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WORDS

Every movie needs a chase scene, right?  Ours is zapped to life by a fecund bassline from go-to man Cam Ewens (I played the wah guitar and drums, but the Secret Of The Trumpet will go to my grave).

HA - E07 Chase Nick in tent

HA - E07 Chase George

HA - E07 Chase Cam w darts

We filmed a good chunk in an alley – a bemused lady stood around and watched the whole thing.  If there were any left, we’d have handed her a You Are Here programme.

And away we go! The first episode has gone live and there is no turning back. Stayed tuned for the next ten days to witness the complete series.

In episode one: THRILL! to the lethal charms of Stella and her kitchen knife. GASP! as the You Are Here Hub space is turned into a scarlet canvas of gore. MARVEL! at my garish choice of shirt.

Featuring Ali MacGregor as Stella. The Facebook audience are already clamouring for her ressurection, sure sign of a breakout genre character!

Quick, rambling brain dump before the first episode is released (and thus maybe my last chance for a while).

My taste in film oscillates from the hyperkinetic (Sherlock JnrScott Pilgrim Vs The WorldRun Lola Run) to the languorous and deliberate (Mauvais SangGhost DogIn The Mood For Love).  What connects these movies for me is their forceful cinematography.  In music, you’ll often hear people talk about using the studio as an instrument.  In these films, the camera (and the editing) acts that way.  I wasn’t always conscious this was what I was tapping into, I just knew I loved these films.  Picking up a camera myself clarified it.

Of course people argue that’s style over substance, that it’s irrelevant to story.  I disagree – what medium you choose is the first creative decision you make.  How something is framed – its style – directly influences the stories you can (and want) to tell.  Heartbroken Assassin couldn’t be a play, or a novel, or a spoken word piece.  It’s unmistakably filmic.

We are now deep into shooting,  which means really deep into editing.  It’s a learning experience – FILM CRIT HULK wrote that you learn what you need from the script when you’re shooting, and you learn what shots you needed when you’re editing, and so on, always one step behind.  That’s holding true, but we’re fast learners.

I’m also experiencing firsthand what I’ve read so much about – that filmmaking is a war of attrition, that the only way to make something that’s merely “good” is to overreach.  And also why directors don’t wear a shirt and tie – it’s hot work.  Combine that with the fact I’m on the You Are Here diet (so far already I’ve missed two dinners and a lunch), and I will be a husk by the end of next week.  But a happy husk.