Paul Hills’ weekly post production blog

Weekly Blog 11  (Saturday 19th January)

I am back in the UK and have just spent most of today in the cutting room. The music, magic and cachupa of Cape Verde are just a pleasant memory now like the shoot is also becoming. Not that I am low about that, although maybe I AM. That is just life. Now I have half a year of post production ahead, hopefully a joyful premier at the end and maybe another film at the end of the year? Of course post-production is never as much “fun” as production. In 1996 I was at the Tokyo film festival and along with a load of other directors was asked to appear on a Japanese game show! One of the questions was “given the choice would you shoot forever or edit forever?” Nine out of the ten of us answered the former.

The trip back on Monday was fraught. Delay after delay, missed connections and lost luggage that has only just turned up. I was more than frazzled when I turned on Tuesday up at Chloe Alper’s to go through the poster designs. We explored one of the three ideas that she came up with,  changing a blank red part of it to the red and yellow of the roundabout that Callum first meets Malika on. I hope it will work well.

At the NPA agm on Tuesday night, Williams Rodriguez breezed in while I was in the middle of my speech. He didn’t have the receipts – again! He further turned up on Wednesday to the first of the nine point directors training courses that I run this year, again without the receipts!!! He has now promised next week. If he doesn’t provide them then our only choice may have to be legal action especially as things are now starting to get critical with some of the people who are owed money. Yesterday me and Jonnie had a conference call with Max Steadi. Max told us that if he doesn’t have money soon he will have to liquidate his company and sell his steadicam. It doesn’t quite make sense to me or Jonnie why that would be the case and why the amount of money we owe him would cause him to owe three times that amount to the French government. Maybe the only explanation is that it IS France and strange things happen there!

Anyway, today I saw more rushes, just now 13 scenes worth to see. The love scene in the tent, the best take was the last one, the one Julie asked for so I have thanked her for that! She then said – don’t remind me. She has no reason to feel guilty about asking for that. None of us had a crystal ball as to what was going to happen after and also a) It was my call at the end of the day – NOT hers – and b) it’s done now.

The scene of the Soldier and Callum talking is sublime. Wonderfully performed. The second faeries scene is also wonderful although one of the set-ups was missing from the transfer and had to be done again!

I’ll see the rest next week. All is transferred and synced up. Proper post can now start!

On another positive note, Steve Norris is still alive. The picture he sent me was not of him committing suicide, just another oblique, thought provoking art-revolution post-modernist comment!

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