Love Patrol

The end of week 7.

 Yes I know. 7 weeks in before a single post on Love Patrol, series 3. This is the result of one of the fundamental differences between film and theatre .To make a film I get up at 5 am and  I am on set by 6am, starting shooting  from 6.20 if we’re outdoors (and the actors are on time and we’ve got all the right costumes and props) to 8.00am if there’s a complicated lighting set up and often catching those late afternoon shots around 4.30…unless of course it’s a night shoot, which can go from 4.30 pm to anywhere between 12 and 2 am. And as this is a 10 part series we are filming for 4 months on about a tenth of the budget such a series would cost in Aus, UK etc. There are no trailers for actors, no trailers /caravans for anything. Just a small tent, hosts of costumes in carrier bags and a mini bus on hire for duration of the film. So, a series of reflections not necessarily in chronological order which I’ve thought, as we film, it would be good to go on the blog.

Overall to date: a much happier experience than series 2 . That one was beset by chaos. Continuity and costume nightmares; the worst not found till we started editing and one character was in one costume on one angle and in another on the reverse shot a week later. By the time we found it, we had struck the police station set we build in the theatre for the series; we had to rebuild some of it to re shoot. We were also beset by internal issues, maybe partly caused by tiredness (an insane number of nightshoots) but still they had to be dealt with; domestic violence issues within the company and ensuing suspensions…oh the list is endless. Whereas, we really seem to be getting on well in this one.

And the opening of series 2 a week ago was so well received that you finally understand why you do this. In fact despite tiredness Jo and I attended both public showings prior to the TV launch. Unlike theatre where the most important element, the audience give their verdict relatively quickly, with film it can take up to a year and, given that we have started the masochistic experience of series 3 before 2 was released, to see an audience be moved and laugh and say it is a big improvement on series one, suddenly made the awful tiredness and stress worthwhile.

The Wire! Both Danny Phillips, our Australian-American DOP and I have become addicted to this extraordinary TV series whilst we film. Danny lives with us for 5 months of the year when we have an LP series up. So despite our comparative collective lack of experience, money and equipment, we find ourselves saying all the time, you know that shot in The Wire when………….’ Jo too is now hooked and we watch it together on the laptop at night and weekends although Jo must spend at least 10 mins of every episode in the toilet, where she retreats whenever it looks like something grisly is going to happen!