Sandwiches

It's been a great week in the land of the GUGELHUPF (see homemade almond gugelhupf on the right)! 

It started with a directors meeting with my co-director Hannah Rogers. We went through the first shot list draft (our decision on where to put the camera during the scene) and it's been great to have her help with this. The scale of this film is quite small, which is why this first time, I'm relying a lot on my instincts and my experience of watching films. 

The next day, I met up with Maria Hildebrand, our actress. Talking to her was fantastic and I am so happy that we will be bringing characters A and B to life together. Without spoiling anything, there is a special bond between our characters, and it will be very interesting to keep rehearsing them together.

My hard drives have arrived and I strolled through the area of our location again today to spot any cafes and shops we may need. It has also been decided that our cast and crew will be eating home made sandwiches made with love! 

That's it for me today! This coming week I'll be acting in another person's film, doing what I love best and focusing just on the performance, phew! 

On to the creative

I believe we did it! We've fulfilled most of the administrative tasks that come with producing a film: we've found the perfect actress, have organised camera and liability insurance for the shoot day, and I've now hired a sound technician as well as our 2nd Assistant Camera - two fellow filmmakers who I've worked with before.

Now it's time to move on to the most exciting part: the creative side of things.

In the next four weeks, I will be meeting with my co-director, our cinematographer and our actress for rehearsals. We will also be organising our film shots line by line, which will be a new learning element for me. I already know this process will be a collaboration, which I'm so pleased about.

In the meantime, I'm going up to Manchester this week for a corporate job as an actress, and have also been cast in another short film that will be shot later this month.

You may remember that Gugelhupf is the name of a cake, so expect a photo of a home made one on this page soon!

Hurdles

Well, folks, as this article's title suggests, this week I was faced with a few hurdles. 

Firstly, the director I had in mind is no longer able to work on Der Gugelhupf. This made me pessimistic at first, but Hannah, my producer, and I are now the new co-directors of this little film! I am excited about the challenge, and am happy I can still rely on a second person for some important directorial decisions.

Secondly, the cinematographer I have in mind is currently unreachable, which faces me with the question of whether I should wait for her to get back to me, or start hunting for someone else. 

With regards to casting, I now have two favourites, so my decision on who will act opposite me is imminent!

Finally, in addition to the parks we had in mind, it looks like the private garden that I was hoping for may well become our location! This makes quite a few processes easier, and more importantly, it is a quiet and very pretty area.

Stay warm!