Meetings with Jonathon (actor)

After finalising details of approaching the theme of 'journey' and adapting our script to angle it towards this, we organised two meetings with our actor, Jonathon. The first meeting was an introduction, as we were meeting Jonathon for the first time and he was being introduced to the group as well as to the script. Due to the fact that none of us had previously worked with professional actors before, we were a bit unsure of how to approach this initial meeting and so organised a tutorial with Lee the day before to discuss how to go about this. I took down a few notes during this, as although we wanted to keep the meeting informal and casual, we also did want to cover quite a few things and come across as an organised group to Jonathon. Some useful tips that we gained were:

• Mentioning the creative aspects to the film first.
• Coming up with a few key points and themes and discussing these in detail before the reading through of the script. Talk about emotions and key motifs within the film.
• Talk about a few of the strong key images, such as the importance of the colour red and what this means within the film, the idea of playing with the perception of time and the meaning behind bringing elements of the outside into the inside of the room.
• Give examples of films if possible - such as the opening of We Need To Talk About Kevin, as we looked at during the seminar.
• Inform the actor of type of direction - e.g. any improvisation? shot where we want direct camera address/breaking the fourth wall etc.
• After the creative side, discuss the logistics of the production.

Initial meeting with the actor

The first meeting that we had with Jonathon went well, as it was casual but he also brought up his own interest and questions about the idea quite early on, which informed us that he was keen to stay involved and gave us a starting point. Oliver (Director) described the more creative aspects to the film first, in terms of how he envisioned certain shots to look and the overall feel of the film that we would like to try to achieve. After mentioning the three motifs of the key, the colour red and the ukulele, Jonathon asked us about why we chose these items specifically, which meant we were able to discuss this in more detail and share an understanding of the build up of character that we are creating. We mentioned that the key is symbolic for the character's hope; the key will always be shown in some way, even if very subtly, when they are seen to be struggling against anxiety or appear to be thinking - at times when the audience may connect this with the character trying to make progress. The colour red is used to represent the theme of connection; items such as the plant pot and pencil that the character obsessively notes down observations outside of the window with are bright red, as is the coat seen on the girl who walks by - they are his way of connecting with the outside world.  The ukulele is the most different item out of the three, as it is more of a mystery and room for a number of different viewer interpretations as to it's purpose. It can be seen as a hobby to viewers, but it can also be interpreted, through an understanding of the character, as an item that reminds them of their past. This idea may subtly come across to viewers during the shot in which he is shown to be looking at himself playing it through the mirror, before quickly looking away, suggesting it is reminding him of something. The cutaway and close up shots also subtly show the date circled as 1st May, and at times this changes to April as a full month marked full of crosses. Although perhaps not noticeable on an initial viewing, these subtle details form a connection to the end of the film, in which the audience are made aware of the fact that it is the character's birthday on this day, so the ukulele could also be symbolising something to do with the fact it is his birthday. We wanted this to be an item that different audience members take different interpretations away from, as we don't intend for our film to be too firmly scripted, which is one of the reasons that we made the choice to include no dialogue at all. Instead, we want it to make viewers think and spend some time working out the film's content and links to the character, and aim for different viewers to take away different elements from it and interpret it in their own way.

We then went on to discuss the themes before going through the script, and Jonathon openly discussed his own experiences of suffering with anxiety and panic attacks particularly related to the outdoors and suggested ways in which he felt comfortable with acting to portray and reflect on this. We were all really grateful that he felt able to share this information of his personal experience with us, as it felt like the trust and working relationship was beginning to build between us as the filmmakers and the actor from this early stage onwards.

Second meeting with Jonathon

After a week full of further developing the idea and creating storyboards, shot lists and sound plans, Oliver and I decided to meet up once more with Jonathon, who had been in contact with us after the last meeting, to finalise plans for the filming dates. We had previously been in contact to share prop and costume details as well as to send call sheets, and Jonathon came to this meeting with some props that he wanted to show us before the start of filming. We also used this meeting to discuss the logistical side to the film in a bit more detail - we gave Jonathon an address and contact number for the location, discussed payment arrangements for travel expenses and exchanged contact details for a few more members of the group. This meeting also seemed to go well, and after reading through the script and informing us that he had been practicing getting into character for the past few days, we left the meeting with sharing our enthusiasm for the project and agreeing to stay in touch by email over the next few days, before meeting at the location next week to begin filming.