First of all is a script breakdown which had to be done to cover all the aspects of the production I need to think about and source prior to shooting. This includes costumes, props, location, crew, cast, production design.
In the pre production phase I had already set out looking for locations, as well as putting together shortlists of actors for the roles I would be casting. However the script has been changing organically throughout the past couple of months and this has meant going from 5 to 3 on-screen cast members.
COLLABORATORS
CAST
To get to grips with casting the first thing to do was to research the role in films and television. Firstly to get an insight I watched the Hollywood Reporter's roundtable with 5 industry casting directors. Juliet Taylor acclaimed casting director on Taxi Driver, The Exorcist and Schindler's List, Ellen Lewis (Goodfellas, Forrest Gump and The Departed), Patricia DiCerto (many of Woody Allen's recent films), Laura Rosenthal (Chicago and Carol), Jennifer Euston (Known for her television work on Orange is the new black and Girls).
They talk of balancing the right and the left side of the brain, meaning their creative and practical sides. They have to work within budgets even if that means casting someone over the other due to certain parameters restricting them. They talk of the documentary 'Casting By' (Tom Donahue) which sheds a spotlight on the world of casting in films and how people haven't necessarily recognised the people who work in the casting profession.
They talk of balancing the right and the left side of the brain, meaning their creative and practical sides. They have to work within budgets even if that means casting someone over the other due to certain parameters restricting them. They talk of the documentary 'Casting By' (Tom Donahue) which sheds a spotlight on the world of casting in films and how people haven't necessarily recognised the people who work in the casting profession.
As shown by the trailer above casting directors don't get anywhere near enough credit, despite people like Marion Dougherty discovering talent such as Dustin Hoffman, Glenn Close and Robert De Niro.
Casting Director as a title was not really recognised until Dougherty's later career. I have not done the role justice on Backbone however it is a role I could have used for help, as this was a particular struggle on Backbone.
COMPOSER
I was quite lucky to find a composer via an email from UCA about a young composer looking for projects to work on. I researched his work and was really interested in what I saw. I contacted him and we were able to meet to discuss the project in depth along with a rough draft of the film.
Unfortunately he ended up being overly busy at work and so couldn't put as much attention as I would have liked into the production. So as a result I would consider the music to be one of the weakest aspects of the film overall.
However the whole experience of working with a composer was eye opening. What I learned was that he wanted to find out in depth the themes and feeling of the story. His question actually made me think a lot deeper into my film and I would say it helped me when I arrived on set.
We came up with one word for the story: HUMANITY
SOUND RECORDIST AND MIXER
After careful consideration and the experience of working on Plamen Dimitrov's film with a freelance sound recordist, I decided that I would go down the same path and spend a considerable amount of my budget on his services.
Matt was a huge professional help and as a result the film sound so much better than it would have done with someone inexperienced doing the role.
 |
| Matt on sound - Backbone |
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Michael Hoad (2016 graduate) was a huge help on my production, without him we may well have needed plenty more extra shooting days. His ability with the camera pulling focus himself was exceptional. He has really given that film an edge with some really striking imagery working together. Not only was his camera work brilliant, but he is very professional, organised and very practical finding ever more ingenious ways for me to see the shot via the monitor, as well as shielding me from rain.
An absolute pleasure to work with. His suggestion when we did test shoots back in early March was that we use primarily a 50mm lens which gives Backbone its great detail and quality on the final product.
Without a good DoP a director can struggle, so having Mike there made my job working with the actors much more achievable.
