Left Field Cinema

In January 2009 I decided to make a new feature film. After a years worth of pre-production, a long story development period and an exhausting casting process we finally arrived at production which came and went in the blink of an eye over the month of November. It’s been an extraordinary life experience and one that I will cherish forever.

Having working on low budget films for almost a decade now I consider myself experienced in digital media, working on a shoe-string budget, putting in long-hours and taking large gulps from the bitter sweet cocktail that is making movies. However I was unprepared for how exhausting and rewarding this project would be, after asking the listeners of Left Field Cinema to help support my project I was stunned at the amount of money that was raised so quickly and how much support people were willing to give me and I once again thank every single contributor for there support. But one listener offered more than finance; he offered me the chance to push this film into a different league. Howard Dawson (no relation) was the manager of Film Lab North and had worked for ITV for twenty-five years until he was made redundant with many others in August this year. Despite working only five minutes walk from one and other in Leeds for many years, Howard and I had never met. Howard had listened to Left Field Cinema since it began in 2007 but only this year realised that I also worked for ITV. What Howard offered the production was years of experience and contacts with industry professionals that would add huge extra value to the production. Early on the possibility of working on 16mm film presented itself because of Howard’s connections; this possibility evaporated, then reappeared, then evaporated before finally reappearing only days before production began. Working on 16mm film was a dream come true, but Howard also offered me the chance to work with other talented individuals in various departments of the film. Of the line crew I am by far the youngest, I’ve been surrounded by wiser and older men and women who’ve guided me through the process of making my film. My art-director Andrew Critchett, my line producer/1st assistant director Mary Owen (another casualty of ITV), my director of photography Philip Robertson and of course my producer Howard Dawson are all between ten and thirty years my senior and have helped raise this from a little personal project shot on miniDV in my bedroom, to a fully formed professional feature film production. Andrew Critchett has years of experience as a graphic designer and as well as handling costumes and sets he’s also been running the social media sites for Confession on the likes of Facebook and Twitter. Mary Owen was a line-producer for ITV for many years and brought with her a quick sense of humour and excellent production management skills. Philip Robertson is a highly gifted cinematographer who attended the Russian film school and has shot feature films such as Frozen, and most recently Roland Joffee’s latest You and I; Philip did an exceptional job under less than ideal circumstances. Howard Dawson provided me with constant support and organised the crew and locations as well as being a sounding board for my ideas and concerns, he has been invaluable to me through this process - I owe him a tremendous amount and I fear I’ll never be able to repay him. Together they’ve made up a line crew that I could only have dreamed of previously. Combined with a team of dedicated sparks, a professional camera crew, a talented hair and make-up designer, an ever helpful continuity girl/still photographer, an enthusiastic runner and a father/son sound team (known as the noise boys). It really was an exceptional group of men and women who made tremendous sacrifices to work on this film and I’ve been humbled by their commitment and hard work.

But of course you can’t have a film without actors and this has been the most exceptional cast of actors I’ve ever had the privilege to work with, from our leads (Nancy Clarkson, Andrew Cullimore, Aurora Fernley and Rachael Henley) to the supporting players (Dave Strange, Will Tristram, Andrew Squires, Steven Dalton, Joe Logan, Sharon Robinson, Juliet Budd, Verity-May Henry, and Iain Hoskins) to all the extras who helped out. Everyone has given 100% to the process and for a performance driven film this is of the utmost importance.

Nine days rehearsal and fourteen days filming meant that November was easily the best month of the year for me. The production hasn’t been easy, long days and cold November nights have made the process difficult, not to mention our lead male actor getting into a car crash on Day 2, someone crashing our production van into the back of a skip and excessive rain making it impossible to film the last scene of the film. But these and other set backs were eventually overcome and were accompanied laughter and fun (I even celebrated my 28th Birthday on a set.) Now I excitedly embark on the process of editing my film with our RTS Award Winning editor Donny Boocock and the rest of the edit team. You’ll hopefully be seeing the completed film sometime in 2010.

Watch this space.

Mike Andrew Dawson

Pictures:

http://www.leftfieldcinema.com/image-galleries/confession/production