FOR THE DURATION - Film shoot with Marcel Stoetzler

Here is a short photo-account of the first day of shooting with the protagonist of the film, played by Marcel Stoetzler, a rock musician and senior lecturer in sociology at Bangor University.

The first location was Brewit Bridge near Penrhyndeudraeth.  Under the bridge Marcel was filmed waking up next to his all important suitcase.  This is how it looked to him:

After this, we went over to the destroyed forest location, which was about a 20 minute drive.  After making Marcel lug the suitcase across extremely challenging terrain the director realised he was in need of a pannad (hot drink) and so a break was called:

The next location was the large black water pipe.  More walking/struggling over uneven ground was required by the actor, together with some direction from a distance (the director shouting).

It was time for the catering van to arrive, so a comfortable spot in the sunshine was found to settle down to a relaxed lunch in the stunning surroundings of the Snowdonia national Park:

After lunch the crew decamped to the radio mast, and then on to Dorothea Quarry near Nantlle.  Here, the director is set up to film the protagonist's entrance into a small tunnel, which in the film will become miraculously become larger, and lead to the location of the film's denouement (the old slate finishing factory building):

After this scene, which took just a few minutes, it was time to make a trek up through the old quarry buildings to reach the huge hole at the top of the complex, where Marcel's character encounters the strange water pipe that intermittently dispenses a gush of water.  Before medium and close up shots were taken, the actor was instructed on where to walk across the bottom of the quarry while the director/camera filmed from above:

Once the character had reached his 'mark' (the water pipe) a long lens was used to flatten the space and provide a long shot with some detail.  The director had to shout down to the actor and tell him to put his trench coat back on.  The actor heard some shouting but couldn't hear properly.  However, he correctly guessed what the director wanted and duly obliged.

The day went well - all the shots that were wanted were achieved with the minimum of fuss, though each framing was improvised on arrival.  Success in this was possible as the director had recced each location several times and worked out in his head where the best shots were and where the camera would need to be set up.  Effectively, the story boarding was carried out, but not on paper, as the director would be operating the camera.

FOR THE DURATION: Working with actors

This is the first film the director has made where 'direction' of 'actors' has been necessary.  However, the director had worked as a camera operator on a friend's PhD film project in 2014, and this provided some confidence, and a role model.  Also, the actors were friends that although not formally trained, were experienced performers in front of live audiences, as both had long careers as rock musicians.  The director spent a lot of time explaining the concept of the film before shooting, and both actors freely made suggestions as to how to develop their characters, particularly regarding their outward appearance.

On set, the director was keen to achieve naturalistic performances from the actors.  This was a challenge, as the actors tended to over-act.  This may have been because of their lack of experience in front of the camera, where all mannerisms tend to be amplified.  The director reflected on what he'd read about actors as 'models' (Bresson).  For the film to have its desired affect, the acting needed to be as believable as possible, and certainly not 'camp'.  The intention was to make a serious 'art' film, not a 'Hammer Horror'.

The director learnt a lot about how to get actors to do what is required for a shot to work, whilst minimising any conflict or disagreement.  An emotional engagement is required, and a level of trust.  Both of the actors in the film were familiar with the director's previous work, and consequently were compliant to requests to repeat scenes without lengthy discussion.  This was important as it enabled a lot of work to be done in a short space of time.

FOR THE DURATION: script changes

After a short break from the project due to illness, there was a meeting to review the script, and it was agreed that the story line would be improved if the number of characters was reduced from three to two - one protagonist and his opposing antagonist.  This released the director from acting duties, meaning that he could resume his role as camera director.  It also meant that £400 could be saved from the budget, as there would be no need to hire a camera operator.

Artistically this was also preferable, as the director's vision for the film could be much better served - the tone and style would match earlier footage of the protagonist (the actor now being away on holiday).  Another camera operator would result in footage that had a different colour balance and 'look' - earlier footage was taken using a Nikon D5200 DSLR, and the camera operator wanted to use the camera he was most familiar with, which was a Cannon 5D.

The film's characters are played byactors that were not available at the same time, so there were two main periods of filming (which are now complete).  Shots featuring the protagonist were all filmed at the beginning of July before the director fell ill.  The week of shooting for the antagonist's scenes (that was to use a hired camera operator) was postponed until the following week, and went ahead with the director taking control of the camera.  Most of the desired shots were obtained and the schedule that was planned was followed to the letter.

The actor for the antagonist part was not as fit as the actor for the protagonist part, which meant careful pacing and regular rests were scheduled into the two days of filming, which changed from two consecutive days to one day then a three day break, then another day/evening.  The shot at the radio mast location was a compromise as the actor felt unable to climb over the gate.  A long lens was used to bring actor and location closer together.