Last goodwill and testament

Well, this is half an hour of bonus time alone that I wasn’t expecting. A quick update before I fall off the radar for a month.

That said, I should really be sleeping, but somehow my brain has different plans for me. Strange that.

Tonight it all kicks off. We have moved from the life-span of cheese to that of a mayfly, and in less than 12 hours time we will be turning cameras. It’s a simple set-up for openers – one and a half pages of mostly action and running about – but about a gallon of coffee and 400 cigarettes stand between now and when I’ll next get the chance to stare at a ceiling wishing I could disengage long enough to pass out.

Charmed Central has degenerated into what looks like a high-tech refugee camp. Our Wardrobe Assistant is currently asleep on the sofa surrounded by peli-cases full of 57 varieties of camera and lighting gear. Our production designer has just slipped away with crates of cobwebs-in-a-can and spray-on dust to start the process of turning a perfectly attractive school into a post-apocalyptic film set. Every visible surface is stacked high with man-traps, severed heads and rusted latex axes. And I’m perched above it all next to my camp-bed in the Charmed Offices trying not to type too noisily.

In fact, it’s only our Script Supervisor Amy that seems to be weathering the storm un-touched. I find this rather reassuring.

I’m told that no production ever kicks off with all their ducks in line, and it’s then the Producer’s job to sacrifice his nails and phone credit to fixing the logistics while the Director goes off into his happy place to muse that evening’s aesthetic. That’d be nice. I should take solace in the fact that just about every other movie in our situation also had to go through this, and most of the time that trauma never makes it onto screen. But it doesn’t make the shit smell any better knowing that there are other people stood in it.

Major ball-aches left to overcome are the late arrival of all our SFX parts (our gore-meister was held over on a shoot in Pinewood by an extra day), and one key piece of missing wardrobe which will delay the arrival of our Wardrobe Supervisor until early afternoon. Apparently this is not the right time of year to be looking for multiple copies of distinctive and garish jumpers, although looking out of the window you could be forgiven for thinking that winter wear wouldn’t be that inappropriate. Both are things that have forced us to suddenly re-plan our already chaotic last day to make sure we’re in the right places at specific times. Not welcome.

But, on the whole we’re in good shape. Rehearsals last week were just about the most fun two days that I’ve spent over the last few production-focussed months, and gathering the crew into the Charmed boozer of choice last night filled me full of confidence that it’s going to be a very entertaining month.

And so into the fray we head. Missives from the front are going to be few and far between, but I will try to get the more amusing photos up on the website. I’ll catch up with some of you in a horde later this week, but for now that’s me signing off for the month of August. Onwards and upwards, as the mantra goes.

Actually, probably got time for a coffee and a fag first. Wired.