Fred sourced a brilliant font named 'Hitchcock' (reference to the masterful Saul Bass whose stunning title sequences graced many a Hitch movie) which I was lucky enough to find and apply to the lettering here. Really makes a heck of a difference.
Monday 30 September 2013
27 September 2013 - The Final Trailer
And here it is - the final full trailer for The Thrill of Love.
Fred sourced a brilliant font named 'Hitchcock' (reference to the masterful Saul Bass whose stunning title sequences graced many a Hitch movie) which I was lucky enough to find and apply to the lettering here. Really makes a heck of a difference.
Fred sourced a brilliant font named 'Hitchcock' (reference to the masterful Saul Bass whose stunning title sequences graced many a Hitch movie) which I was lucky enough to find and apply to the lettering here. Really makes a heck of a difference.
Monday 23 September 2013
19 September 2013 - Lurking in the shadows
And that's exactly what I was doing onstage this evening - requested by director Jules I hasten to add.
To explain: Mr Stephen Lurvey who is playing Jack Gale, the sole male character in The Thrill of Love was not able to make this evening's rehearsal. So a stand in was needed for the night, not only to read the lines but be in the onstage positions when said lines were being projected. And I felt privileged when Jules asked me to perform that role for the rehearsal. Mind you, she didn't have a lot of choice as the other two guys there that night were stagehands/extras and already had their roles to perform...
But I gave it a go and didn't do bad. What was great about standing in for Steve was to see the four actresses in the play performing their lines up close and to see how the play is shaping up. And from what I witnessed, it's gonna be pretty amazing, powerful theatre. Three weeks today all this will be going out to the first live audience...
As for this post's title, it refers to the role of Jack Gale, who spends a lot of time in the shadows, overlooking the action before delivering his lines. Steve has become adapt at lurking in the shadows.
He has now dubbed himself 'The Shadow Master'.
To explain: Mr Stephen Lurvey who is playing Jack Gale, the sole male character in The Thrill of Love was not able to make this evening's rehearsal. So a stand in was needed for the night, not only to read the lines but be in the onstage positions when said lines were being projected. And I felt privileged when Jules asked me to perform that role for the rehearsal. Mind you, she didn't have a lot of choice as the other two guys there that night were stagehands/extras and already had their roles to perform...
But I gave it a go and didn't do bad. What was great about standing in for Steve was to see the four actresses in the play performing their lines up close and to see how the play is shaping up. And from what I witnessed, it's gonna be pretty amazing, powerful theatre. Three weeks today all this will be going out to the first live audience...
As for this post's title, it refers to the role of Jack Gale, who spends a lot of time in the shadows, overlooking the action before delivering his lines. Steve has become adapt at lurking in the shadows.
He has now dubbed himself 'The Shadow Master'.
Monday 16 September 2013
16 September 2013 - Teaser Trailer 3
And so to the third trailer, using yet another idea and incorporating footage from last Friday's video session at Albany Road. The hardest part of this one was deciding what to write in the newspaper article and make it sound 'tabloid'!
Sunday 15 September 2013
13 September 2013 - Passion, tea and biscuits
So, how did my lodgings in Roath, hitherto an all-gay abode, suddenly become on this Friday the 13th a place of hot heterosexual passion and violence?? Perhaps I had better explain...
As she did with Glorious! director Juliet Lake wanted for her production of The Thrill of Love some projected images that would need videoing off set. It was envisioned that inserts of footage featuring Ruth interacting with her doomed lover David Blakely could be incorporated at certain key moments in the play. They already had the actors - Louise who is playing Ruth on stage and her real-life husband Felix who would stand in for Blakely - all they needed was a location.
I immediately thought of the house where I lodge on Albany Road; a large Victorian terrace building with a spacious hallway and a suitable staircase. And even more fortuitous, I had the place to myself for two weeks, the landlord being away in Scotland for his bi-annual fishing trip. So the location was set as was the videoing date - Friday the 13th of September at 7pm.
And so they arrived and I clicked into host mode, organising tea and biscuits while discussing camera angles with Jules and shadow director and stills photographer Fred, and allowing the actors to get into costume. Moments later Louise stepped into the kitchen, a vision in a white and red polka-dot 50s style dress and red headscarf covering her Monroe wig; she looked fantastic. That and with Felix suitably suited as David, we were ready to roll. Those two in particular...
It was a rather unusual evening I must admit, what with me videoing Felix chucking Louise down the stairs and punching her in the stomach one minute, then capturing them getting hot and heavy on the leather sofa in the front room the next. I must add here that it was all simulated, apart from one face slapping incident when Felix accidentally clipped Louise across the nose! No harm done though. All the same it felt very voyeuristic...
Despite this, the evening went extremely well and - despite the uncomfortable violence! - was fun to do and resulted in a lot of usable material. Fred also captured the most amazing photograph of Louise in character, smoking outside the front door, which would make a fantastic publicity image.
The house on Albany Road has now been restored to normality with all trace of any such hetero happenings erased. Just as well; I don't think my landlord would have been too happy about what had transpired here that evening!
As she did with Glorious! director Juliet Lake wanted for her production of The Thrill of Love some projected images that would need videoing off set. It was envisioned that inserts of footage featuring Ruth interacting with her doomed lover David Blakely could be incorporated at certain key moments in the play. They already had the actors - Louise who is playing Ruth on stage and her real-life husband Felix who would stand in for Blakely - all they needed was a location.
I immediately thought of the house where I lodge on Albany Road; a large Victorian terrace building with a spacious hallway and a suitable staircase. And even more fortuitous, I had the place to myself for two weeks, the landlord being away in Scotland for his bi-annual fishing trip. So the location was set as was the videoing date - Friday the 13th of September at 7pm.
And so they arrived and I clicked into host mode, organising tea and biscuits while discussing camera angles with Jules and shadow director and stills photographer Fred, and allowing the actors to get into costume. Moments later Louise stepped into the kitchen, a vision in a white and red polka-dot 50s style dress and red headscarf covering her Monroe wig; she looked fantastic. That and with Felix suitably suited as David, we were ready to roll. Those two in particular...
It was a rather unusual evening I must admit, what with me videoing Felix chucking Louise down the stairs and punching her in the stomach one minute, then capturing them getting hot and heavy on the leather sofa in the front room the next. I must add here that it was all simulated, apart from one face slapping incident when Felix accidentally clipped Louise across the nose! No harm done though. All the same it felt very voyeuristic...
Despite this, the evening went extremely well and - despite the uncomfortable violence! - was fun to do and resulted in a lot of usable material. Fred also captured the most amazing photograph of Louise in character, smoking outside the front door, which would make a fantastic publicity image.
The house on Albany Road has now been restored to normality with all trace of any such hetero happenings erased. Just as well; I don't think my landlord would have been too happy about what had transpired here that evening!
Wednesday 11 September 2013
9 September 2013 - The London Nobody Knows
A bit off the subject this one, as the short documentary in question, Norman Cohen's The London Nobody Knows was made 12 years after the hanging of Ruth Ellis. But I include it here as it was one that was brought to my attention when researching films about bygone London for the production of The Thrill of Love.
It's actually a superb little documentary providing the viewer with a glimpse of the capital on the cusp of change, as old Victorian London is gradually swept away to make way for the modern. Haunting images of buildings in decline - such as the Bedford Music Hall in Camden - are contrasted with thriving street markets and high rises. Images of children and hip youngsters are juxtaposed uncomfortably with ageing down and outs, fighting over the meths, their lives beyond hope. And it's overseen by James Mason, his wonderfully dry commentary making the whole enterprise that much more personal.
What is interesting, and this relates back to the Ellis story, is what the documentary doesn't show - that is, the seedier side of London with gentlemen's bars, gambling clubs and the like. These aspects appear to be outside the film's remit, which seems to be to present a slightly gritty but overall nostalgic look at a changing city; perhaps as a supporting cinema feature (remember them? Oh, I do!). It also provides me with a useful visual resource too, as many of the older streets would have remain unchanged since the days when Ellis would have click-clacked down similar ones.
Also Included on the disc was another London-based short - the mini-musical Les Bicyclettes de Belsize, a bright, colourful, cheery (and cheesy!) boy-meets-girl story. It's completely useless to me for this venture, but was fun to watch nonetheless.
Oh and Ps. - it is one month until opening night!
It's actually a superb little documentary providing the viewer with a glimpse of the capital on the cusp of change, as old Victorian London is gradually swept away to make way for the modern. Haunting images of buildings in decline - such as the Bedford Music Hall in Camden - are contrasted with thriving street markets and high rises. Images of children and hip youngsters are juxtaposed uncomfortably with ageing down and outs, fighting over the meths, their lives beyond hope. And it's overseen by James Mason, his wonderfully dry commentary making the whole enterprise that much more personal.
What is interesting, and this relates back to the Ellis story, is what the documentary doesn't show - that is, the seedier side of London with gentlemen's bars, gambling clubs and the like. These aspects appear to be outside the film's remit, which seems to be to present a slightly gritty but overall nostalgic look at a changing city; perhaps as a supporting cinema feature (remember them? Oh, I do!). It also provides me with a useful visual resource too, as many of the older streets would have remain unchanged since the days when Ellis would have click-clacked down similar ones.
Also Included on the disc was another London-based short - the mini-musical Les Bicyclettes de Belsize, a bright, colourful, cheery (and cheesy!) boy-meets-girl story. It's completely useless to me for this venture, but was fun to watch nonetheless.
Oh and Ps. - it is one month until opening night!
Sunday 8 September 2013
5 September 2013 - Teaser Trailer 2
And to keep the marketing momentum going, here is the second teaser for The Thrill of Love, made shortly after the release of the first. Using the sound effects compiled by Fred, I built this trailer around the sound of projected film, utilising found footage of film headers and melting film trapped in the gate.
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