feet first productions
Coming towards the end of their student lives, Dan Rymer and Zachary Carl Ord, along side other passionate filmmakers are planning for the future. I managed to catch up with them for a day and learn a few tricks of the trade...
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The Spark of I met Dan (LEFT) and Zach (RIGHT) in the midst of their recent project "Meander." Before we got down to the nitty gritty of the project, I wanted to find out a little about themselves.
Imagination
Feet First Productions After getting the introductions over and sorting Dan and Zach out with some liquid courage, we managed to get settled and start the interview.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE FILM GROWING UP? Dan: Obvious answer, Jurassic Park. It made me cry the first time I saw it, when the guy gets eaten on the toilet and when the raptor gets the other guy. Still is my favourite film actually. Zach: Wallace & Gromit, a grand day out the one where they go to the moon and it’s made of cheese. WHAT WAS THE FIRST FILM YOU REMEMBER SEEING AT THE CINEMA? Dan: It was 3 Ninja Kids, even though I like to tell people it was Jurassic Park Zach: My first cinema experience I can remember was Tomb Raider. BEST MOVIE QUOTE? Dan: That’s a hard one, I like the bit in Seven where John Doe is in the back of the police car and says “Not even in a world this shitty, can you call these people innocent and keep a straight face.” Zach: It’s from The Darjeeling Limited, one of my favourite films “Let’s go get a drink and smoke a cigarette” I don’t know why I like it, it’s just one of them things. DO YOU HAVE ANY HIDDEN TALENTS? Dan: I’m not overly good at sport but I am quite competitive at everything. Without competing I don’t think there is a point. Even though I don’t succeed all the time. Zach: It’s not really hidden but another talent is Music, I have been playing the guitar for a long while. RECOMMEND 5 FILMS FOR ME Zach: We like the same sort of films, lets do a joint one; Fantastic Mr Fox The Descendants The Truman show The Toy Story Trilogy Seven
you need to go into the film industry all guns blazing
WHEN DID YOU FIRST KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE APART OF THE FILM INDUSTRY?
were really about. He gave me the freedom to make the bad films and get them out of the way.
Dan: When I first watched Jurassic Park, I started writing short stories about dinosaurs when I was 6/7 years old, they were sequels to the original. Zach: For me it was in secondary school, I made a music video for the band I was in. I wasn’t planning to go to university but I really found myself here.
WHERE DO YOU FIND THE BEST INSPIRATION?
WHAT GENRE DO YOU PREFER WATCHING/MAKING? Dan: I like watching crime and detective thrillers but when it comes to writing films, I much prefer to write dramas. Zach: I like watching and making dramas. And love stories but not, Rom-coms. WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES? Dan: Steven Spielberg, I keep going back to the guy, well definitely in the early part of my life. His films are really good blockbuster films. But my influences now are Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant. Really like their writing and the way they write about their experiences and they write about real life. Zach: Wes Anderson, one of the most prominent directors. What really inspires me is story telling in general, being able to create emotion in the audience, something that people can follow, relate to and be a part of. IS THERE ‘ONE PERSON’ THAT HAS INSPIRED YOU TO BE WHERE YOU ARE TODAY? Dan: I don’t want to sound really arrogant but myself. There has been no one in my life that had pushed or forced me down this path, I’ve pushed myself. I was a late bloomer, I went to college when I was 22 and now 4 years later I’m still doing it and it’s getting scary now that in a years time I could actually be doing this as a career. Zach: My college tutor, David Oswald. He showed me what story telling and films
Dan: We spoke about this the other day. Zach: You said on a train didn’t you? Dan: I think it’s cool, I love the experience of travelling, you are in your own world and you can watch people and doing what they are doing. It’s cool to sit and make up stories about them. I always feel important when i’m on a train, I’m going somewhere for a purpose. Even though I cant write on a train because I get really travel sick. Zach: Coffee in hand, iPod in! WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR ABOUT YOUR CAREER PATH? Dan: Being part of the boomerang generation. Going to university and then going back to my little village. Without being horrible to the people that live there, I’ve out grown it. The next move is to a big city, be an average size fish in a big pond. Zach: Its places like home that never change, I feel like I’m taking my life out of that place and I want to do things that my family hasn’t. WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? Dan: It’s the story telling part. Its having that initial idea and letting the story grow, seeing where you can take it. The possibilities are endless. Especially after two years of university, finding out how to write a script properly. I like to think that we are getting towards that point where we could say that we can write a half decent script. I can’t just walk in to a building and start playing with the electrics, I don’t have a clue but when people think that they can just sit down and write a book or script it’s not as easy as that. You need to be fully committed to it. Zach: It’s creating something out of nothing, the spark of imagination.
DO YOU SHOOT CHRONOLOGICALLY? Dan: Never Zach: You do it where you have to; it’s all about timing. You have to keep actors and crew happy all at the same time, it becomes a clockwork shift. It goes from planning and getting excited about it, to the shoots and everything has to run right. We know and hopefully the actors do too, how the scenes are meant to go. Dan: Shooting chronologically isn’t cost effective at all, I like to start with what’s the hardest and the most difficult shoot to get it out the way because by the end of a shoot everyone is warn out and they are losing inspiration.
AS A PRODUCER OR DIRECTOR IS IT YOUR JOB TO MAKE SURE THEY DON’T LOOSE THAT INSPIRATION? Dan: Of course it is, we are both going to be producing this next film so as well as kicking each other up the arse we have to do it with everyone else. We have to keep everyone motivated at the same time its really difficult job, so it’s a challenge that we have taken on. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF THE FILM MAKING PROCESS? Zach: Writing, always, every time. Its telling a story when anything is possible
in that stage, when you are first writing, it can be as bizarre as you like. You can have as many things as you want and then when you get past that first draft reality kicks in and you have to make something that’s actually makeable, but that’s a good thing because you can get all those ideas that you thought were good out the way. Dan: I do like the beginning, but I like the ending a lot, I like the editing stage. It’s all that hard work getting put together and adding sounds and music, you get that initial buzz of “I’ve pulled it off” I love the moment when you decide that’s edit lock down and we have the film. DO YOU GET A FEELING OF ADRENALINE WHEN YOU ARE SCREENING THE FINAL PIECE?
Zach: Finding actors who are honest about themselves. It might just be me being a young professional, but there has been actors that haven’t told me about changes to their appearance or I haven’t known everything about them. Dan: Its all a learning curve, I haven’t yet worked with a difficult actor, so I’ve been lucky but I know it will come soon and if it comes on this project at least I have got Zach to hold my hand and walk me through it.
Dan: I wouldn’t say it’s adrenaline more nerves. When we had the last screening, I just couldn’t look at the screen. Zach: I was sinking in my seat. You are listening to people and their movement. Dan: I was watching the crowd more then the screen. I obviously knew the film and when important bits were coming up I was watching the crowd to see reactions. It was daunting, we both got good receptions but once its been viewed you can relax a bit.
IS THERE ANYTHING ON SET THAT REALLY ANNOYS YOU?
WHAT’S THE THOUGHEST CHALLENGE YOU HAVE FACED? Dan: Finding credible actors for cheap, who can donate a lot of their time for next to nothing. Actors are the heartbeat of this industry, without them we can’t make films. Just like without us there is no films to be made. We’re as important as each other.
WHAT’S THE BIGGEST LIMITATION YOU HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH? Dan: Again it all boils down to actors. Zach: I’d say locations; you will never have exactly what you want unless you have a big enough budget to build it.
Dan: People with their phones on. Zach: People texting. Dan: People that get distracted, I get it’s a long, hard process but people that can’t focus and get on with it. If I can do it I expect other people to do it too. Zach: I think it’s the directors film and we are the most passionate and bothered about it, but when people aren’t putting in as much work as we are, it gets annoying and I feel a bit let down. WHAT’S THE TOUGHEST PART OF WHAT YOU DO? Dan: Execution, having the idea and then showing it on screen. Zach: Bringing the script to life.
TELL ME ABOUT THE NAME ‘FEET FIRST’.
and he was naturally like that.
Dan: Well I guess that’s on me. I was in my first year of university and I was walking to a lecture. Me and Paul (another member of FFP) were talking about the way I do things and the way I carry myself. I take risks and tend to jump in Feet First. We feel it says a lot about the company and who is it part of it.
HOW DID YOU FINANCE IT?
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST RECENT COMPLETED PROJECT?
Dan: The director will say I want it like this and the cinematographer says well I can do it like this, and I’m not going to tell him his job, as he won’t with me so I like to leave it to them.
Zach: A film I did over the summer, it was just me and a friend of mine who was acting in it. We shot the whole thing on a handy cam, it’s probably the best thing I’ve done as of late, it’s a story in its simplest form about how relationships with people can be tested and how it effects people and when those relationships go in a bad direction. Dan: Mine is Alone. It’s about a guy who is a young professional, just got a job in an office working as an architect, who is out of his depth and struggles to find companionship in any form. The reason I made the film was to test my film making ability. I got taught that the best way to story tell in a film is to ‘‘show not tell’’, I made the film very visual without dialog, my lead actor only had one line. It was more an experiment on my part. It seemed to be well received. My actor wasn’t an actor. He wasn’t my first choice but it worked that he wasn’t an actual actor as the character he was playing had to be shy and awkward
Dan: All self financed we all chipped it and had a £500 budget Zach: Again all self funded WHO DECIDES ALL THE TECHNICAL BITS, LIKE WHAT CAMERAS TO USE, ETC.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR LATEST PROJECT Dan: Meander, it’s a co-production/writing/ directing with Zach and me. I came to Zach with an idea after our last film screening night and we took that seed of an idea and turned it in to our own short story. A drama about escapism and unconditional love. WHAT GAVE YOU THE IDEA FOR THIS? Dan: The initial idea came from a dream I had. A girl who I don’t know handed me an over sized butterfly. Somehow we ran from that. WHAT MAJOR IDEA SHAPED THE STORY? Dan: There isn’t a major idea; we just sat down and started writing, bashed around a few ideas. Actually we tried to get to know
the characters first and went from there. HOW DO YOU PLAN TO FINANCE IT? Zach: Crowd funding has been our main thing, it’s a website where people can donate to the film if they like the idea and they can get rewards from doing so, and it makes them apart of the film. It doesn’t matter how good the script is or the actors, if we can’t get the money to make it, it’s not going to happen. IS RAISING THE FUNDS THROUGH ‘CROWDFUNDER’ PART OF THE EXCITEMENT OF MAKING THE FILM? Dan: This was the first time I’d attempted to raise outside funding for a film. It was exciting and hard work at the same time!
But I learnt a lot. Zach: Raising the funds was always a risk and this time it paid off, it was a little worrying at times but in the end very rewarding. HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN IT HIT 100%? Dan: I knew we’d always hit the 100% it was just a question of when, I think I kept cool about it. Zach: I was very happy about hitting the 100%, i rang Dan immediately. HOW DO YOU THINK YOU WORK TOGETHER AS CO-WRITERS/DIRECTORS/ PRODUCERS? Zach: Fantastically Dan: We haven’t had any problems so far.
Zach: If we come across problems, we talk about it and compromise. DO YOU ALWAYS AGREE ON EVERYTHING? Zach: No Dan: Not all the time, there’s been a few times were we have had disagreements about the story but we try and work around it to keep us both happy and do what is best for the film, that’s what’s important. DO YOU PREFER TO WORK ALONE? Zach: Not anymore Dan: I did, I thought writing was something that you do on your own, but now I’ve worked with someone else, it’s better to bounce ideas off each other. WHEN DOING AUDITION, HOW DO YOU KNOW THE PERSON IS RIGHT FOR THE CHARACTER YOU WROTE? Dan: Even if they were the best actor in the world I prefer to work with someone that I get on with Zach: They have to have the look alongside the character in my head; it is a lot about relationship and building a network of people you can get along with. You need a good working relationship with them. Dan: They need to be confident and professional at the same time. WHAT’S THE DREAM? Dan: To eventually be running alongside friends and other like minded people my own multi-media company. Something that doesn’t just offer film. Obviously the ultimate goal is to make a feature film, and establish myself. Zach: The ultimate goal is to make a feature
film and be acknowledged for it. WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU COULD GIVE TO SOMEONE WANTING TO GO INTO FILM MAKING? Zach: Get some education first. Dan: Don’t think that you can do it without, in order to write a script you need to know the craft of it. Say yes more than no and keep yourself open. You need to commit yourself. If you go into the film industry half hearted you wont succeed you need to go in with all guns blazing. IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY WOULD YOU CARRY ON DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING? Zach: I’d carry on, I’d buy shit loads of cameras, and finance films. Dan: I’d finish my degree, set myself up as a filmmaker. Zach: I’d definitely buy a boat though! BIGGEST REGRET AS A FILM MAKER? Dan: Not doing it sooner, I had a break from education for a while. I’m nearly 26 and I could have been were I want to be by now if I did it sooner. Zach: Being very narrow minded, in the sense that I wouldn’t take a lot of critical feedback. ANY TEASERS FOR WHAT IS IN THE PIPELINE FOR FEET FIRST? ANY CHICK FLICKS? Dan: No chick flicks! That’s not what Feet First is about. We take each project as it comes. We have an important meeting coming up about the company, so we can hopefully find out what we all want FFP to be so we can take it forward.
concept art
A small collection of posters designed by Robert Marshall. www.robertm.co.uk
post meander I met with Dan and Zach again a short while after all the stress of filming had calmed down, this time joined by Dave (Sound) and Fraser (Camera).
HOW DID IT GO? Dan: Fantastic Zach: It went very well the best we could have hoped. Dan: With only a few hiccups, when you make a film there is always going to be hiccups, it’s just hard to point them out before you do it. Zach: The problems that we did have we tackled quickly DID ANYTHING GO WRONG? Dan: The two major issues were the broken camera, it wasn’t our fault! And we had an actor drop out on the day that he was meant to turn up for filming but we got round that quite easily, in the end it was a blessing in disguise. We weren’t prepared to get someone else in on the day so we cut the scene completely and it actually helped the film a lot DO YOU FEEL YOU CHOSE THE RIGHT ACTORS? Zach: Absolutely, when we first met Dave we were a bit apprehensive on what to think of him but then when he got here we knew straight away this was our ‘Jonathan’ and we were glad we didn’t go with our old one and Dave really surprised us with his ability. Same goes for Natalie and Andromeda, I mean Andromeda’s performance in the scene with Natalie is startling. Dan: I think we got some of the best acting out of Andromeda in the whole film, especially that scene Zach: Natalie is an actress which just delivers every single time, you don’t even have to tell her what to do she just does it, Dave was a little bit more difficult because he comes from a theatre background but he is very good at portraying emotions with his face. Dan: His body language was very over the top because obviously with theatre you have to show your emotions to and audience that big, but you have to show it with you hands and your movement but obviously in films it’s really different like extreme close ups, but he did a good job. The night we met him he did tell us he is the sort of actor that will do 101 takes if he thinks he isn’t giving us what he wants, so it wasn’t really an issue if he wasn’t doing what we didn’t like how a shot looked.
DID YOU MANAGED TO STICK TO YOUR BUDGET? Dan: Just there was probably about £10 or £15 over, which we shelled out of our own pocket and that’s not including and that’s not including damages to cars, parking fines which we didn’t even no about. Zach: Also damages to equipment Dan: So if this was in a professional world we would have been up shit creek, but we luckily the university is covered for damages and David was good enough not to charge us for the damages to his car or the parking fine that he got WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF THE PROCESS? Dan: Thinking back the bit of the process I really liked was the actual writing. We did a lot of the writing in my house, in my room and then we switched locations to Zach’s house. We had Zach’s big TV hooked up to his laptop and we both had a little desk. I used to call and get us a can of red bull every morning and a sandwich and crisps that stank out Zach’s room, even though he had a go at me every day. I started going out of my way to get the smelliest
crisps just to piss him off. That was really enjoyable and then obviously the actual production was a highlight, even though it was the most professional shoot i’ve been on it was the most fun as well. Fraser: It was the professional shoot, actually being on set. It’s just getting out there and doing it, because you have to try and visualise what Dan and Zach were thinking and I found it fun trying to get into their heads. Zach: The best part of the project was actually coming to filming, me and Dan had a lot of fun writing it, we didn’t really have a summer because of it but the thing is that was never an issue. We knew we wanted to put a lot of man hours in to it, so when it actually came to film and it hits you like a bucket of water. We have put 7 months into this and we are actually filming it, and these actors are saying lines that we have wrote. Dave: The intensity of the whole shoot is really good because over a period of two weeks you get quite close to quite a small group of people, it’s always fun saying hello to the same people everyday and going to fantastic locations that you would have never go to otherwise. I think the highlight is the on set banter, and all the ridiculous things that happen, when you get such an
eclectic group of people everyone has their different stories to tell. WHAT SCENE WAS YOUR FAVOURITE TO SHOOT? Dan: Mine was Cragside, definitely. IT was my most fun day, it was the start of the proper production even thought we had already done two scenes, I felt once we got to Cragside we had the whole team apart from Andromeda on location, we were lucky with the weather, we were lucky that everyone was so up for it and raring to go. Fraser: Thinking back, probably the worst day we had outside, weather wise. It was just the fun of being on a beach, and watching something be transformed. We did have some issues that day with sound. Dan: Also the beach was local for me and Fraser, so it was nice to bring people to our part of the world. Zach: Cragside was my two scenes that I felt more attached to in the entire thing, so I directed those ones. Although those ones were my favourite I had a lot of fun filming the shed scene with David, because some of the shots we got in there look beautiful and how we lit inside the shed to make it look like it was night and it was moonlight and the way David performed, we didn’t get to see the subtle movements in his eyes and face to show the sadness that he carries with him until the edit and it was fantastic.
Dave: Every location that wasn’t a pain to drive to, there was a lot of steep hills and some critical passengers, but the last scene on the final day just thought that once we nail it we are all champions. There was a massive buzz on the day that made it special for me. DID YOU HAVE ANY CONFLICT OF INTERESTS? Dan: If we didn’t it wouldn’t have been a professional environment that we want to work in, because without conflicts of interests there is no passion in there. We were very lucky with the actors that we had no conflict with them what so ever. Where there was conflict it was within the team and it never spilled out after the shoot or into the actors environment. Fraser: It was more creative interest, there were ideas getting passed about but we were on a tight schedule. I think it was important for Dan and Zach to step out every now and then and discuss what points everyone was raising Dan: We thought it was very important to step away form the group when we had to make important decisions, you just have to think what’s best for the film. IF YOU WERE TO DO IT ALL AGAIN WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE? Zach: I wouldn’t change a thing, I think that
it went as perfectly as we could have made it. Maybe do a test shoot on everything. Dan: There isn’t anything that I can think of that I would change Zach: Maybe change Dave Barker’s car to a better one Fraser: Probably just do the track shot, it’s one of those things were if we did do a test shoot it would have worked a bit smoother. Dave: Just making more notes because when you get into the edit, I just had a load of files and if I hadn’t logged them properly I have to go through it all again. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM THIS FILM? Dan: Even though this was the hardest work i’ve put into a film it hasn’t deterred me from wanting to be a film maker, from a personal point of view i’ve learnt that this is definitely the industry for me. I had a few things I was interested in, for example graphic design but film just comes naturally, I love being a producer, I’m quite a reliable source of calmness. Fraser: Thanks to Leo, I learnt a lot lighting wise and how to deal with certain situations, like when on location. Dave: Whenever I’m in a technical roll I learn more about the equipment, I had basic knowledge but there is always little things. Zach: The importance of having a talented crew and cast behind you backing you all the time, you need good relationships
before you film and on set. If your not friends with the people you are working with your not going to achieve what you want to. As a director you have people working for you, and working with something that is a part of you and a lot of me and Dan have gone into this film. You make connections on set that will carry on to the future. HOW DID YOU PICK YOUR TEAM? Zach: With an iron fist Dan: wW sat down and started talking about the team. I was pretty set on having Fraser as cinematography from the start. Picking the team was one of the easiest parts of the process. We had no second choices, everyone we asked was our first choice. Zach: Also we were lucky to get Leo as a lighting assistant, he is a profession photographer who has worked in the industry and he has taught us all the importance of composition and about setting up shots, he was an asset to the film. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE FRASER TO BE CINEMATOGRAPHER? Dan: I’ve worked with him last year on Alone, and the main reason I like working with him is his willingness to do anything to get the right shot. He would jump from a moving train or hang upside down from a tree if it meant getting the right shot. Zach: I had never worked with Fraser before and he surprised me in a good way when we were filming Meander. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DAVE FOR SOUND? Dan: We had a discussion about sound and we knew there was only a handful of people in the whole group that are known sound people. So one day we in the pub, we were talking about the short films we had made a couple of months earlier and he said that student short films, if everything else is good what normally falls down is the sound. I pretty much said put your money were your mouth is and come and be our sound guy. He took a bit of persuasion but in the end I think he made the right choice. HOW DID YOU KNOW WHEN YOU HAD THE RIGHT SHOT? Fraser: What you have to think about is,
what does that shot add the scene and the composition of it. I never say that’s a perfect shot there is always something I want to change even if its just the contrast. I suppose it’s if I’m happy to put my name to it then it’s the right shot. Also finding out my favourite shot on top of the mountain is being cut, I thought it was perfect. WHAT WAS YOUR MOST DIFFICULT SHOT? Fraser: Walking through the woods because we lost a bolt for the cine-rig, which meant that we had to do it hand held and I wasn’t happy with it, but that’s been cut from the film. WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING AS PART OF FEETFIRST PRODUCTIONS? Dave: They are the most forward moving of the group, which is one of the things that drew me towards them. They were
so much more prepared then anyone else which was a major decision for me. Everyone knows what they are doing and they have spent a lot of time researching what they are doing. Zach: It’s great me and Dan have found a bond and a writing partnership, that I really like working as and I feel very comfortable telling Dan ideas. There is never an issue where ideas wont get dismissed. It’s good to find a group of people that have the potential to go far in the future and that I want to work with. Dan: Me and Fraser being the longest members of FFP, we have added a couple more people and there is no weak links at all. I don’t want this to stay as university thing, I want to push it forward and make it big and I think we have the right people to do it. HOW DID YOU PREPARE FOR A DAY OF FILMING?
Dan, Zach & Fraser: Coffee! Dave: As long as I have a shower every morning, ill be awake enough Dan: There was no real preparation, as soon as your alarm goes it’s back in to work mode. Also sending a group message the night before the plan for the next day and another one in the morning. WHERE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR CHOSEN LOCATIONS? Zach: Yes, we picked them very well and got lucky when we were on location weather wise. I think it is your second choices that turn out the better ones at least from Cragside and the foster home. DO YOU FEEL YOU HAD TOO MUCH TO DO BEING THE ROLE OF WRITER/PRODUCER/ DIRECTOR? Dan: Yes, but the only real issue leading up to the production was we didn’t leave ourselves enough time to talk about the film creatively, it was all about sorting out. Zach: What was great about having this partnership was if you needed a break, it was like a tag team DID YOU MANAGE TO STICK TO SCHEDULE? Dan: We actually did and that was surprising things for me. When we filmed our last film ‘Alone’, we had an accident on one of the days and we couldn’t film and we over ran when we were on location. When Zach first drew up the schedule for ‘Meander’, it was a bit daunting but I was up for the challenge. It was the first time I had worked so intensely in one amount of time but I wouldn’t change it. WHAT SCENE ARE YOU MOST EXCITED TO SEE IN THE FINAL EDIT? Dan: It’s actually two scene, the one where Jonathan goes to get Jane from the foster home and then the lay by scene. Looking back to writing that scene, to me it was the scene that wouldn’t really be eye catching but it looks fantastic Fraser: Well my favourite scene was cut! So now the scene between Andromeda and Natalie when they are talking, I felt emotions being behind the camera . Zach: Definitely when Jonathan meet Jane in her world by the river and she has a conversation with him. It was always the
scene that has a part of my heart and when it actually came to life, it was amazing. Dave: The scenes in the woods, as there is more I can do with the foley sounds. WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST RESTRICTION WORKING ON THE FILM? Fraser: Mainly just time, you have to have everything done by a certain deadline. FROM A SOUND PERSPECTIVE, WHAT WAS THE MOST ENJOYABLE SHOOT? Dave: I have been advised to say that it was enjoyable when the director signs in, which is a moment which brings the unit together. The best shoots were the ones were their was less background noise, because that makes my job easier. ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MAKING THE FOLEY SOUNDS? Dave: Yes, it should be interesting mainly because I haven’t done it properly before. FAVOURITE AND WORST MEMORY FROM THE FILM?
Dan: My favourite memory was the car journey from Cragside back to Middlesbrough. Although it was terrifying, I chose not to tell my girlfriend about that. Dave’s car pretty much exploded and we were on the hard shoulder of the M6 and I was under the car pulling fibre glass from the exhaust, at the time it was horrendous. The worst is there was one day in the house and it took me a while to get in to gear, I think id just hit a wall. Fraser: Favourite is thinking we have a great scene but then realising Dan was in shot, he did it just to annoy me. My worst was in the lay-by when I was just waiting and it was freezing. Zach: Favourite is when I was directing a shot when Jonathan and Jane were sat on the sofa, and the whole situation was quite comical. My worst was the day that Dan wasn’t there in the morning and everything was irritating me. It was the day we didn’t have all the props so it was going quite slowly, and it was the day one of the actors had dropped out so we had to do a rewrite and I was getting quite snappy. Dave: Worst moment is the day we went to Cragside, the details were incorrectly put into the satnav so we had a massive detour so we got to the set late. My favourite was
one day when we were in the house, Fraser was setting up the shot upstairs while everyone else was downstairs waiting and we just heard him shout “Rolling!” I really liked the last day as well because it wasn’t a long shoot and everyone was in a really good mood. WHAT IS YOUR MOST SURPRISING ASPECT GOOD OR BAD FROM THE FILM? Dan: It was when the actor David was giving me and Zach all these really flattering compliments about how we are as people and film makers. He spoke highly of everyone and said that some of the more professional and expensive shoots he has been on, haven’t been as fun or professional as ‘Meander”. It’s nice to hear your doing something right. Fraser: How everything was dealt with professionally, we had a few bumps in the road that got solved in a professional manner. Zach: It was the amount of enthusiasm towards the project from every crew member, also the relationships that have grown. Dave: How fragile the equipment can be, we
Quiet on set
that's a wrap
With thanks to Dan Rymer Zachary Carl Ord Robert Marshall The Thin White Duke The Lane Bar Interview by Rach Garry Photography by Rach Garry Leo Baptist Natalie Martins Design by www.rachgarry.co.uk