Update

I was filming Karol Murray's film on Saturday so i have neglected the blog a bit. All the parts in my film have been offered to professional actors that i met at a film festival in Belfast.

Calum - Chris Heath
Lily - Niketa Ferguson
Homeless Woman - Kavita Thanki

They each expressed interest in the role and are currently reading the parts. Should be confirmed in a day or two.

I had a production meeting on Monday with my crew, Karol and i discussed the importance of diegetic sound, i also went over what his role is in relation to the professional sound recordist that im using Kevin McAleese. Karol and Kevin are good friends so i spoke to Kevin later on Monday night and he understands the look im going for. Kevin sent me a demo of what he perceived the tone of the piece to be, i'll post that up here when i discover how to. I showed Annie-Rose the storyboard for the first scene which she seemed happy enough with - couldn't finish the storyboards as i haven't rekkied (or whatever the term is) the antiques shop yet. However im doing that tomorrow and then the storyboards will be finished over the weekend. So yeah, oh i have the second location confirmed, which is being used on the 23rd of May. It's the television studio, im setting up the white boards tomorrow and painting them on Thursday with either Karol Murray or Chris Thompson - so that should be ready to go for Wednesday. The main concern now is getting props and costumes. I'll pay more attention to the costumes once the actors are guaranteed, probably go shopping for them on Saturday with a friend. I already have 6 out of 13 so i'm not too bothered by that. I've spent a lot of time preparing everything so i'm quite relaxed, having all my written coursework definitely helped me focus my energy on the shoot. Oh and the script is now finished, i'll send that to you now Jacqui, or maybe i'll just bring it into class.

Ah, visuals... Below is a video fo a short film that inspired my idea - well in terms of how the portal will be shot and the murky atmosphere

Pretty sure that's everything. Im going to instruct the lead actor (who plays Calum) to act like Armie Hammer/Morgan from CW's short lived comedy/sci-fi/drama Reaper.

http://static.tvfanatic.com/images/gallery/arnie-hammer-as-morgan_291x437.jpg

Pretty much your average, smarmy douchebag.

The actress who plays the femme fatale Lily will incorporate the seductive nature of Hollywood femme fatales, Anna Paradine from Hitchcock's The Paradine Case, Phyllis from Double Indemnity etc etc. My only issue with these comparisons is that Lily is the protagonist and they are generally antagonists. I've been struggling with the idea of a "good" femme fatale and while there is no real example, sod the stereotype - i've firmly planted the point that Calum is an ass in the script and im more than happy to have the characters morally ambiguous because while the entire piece is in a surreal setting, the actions of Calum are very real.

Oh and in terms of directorial style, the shots will turn from mid-shots to close ups more consistently as the film progresses. I've paid special attention to the directorial style as it's important i build tension throughout the piece, so obviously im going to elongate shots as everything draws out towards the end.

I'll post up the audio clip from Kevin now, possibly.