, and with minimal rehearsal time, we had to get the tone of the scene right, so maximized the time camera and lighting were using to talk it through with the actors. Luckily in actors David Schaal and Matt Jure, we had people who understood the script and are very subtle so they played their parts perfectly.

We ran slightly over time for this scene, so had lunch at around 3pm before most of the cast and crew had a break for a few hours before the big fight scene. Myself and the DOP Azul Serra however, went to investigate the park location for the following day, which he had not seen so far. It was a scene as well in which David had to jump into the lake and stamp out the ‘reflection’ of Fernelli, so in order to make it safe for him, it was only fair that I jumped in first! After being happy with this, he went back to the pub where we briefed everyone about the evening, that we would be working very quickly in order to get all the shots we could in the five hours we could shoot once light fell and the order we planned to shoot things in.

During this time, the rest of the camera and lighting team had prepped everything for the fight scene so at 6.15pm we had everyone in place and could start shooting. One of the trickier things was getting extras to turn up at a pub in New Malden at 6pm on a Monday and stand out in the cold, but we managed to get a crowd to watch the final scene that consisted of my brother, the make-up artist and friends of the cast and crew!

We cracked through the scene pretty quickly, which was amazing considering the amount of crew, the low light (meaning we also had to be careful when moving around set) and that we had to make sure we had everything. The night finished with the one take wonder of the ‘pie-in-the-face’ shot...this was the moment when Bonzo finally gets victory by hitting Mr. Fernelli full in the face with a pie to win the battle and as you can imagine, due to the messy nature of it and how it affected costume and makeup, we only had one go at it...especially as it was 10.55pm and we had to be out by 11pm! Luckily, whilst me and Azul had been jumping in ponds during the afternoon, the production team had been testing various consistencies of pies and frame rates to see what worked best for the shot, which meant production manager Katherine and 1^st AD Greer smelt of jam and cream for most of the evening...

After the final shot had been completed, everyone wrapped double quick so we could people home on public transport as we still had another day to shoot. Katherine had kindly found some space for crew around her parents so people were close for the following day.

The fifth and final day consisted of four smaller scenes and any pickups we were missing. Whilst not as hectic schedule wise, we had less crew, no unit base and tiredness was starting to kick in after four intense days. We quickly shot the park scene where Bonzo awakes to find himself out of alcohol, before moving on to a four shot montage in a nearby newsagents. Breaking swiftly for lunch, we filmed the trickiest scene of the day in which Bonzo walks through the park, only to be confronted by the reflection of Mr. Ferneli in the pond. This was difficult for a number of reasons. 1) the light was constantly changing (meaning the strength of the reflection was also) 2) Matt Jure (Mr. Fernelli) was unavailable for this day so we had to use a stand in and 3) the tree had been broken so it now obstructed the shot. Thanks to a mirror and quick thinking and shooting from Azul, we managed to get what we wanted and then filmed the rest of the scene, culminating in Bonzo jumping in to the pond and stamping all over what he believed was a taunting Fernelli. Ever safety consciouss, we had runners on standby with blankets and warm clothes once David was finished as this was his last shot of the film.

However, even though David was wrapped...we were not. As an effort of good faith to Markus, Dan and all the others who had appeared in the film, I donned a wet and dirty Bonzo costume to take the final steps of the film, which show Bonzo heading towards the pub as light fell. As the rest of the crew started to pack up, Azul set the camera and then I stomped to the pub, doing my finest Bonzo impression (from the back anyway). After a few takes, Azul was happy and I got to say the magic words “Thats a wrap!”.

It had been a long old journey, not just for me but for all the cast and crew who had given up so much of their time to be a part of it. I do think everyone enjoyed and is proud of the work they have done as many kind words were said as we sat down to have a beer with some of the crew afterwards.

With all five days of the shoot complete, it was agreed everyone take at least a week off to get back to normal before reconciling all the production issues, sorting the stills shoot out and cracking on with post production....I think its fair to say everyone deserved it after putting in so much to make the shoot happen. :-)

Day Three of the Shoot..

Day three took us into a very early start at 7am in Islington where we shot scenes in the very accommodating supermarket who had arranged for a security guard to open up early for us to film there before the store opened. Filling the place with lights and crew and actors we made an empty store into a bright and busy one.

After filming the hilarious checkout scene with David Schall and Meddy Ford, the team moved onto the alcohol section of the shop where some funny but poignant points were filmed to show the battle Bonzo has with his addiction. This is one of my favourite bits of the screenplay however, as it was being filmed production was moving to our second location of the day and as it was a match day alternative parking and a new production base had to be found and vehicles moved, including the equipment van.

The late morning and early afternoon shots were comprised of action sequences both outside the store and in a nearby area with a convenient slope to send Bonzo on an out of control journey and ramp up the excitement of the film! We were joined by stunt team Dominic Kinnaird who was stunt co-ordinating and Tom Cheshire, our stunt double standing in for David for a few of the shots. 360 degree and wide shots meant that most of the crew needed to stay out of the way while the stunt and camera team did their work and Damien and the actors concentrated on getting the very best out of the set-ups. I have to say, that during the preparation for the stunts even though they weren't especially dangerous the care and consideration taken for everyone's safety and comfort was thoroughly thought through and prepared for and so the afternoon went speedilly. Damien briefed everyone before we ran through the shots so that everyone was clear as to how it was happening and could be prepared.

For the production team it was quite a busy day with a lot of little things to organise that both came up that day during the course of shooting and that needed to be planned for the following day. And with Production Manager Katherine also having a cameo in the film it was all hands on deck and a very busy day for her, which you'd never have known from her serene performance. All went to plan and we finished with everyone collecting in the production office (a nearby upstairs room in a pub) where a cooling drink was had before heading home for a good rest before the long day we had planned for Monday.

Going Loco!

Things have been really busy at Clowning Around Production Central as we come up to two weeks until filming and there's still a lot to sort out. Truth is that even with an amazing team working hard, we've all been doing stuff in our spare time and probably the trickiest thing has been finding the right interior locations so even though we've been looking for a good while, we began this week with only half the locations we needed.

But perseverance weighs out they say and that's certainly been the case for this film and it's characterful settings. We went to have our weekly production meeting at one of them this week, a pub location in New Maldon that is charming inside and out and has a friendly management who have welcomed us to film there where we'll be using both the interior and exterior for important scenes in the film. Added to the pub, we have a school full of children, two houses (with suitable interior and exteriors of both), a park with specific requirements, a shop, and a supermarket.

Ironically the most difficult thing to get was not the school full of kids, but the supermarket, however from the teams weekend recces today they have finally gotten it hopefully nailed down to a suitable and willing store, both houses are confirmed as well as the pub and school and everyone is feeling happy and looking forward to the next job. Which I'm guessing will be all the props and production design, arranging rehearsal and tech recces, and finalising the costume fittings and logistics etc.

Mostly it's been the production team and department heads working hard, and I've sort of been checking stuff off the lists from afar and worrying and trying to do bits when I can to help things move along and working to help production manager, Katherine with budget stuff, but I've definitely feeling my shortcomings as a producer. Truth is that everyone on this shoot is a working professional behind the camera, except me. I only produce short films in my spare time and I have never had such a big production or budget to work with before and it's a bit of a learning curve. I feel like I'm somehow not doing enough or being enough. I guess it's something I never worried about before because I never felt the stakes were high, but between the crowdfunding backers who've put such faith in the project, the cast and crew who've been working hard for a long time to make this happen, and our director Damien who has been wanting to realise this film for such a long time it feels like there's a lot of expectation of an amazing success, we've worked for that success, and failure is not going to be an option for us. Not that failure is even a suggestion with our awesome team on the case. It's probably just that in my own excitement and anxiety to see everything happen as it should after all this work and time and expectation I am now feeling a bit like an expectant mother pacing about, wishing it were ready to begin already, and hoping it will all go smoothly and the budget won't get caught around it's neck and strangle it and that our team will come out of their work with a film we are all proud to love and show off and all it's fingers and toes will be intact because we haven't had to compromise one or two along the way! I know. I've gone a bit nutty, it's pre-production.. I don't cope well with it!

A cool filmmaker, who happens to be one of our backers in fact, once said the following to me during a particularly tough pre-production challenge on another project that I was directing... "Keep going. The only way is in fact forward. Choose the day, don't let it choose you. You are EXACTLY where you should be. Smile. Go on" and it's good calming advice for any film challenge. Today I'm feeling very glad that I wrote that down and kept it. I admit that reading it back I do feel very reassured.

I might still pace in anticipation though until we're ready to give birth to this baby film.. just a little bit. But I'm smiling at what everyone has achieved today. *:o)