The filming of The Robbery, part three

Toast TV’s James Gentle spent a sunny weekend shooting his short film, The Robbery. The piece is currently in post-production and will hopefully be completed at the end of May. In the mean time, we thought we’d treat you to some dark and dramatic details of the shoot in a three part series. This blog details the final day of the shoot and some Tascams that just won’t work.

Follow James's production company @KissTheKerb.

Sunday goes by in a relaxed blur. We head back to the scene of yesterday’s crime with our game faces on. This is merely a meeting point before we head off to our final location. Everyone miraculously has the same energy from Saturday. This is gonna be good.

The sunset is beautiful as we drive half a mile down the road to the Benfleet Sewage works, as the sun disappears our location becomes the seedy meeting point we need. We set our cars, our actors, everyone is ready, Thom has excelled himself again with the first shot, it couldn’t be better. We roll. Wait. What’s wrong?

Alex Martin our new soundman (we get through soundmen like Spinal Tap and drummers) calls cut! I thought I was meant to say that? The Tascams are playing up, so the sound is sporadic. We work to resolve the issue, next take, good. Things are back on track. Wait.

Again, the Tascams are failing, battery life now becomes an issue, even though we’ve had them on charge all day. We go down from three radio mics and a boom to one mic and a boom. Surely this must help. No. More issues. We take a break whilst we go get some AA batteries. We go again, this time with all the mics back on. We get another take. But again the issues return. What? We have to get this done tonight! There is no option.

We decide to wrap this location and head back to the house to recharge the tascams, and head to our second location of the evening. Fortunately this doesn’t require sound. Slightly deflated we plough on, but by the end of this scene we are happy again. Our actors are safely ensconced in one of the cars, food and drink by their side.

We wait for Phil and Thom to return with the Tascams. Crunch time. What seems like an age passes. They eventually arrive, I rush over and hold my breath. ‘We’re on’ says Thom, ‘but we have to be quick.’ Action stations, we hurriedly return to our first scene, set up as quickly as possible, stick the Tascams onto charge again (you know, for a boost) and get some scenes done which aren’t sound important.

The moment comes and we plug our mics in. We set. We go. It works! We’ve lost at least two hours but our collective will to get this done persists. The actors pull out performance after performance. Thom pulls out shot after shot. Alex pulls out good sound after good sound.Our final shot is with a glide cam. The Tascams are now almost exhausted. I call cut. Everyone gathers. I take a moment, and relish the words. “That my friends, is a wrap!”

Sitting in the edit suite here at Toast Towers looking back on that weekend, I can’t honestly believe we achieved so much in those three evenings. Thom, Phil and I can’t thank enough everyone who was involved in this film. Our fantastic actors Dan O'Malley, Edward Walters and Tom Coombes. Our wonderful friends who played extras for the evening. Millie Scalchi who was indispensable. Lewis J Clark and Alex Martin for excellent sound and determination in the face of adversity. To everyone at Toast TV and BigBalls Films for the kit, and helping us pull together this first venture of ours.

James Gentle

The filming of The Robbery, part two

This blog details things getting dark on the second day of The Robbery shoot. Click here for part one. Follow @KissTheKerb for updates.

I spend the day chasing shadows, buying more props, more food and more beer for the set and more things for wardrobe. Eventually, I arrive at the house location with casting director and shoot facilitator Millie Scalchi. I’m exhausted and I haven’t even begun.

The house is buzzing. Our kit has gone from backbreaker to stage setter. Thom and our soundman Lewis are busing themselves with Tascams [http://tascam.com/] and radio mics. Phil is working the barbeque. The other two main actors are here, along with more or less everyone else. The process is intoxicating.

Phil, Thom and I have made this. Everyone is here because of our dumb idea to make a short film. It’s incredible. After mingling, we turn to the matter at hand. There is a film to be made. The actors are in costume, fully rehearsed and ready to go. Thom has the extras set. Camera, lights and sound all ready. There is nothing left to do. The moment has arrived.

Action.

The first take is a doozy. The second, third, fourth all reel off without a hitch. This is excellent. We switch positions, again, it’s perfect. This film making malarkey is easy. An hour or so later and our first recorded scene is done. Wrapped. Finito. We take a break to soak everything in, say goodbye and thank all of the extras for their brilliant work.

But, we still have lots to film. The actors, Dan O’Malley, Edward Walters and Thomas Coombes, crack through all the scenes effortlessly, as do Thom and Lewis, Phil and myself. Our wrap time passes but we are still in good spirits as we head ever closer to the end. A few brief words with the crew, a check of the script and our work here is done. Our energy spent, evening has become morning, and we head for home.


James Gentle

The filming of The Robbery, part one

Toast TV’s James Gentle spent his weekend shooting his short film, The Robbery. The piece is currently in production and will be distributed in a few weeks. In the mean time, we thought we’d treat you to some dark and dramatic details of the shoot in a three part series. This blog details the first day of the shoot.


Follow James's production company @KissTheKerb.

I’ve just returned to Toast Towers with a gun.

On my arrival I’m confronted with the news that the Canon C300 will not be available for The Robbery. The gun now appears to have a second role along side it’s relevance to the film.

I rip open the package, fill the gun with gas and release the trigger a few times to feel the kickback. My disappointment at not having the C300 dissipates. Instead I concentrate on making sure that I have everything that I need for this weekend’s shoot.

As I leave, I get a text from the director of photography and cameraman extraordinaire Thom Hill, saying that our back-up camera is still out on location. If only that gun wasn’t buried so deep in my rucksack. I carry on to Fenchurch Street, knowing that the 7D will be with us, eventually.

After an hour’s wait, Thom arrives in a taxi with even more equipment than me. Have we bitten off more than we can chew? Will we be able to start filming tonight? Are we actually going to be able to carry all this kit between the two of us? Or are we going to be stuck in London surrounded by a sea of magic arms, lights and radio mics?

Fortunately, our train delivers us safely and quickly to our location at a small commuter town in Essex called Benfleet, which is where I grew up. Phil Reynolds, our writer, is already there waiting for us as we cram everything into all the available space.

We head to our first shot, up on a hill in Leigh-on-Sea, merely a 10 minute drive from the station. The three of us look around as if we’re waiting for something bad to happen, we suspiciously get what we need out of the car. Then Thom sets his shot and we turn over.

From there on in it gets easier, we act like old pros, ideas and shots coming to us as if it were second nature. There are slow mos, Go Pros and everything in between. Midnight comes, a gopro falls off the car and at that point we call it a night. A very successful night.

James Gentle