Another Day

'ANOTHER DAY' came about as the result of the medicore performances from so called actors that litter the internet. Often, after watching these films I'd be left thinking "This got made!?!" or "How did these actors get the job!?!".

After being left with anxious feelings and the need to puke I thought I need to make a film with a non-actor and see if I can draw out a performance that will embarrass these so-called "actors". You know, the kind that wear the stench of ego, like its Hollywood perfume. You know, the ones that deliver reams of dialogue that flatline from scene to scene.

We had a house, a garden and an allotment as the main locations and we had them for one day. We shot 80% of the film in one day then did an end scene on a dark evening. We didn't have a script but we set aside a diary entry that showed how a guy gets through a 'normal day as possible' while dealing with the on-set of depression.

I tried to keep the film as simple as possible. Knowing that the chosen performer was not an actor we didn't want to complicate matters by having unnecessary talking and roller coaster emotional performances. Russell Morgan, who is actually a council worker, stepped up to the challenge and for his first outing with no training gave an exceptional performance, bringing believability and humour to the role. I think Russell could progress as an actor given some fundamental training by professionals. I'm aware this isn't a psychopathic performance like 'Joker' and my actor isn't Joaquin Phoenix but Russ has to start somewhere.

Amanda Hunt stepped in for the female role. Although only a small role her infectious giggle and easy-going charm brought a warmth to the film that makes you believe there is hope. If 'hope' was symbolised by an on-screen angel then it would be her.

I'm not an expert at the film-making game by any means. I do what I can to get by. I might be considered practically crewless:) With no crew we were left to resolve technical issues as we went along. Think we managed!

My films are far from perfect but I do feel that they don't need to be at this level of film-making, they could be but they are not. I just hope that I have some-kind of flare that shines through the crudity of my film-making approach, which demonstrates the familiar but also offers something different - my take on the world, perhaps?

I remember following a guys film-making process on the internet. He spent weeks and weeks creating a spaceship cockpit in his garage which was really amazing. By the time it was a scene, VFX covered the screen (digital display) and you couldn't see the efforts they made building the cockpit. The spaceship is crashing, Star Trek style but the performances left a lot to be desired. Throw in some poorly delivered dialogue and it was unbelievable to say the least - in a bad way too. All that pre-production work only to have the actors balls it up. Why invest so much time and money when you know a smiling kitten video is going to crush all of your efforts.

Kitten video - 2 minutes work -20 million views - no budget
Sci-fi film - thousands of hours work - 1,498 views - 5k

My film is in black and white. I discovered about 25 years ago that if I turned my shitty little videos to black and white and added black bars it looked more cinematic, like the VHS widescreen films that were all the rage when I was first dabbling with film-making.

Now I do it because the thought of spending weeks and weeks colour-grading makes my bulging intestines want to perforate. They say, "Don't just turn down the saturation".
That's exactly what I did. Nobody yet has said anything about the crap black and white effect on my film? So I'll just leave it like that. Joe Bloggs doesn't care about all that stuff. I mean my film isn't a Hollywood blockbuster that's going to get millions and millions of eyeballs gushing over my work. I'll be lucky to get a thousand.
I'm no colourist and I don't have the time to learn or pay someone to do it. My take on it all is keep it quick and easy and as long as the story is half decent we should be able to hold the interest of the audience. When there's a budget we can do all the fancy stuff then when we have the 'best of the best' creatives . Until then let's keep a little bit of that raw quality and just..."Fuck the trimmings"!

I think the film we have made has underlying messages within its story and offers hope when things seem hopeless.

Hopefully yours,

Rob