More general thoughts

So while the model was a big think this week, I tried hard to prevent it distracting me away from the key elements of the story. We now have a cast - in many ways the optimum cast. At first, this seemed perfect. But after the first rehearsal, I am realising that it can be a little harder to get a sense of "freshness" to a character when each is being played by the actor it was written for. I have given the actors some time to think about the part and will hopefully meet with them on Monday to discuss character. This is a far more cerebral way of approaching directing than anything I have used before. I'm getting influenced, no doubt, from Zam and PMB, as well as from a study I did into Ken Loach and his own directing style. I'm not sure I feel wholly comfortable with it, but hopefully it will work out well.

For a while, with Laura on Sole mates and Rhys on Breathing Room, I was concerned about getting good rehearsal time, but that issue seems to have lifted now, with Laura no longer on Sole Mates. I hope there will be no problems for Broken Bubbles similar to those experienced by Gavin in getting actors.

I am deliberately trying to pull my involvement back on the Art Department side. We are beginning to move away from the design stage into the "sourcing and making" stage, and I feel these guys need a bit of creative freedom, rather than having me micro-managing them. We had a second recce to the props store, to allow Luisa and John the chance to see the space and discuss the issues of constructed walls, camera positions, lamp positions and access routes.

We also have had a VFX meeting this week, where Gavin explained to the other HoDs how we intended to shoot the fairy. We came to some conclusions about super-fast movement, dangly legs, nonchalant hovering and reference models. All very exciting. Everyone except Gavin seems a little out of their depth, but life would be dull without a challenge. It's a shame Gavin will be in the US for both our Greenscreen test and our filming dates, but hopefully he can teach us well enough first.