Short films as an industry is booming.
The annual Show Me Shorts Festival has just finished nationwide - and many directors are well underway with their next projects.
TV2 Movies asked director Christopher Banks to keep a blog of a shoot of his new short film, Teddy as they shot over one (unexpectedly wet) weekend in November to capture the trials, tribulations and ultimately jubilation of a shoot after months of planning, hiring and casting.
Don't forget TVNZ6 has all the best short films - click here for details! And you can watch the short films for free here!
Part 1 of the director Christopher Banks' blog is below - Part 2 will follow soon...
About Christopher Banks: A film-maker and
journalist for print, television and the web, Christopher Banks
also scored a string of hits as a songwriter and record producer
for various New Zealand pop outfits in the late 1990s, including
Deep Obsession. He wrote, produced and directed his first feature
Quiet Night In, which was released in 2005.
Teddy
is his second film
project.
About Teddy: "
Teddy " is a short film about
Tony, who travels from his home in London in the hopes of
rekindling an old relationship with his ex Neil, who left him
behind several years ago to live in New Zealand.
Saturday November 22
REHEARSAL & SETUP DAY
8:30am
Driving to rehearsal. Already I'm convinced we've
forgotten something. We have - a clapperboard. One of
those things you see in every behind the scenes film doco. I
text the producer.
9am
All the actors are here, but Chris (playing Neil) has a
problem. He has wisdom teeth coming through and one of his
cheeks is puffed up. He assures me it will be fine for
tomorrow, and apologises for sounding as if he has a golf ball in
his mouth.
12pm
The director of photography phones. He's running late for the
pre-light of our studio scene for Monday because he's locked
himself out of his car. In the middle of the road.
While it is still running. Don't ask.
2pm
One of the equipment rental houses we're using have
unwittingly given us a wrong lens, and it's only by chance that
this gets picked up. A camera without the right lens is like
getting Mr Magoo to drive you to Napier. Crisis
averted.
3pm
Pakuranga, to pick up a classic 1973 Mini for use in our
shoot. It's absolutely perfect, bar the temperamental clutch,
loose battery cables and a slight problem with incontinence - it
p***es oil everywhere. Gears grind as I hit the motorway at a
top speed of 80kph.
7pm
Last minute food shopping. Our main location tomorrow is a
house in Kaukapakapa, miles from anywhere. I have no idea
what to buy. What do people feel like eating at 5 in the
morning? I'd happily replace all meals with pills. I
leave most of the shopping to my long-suffering husband.
8pm
Heading up to the location for an overnight stay. The drive
is largely uneventful, bar some drunken teens at the supermarket
who seem to find the sight of a grown man in a Mini amusing.
The sound of banjos echo in my head as we retire for the night.
Sunday November 23, 2008
SHOOT DAY 1
3:45am
First phone call of the day, from the producer to let me know the
convoy of cast and crew are on their way from the city. I
confess that I have forgotten to buy teabags. I hope this is
the biggest dilemma we run into today, for which the weather
forecast is hideous. We have some outdoor work to do, and the
interior of the house is prone to noisy, whistly wind of the sort
that makes sound recording people turn violent.
5am
I shoot an intro for our behind the scenes video diary in
the pitch dark. Minutes later, I'm told that the camera has
chewed up the tape. Later the stills photographer will arrive
and find that his camera doesn't work either. This shoot may
well be cursed...
11:30am
We've shot the climactic scene of the film, using all three of our
characters. Everything has run very smoothly. The curse
is lifted.
11:45am
Another major scene done, this time in the kitchen.
There's a beautiful tropical fish tank, but its pump is making too
much noise. We turn the pump off. A multitude of "Why
are they floating to the top?" jokes begin.
1pm
The kitchen scene is done, and it's superb. Everyone's
feeling very pleased with themselves, so we go and grab some cast
photos by the Mini, which by now has created a permanent black
stain on the driveway with its leaking oil pump.
2pm
More fun in the Mini for an outdoor scene. It's
furiously windy, and the threatened cloudburst is coming our
way. Spots of water appear on the lens. An umbrella is
held over the director of photography, making him look like Mary
Poppins.
Stay tuned to TV2 Movies this weekend for Part 2 of Christopher Banks' blog - for the final day of shooting short film, Teddy in which the rain causes havoc, a jammed tape machine - and the prospect of a cursed shoot - causes Christopher to nearly have a heart attack and how the long planned for shoot nearly fell apart at the train station!
For more information on "Teddy"
go to the
official Teddy website!
