Week Beginning 17/11

Again a strange week. We began with the final tweaks and upload of Message in a Bottle, with which I am unjustifyably happy. This competition seems to have been just what we needed to spur us onto making other films. There are plans within the class to be making as many films as we can in our spare time, and as far as I'm concerned, that's brilliant.
On the Wednesday morning I had the strange experience of acting in Gaelic. I would have been far more at home with this six years ago, when I'd just finished school. However my Gaelic is now very rusty, and I had to phone up some Gaelic pals to help me with the intonation. But it was good fun.
Also this week, at Adam's request, we have been working on developing a 22 episode series set in 10 Downing Street. There is a vast amount of work in such a project, especially when we only have a week before we have to pitch it.
The obvious highlights of the week are in the form of Richard Attenborough and James McAvoy. Contrary to expectations, I found Richard Attenborough to be far more inspiring and exciting a character than young James. He talked at length about his early life and I found it fascinating the way his personal connection with social injustice had driven him to produce the kind of films he has made. His comments on graphic violence on screen contributing to violence in society were also interesting, coming from a voice within the industry. I think what I most took from his talk was the concept that the performance was the most important part of the film. Of course I had always known that, but somehow in the past few months I seemed to have forgotten.
The Friday workshop with James McAvoy would, for me, have been almost as interesting without the presence of the star. I happened to be standing in the right place at the right time when someone wanted a boom mike held, and I therefore was able to see the workings of the camera crew and the sound crew at a more immediate level. We also had an interesting discussion on lighting, focus, and how that affects performance.