Cracked Eggs

Thursday October 26th
Andy downloads the HD 20 footage. Eric goes down to GJ Productions' office
to view DV footage with no sound. He tells Steve that it's looking good.

Super 8 is being processed and we're gearing up for post-production and
producing a trailer that Andy will take to the AFM. Andy enlists the services
of a top-notch colour grader.

Friday October 20th
Luke goes in to view the Super 8 rushes and tells Eric they look great
although there is a scratch on some of the footage. We may have to use the
DV footage to cover the damaged film.

Filming Day 5 - Thursday October 19th
We manage to get the D 20 camera back off Arri and get access to the tower
block, luckily no more Columbians are shot in the meantime and the building
has not yet been demolished. We get our time lapse shot.

Filming Day 4 - Monday October 16th
We all knew that Monday would be the killer. It is all interior work and
there are a LOT of pages to cover. This is the real core of the piece. The
part that we would have loved to have had more time for. It isn't to be.
It's hit the ground running time. In reality we are hitting the ground at a
grindingly slow, painfully snail-like pace.

Jared, Jonathan and Carol are due to come on set but then we get 'the call'.
Nelly, our make-up specialist has crashed her car. Luckily no-one is hurt
but a slightly shaken up Nelly has to wait for the police to arrive. Steve
Paines, the AD, goes out to the car to stay with Nelly. As far as the schedule
is concerned this is a real killer. Now we are really under the gun.

To add to this we have no grip for Monday which means that any tracking
shots will take even longer! Arggh! Jared, a veteran actor who has worked on
many indie and Hollywood films, tells us that on low-budget films it is
always the same pattern, the most important scenes are always left until the
end. Mmmh, glad to see we aren't breaking with tradition here.

We finally manage to start shooting an hour or two later than planned. Sh*t.
This was getting tight. Jared and John deliver a wonderful one-on-one
performance on the sofa. The permanently freaked out Rob character is
juxtaposed against the disoriented, confused and sometimes vulnerable Joe
character. It's very funny. Luke, Charlie and Andy do a great job in
capturing the scene with a mix of tracking and zooming shots.

The clock is ticking and we also have to deal with other problems. The boom
or boom shadow sometimes appears in frame and at one point the sound
recordist complains of hearing a vibrating mobile go off, a siren and then
some interference probably from the monitor system so he has to move his
equipment.

Every obstacle and interference is a severe hammer blow at this point. Lunch
is short and with a few hours left it's clear that Eric isn't going to get
all his tracking shots in. Eric has a quick pow-wow with Luke the DOP and
Jane the AD. At point Jane turns to Eric and asks him what the contingency
plan is if we can't get all the shots in. Eric says there is no contingency
plan so Jane asks the producer, Andy. "The contingency plan? We have no
film. That 's the contingency plan", says Andy. It was time for some
Dogma-style creativity-out-of-limitation magic.

Eric, Luke and Jane have a pow-wow and decide to go for hand held. The next
scene was shot and it looked and felt amazing. If this was the result of an
emergency solution we could definitely live with that. We were finally
approaching the point where Jonathan McGuiness had to leave. We needed more
time. Thirty minutes would do it. For this we needed a motor bike taxi!
Victoria got on the phone but none were available. They usually need to be
booked a few days in advance. Persistence is omnipotent so Victoria kept
phoning and begging. Eventually she got one and at 6:35 p.m. Jonathan 'was a
wrap' and ran off the set onto a waiting motor bike for a mad dash across
London.

We'd got the scenes and now we just had to do some close-up but the pressure
was now off. Phew. At this point the monitors were in the garden so Eric and
Steve were watching the action off set. Carol had to play a very emotional
scene. She was amazing. We feel tears welling in our eyes watching her, and
the amazing thing is she does two takes of this scene, and delivers the same
level of emotional intensity each time! Joe and Gemma look on and are blown
away by her performance.

For Steve, seeing his vision coming alive in such a powerful way is a buzz,
a shot in the arm, he says it's down right addictive!

Once the close-ups were done we heard the words, "That's a wrap". We'd done
it. We'd got all our shots thanks to an awesome crew and Eric's cool head
and clear execution of his vision.

Filming - Day 3 - Sunday October 15th
The location we are filming in is definitely not lacking in authenticity. On
Sunday morning we see that the building where we filmed our aerial shot the
previous evening is sealed off by the police. Not only that, two forensic
guys dressed in white plastic overalls appear from one of the side alleys.
Some serious sh*t went down here! It seems that a few hours after we'd
finished filming on the roof of the block (opposite the estate) a person was
shot in the head in the club downstairs.

We were due to pick up two scenes on a separate day in another location,
but, even though they were in the schedule and in the script Eric decided to
cut them. Luckily this turned out to be a good creative decision, those
scenes were not crucial to the story and it saved us having to come back,
shoot extra scenes and go even more over budget. It meant that whatever we
shot in those 3.5 days was it. That was the film.

The ex-squat (that has now been transformed into a habitable living space)
is not yet ready for filming so we go out to shoot external locations. Jared
is bloodied up by Nelly which involves splashing fake blood on his face and
smearing his white t-shirt with blood. One of the residents allows us to
film Jared in her doorway looking like he's stepped off the set of The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre!

We go back to interior filming and shoot Jared, Jonathan and Carol in what
is now known as Rosie's flat. Once the interior shots are done it's back
outside for the night shoots. The night shots go well but tensions are
mounting. Time is ticking and the pressure is on. The cast are getting tired
and they and everyone else are aware that the real core action of the film,
which is quite a number of pages, has to be crammed into the following day
by 6:20 p.m. This is the cut off point when Jonathan McGuiness has to leave
by taxi, get to the theatre and walk straight on stage in front of a packed
house audience!

Finally, the night shots are done and they look good. We are nearly there,
or are we?

Filming - Day 2 - Evening - Saturday 14th October
We are ready for our night time shots. Our police protection has arrived and
they are ready to take us to the roundabout location.

The final scene of the day involves filming Jared dressed only in dressing
gown, underpants and boots burying a machete in the middle of a busy London
roundabout. This is where the 100 pounds an hour for the police starts to
pay dividends as they stop all traffic on the roundabout allowing cast and
crew to avoid getting mowed down by fast moving chunks of steel!

The close-up shots in the bushes of the roundabout are filmed using a small
Panasonic HD camera. The 500 pound Gorilla Arri D 20 is once again lugged to
the top of the tower block for the long shot/zoom shot. The day is wrapped
and we go back to base for a de-briefing and then leave the set. Andy and
Victoria, God bless them, stay up for most of the night on the estate
prepping for the next day as well as protecting the equipment.

The art department is busy working away. The grimy, destitute squat is now
being transformed into a habitable living room. The living room has to be
wall-papered, painted and then decorated with carpets, rugs and furniture.
All this activity goes on until the early hours of the morning.

Filming - Day 2 - Morning/Afternoon - Saturday 14th October
This is it! The serious business of film making starts today! The squat
location is getting ready for action. The Arri generator van is already
pumping out juice for the set lighting. Go generator! The yard and kitchen
are full of boxes and boxes of various Arri lighting and camera gear. The
set is being geared up for a shot using a Pee Wee - a device used for
overhead shots, in this case, a view of the actor from the ceiling.

Steve the writer, (as opposed to Steve the 2nd AD) finally makes himself
useful by providing some consultancy on creating an authentic feel to Joe
the dealer's pad.

On 'unit base' Stella our wardrobe specialist is reading the script and
Johnny Hansler, already looking the part as a down-on-his-luck Marquess, is
getting ready for the Joe/Marquess/Egg scene.

Filming starts with a scene that requires some atmosphere so the smoke
machine is brought in. Now the idea is that the smoke level is subtle but
not clearly visible. Unfortunately too much smoke is released (a la Living
in Oblivion!) and the next 30 minutes is spent wafting it out. Luke mentions
that it is starting to look like the The Hounds of The Baskervilles in
there!

Jared Harris and Johnny Hansler deliver excellent performances in a scene
that is absurd, hilarious and terrifying.

Filming Day 1 - Evening - Friday 13th October
Once done with rehearsals we are ready for our first bit of filming. It
isn't going to be that exciting, a time lapse shot of the estate from
another tower block, still, we are going to shoot some real footage and the
team are all buzzed up. The evening is perfect. A panoramic view of London
with a beautiful blue and pink pre-sunset sky. Things are looking good, or
are they?

The first problem - the lift doesn't work. We are talking about 6 or 7
flights of stairs! The Arri truck arrives with what looks like enough gear
to kit out a Stones gig. Luckily, the crew are used to this type of heavy
lifting and before we know it we are on the roof of the tower block and
ready to set up the Arri camera.

We are all excited to see the Arri D-20 start rolling and as the sun is
about to set, and the camera is all ready to rock 'n' roll, Luke turns to
Eric and tells him that we've been given the wrong stock. Pants! The chances
of us getting D-20 stock at 6 p.m. in the evening in London (i.e. rush
hour!) before sunset are slim to none so we have to abandon the shoot.

This will probably mean begging Arri to hire the camera for another half a
day which is further complicated by the fact that there is a time lock on
the building: The tower block that we are shooting on, giving us a
wonderful, panoramic view of the estate is due to be demolished in 12 days!

The cup is half full. If we'd have found out about the stock the next
morning when we were due to film the actors performing then we would have
been even more screwed.

Filming Day 1 - Morning/Afternoon - Friday 13th October 2006 (yes, that is
Friday the 13th!)
The cast rehearse on set as Steve J arrives in Elephant and Castle after
flying in from Vienna. Victoria leads Steve J through the labyrinthine
Heygate Estate to meet cast and some of the crew.

The flat assigned to Cracked Eggs by the council is a perfect location for
the character who is supplying his mind and body-chemistry-altering wares
from a destitute, grimy squat. Various artistic scrawlings, cartoons and
Russian aphorisms cover the walls. Perfect.

12th October 2006
The cast meet on set for rehearsals. We're gearing up to rock 'n' roll!

10th October 2006
Only 3 days away from filming and it's hands in pockets time as the budget
belt breaks due to:
1) Higher than estimated crew costs
2) Police protection - we've been told by the police that we need police
protection at night because of gang warfare on the estate - 100 squid an
hour for two bobbies. Ouch!
3) Permits to film on the estate
4) Telecine costs for Super 8
5) More people=more catering

The realities of film making ... it happens to the best of us, ain't that
right Mr. Cameron?

2nd October 2006
Luke and Andy secure the latest Arriflex HD 20 high-definition camera with
35mm and 16mm film lenses along with other rocket science-type stuff which
in layman's terms translates into - Way Cool! This means we can blow it up
to 35 mm for the festivals and Arri will also use Cracked Eggs in their
promotional material.

Andy, Victoria and Eric are still working hard on putting sound, make-up, AD
and art direction crew together.

2nd October 2006
Victoria send the team a link to the Artem web site where we are able to
download movie files of prototype eggs being cracked. Click here to view.

28th September 2006
Victoria meets the team on the estate and gets access to our wonderfully
authentic pre-art directed squat location and manages to secure a 'unit
base' for cast and crew i.e. another house on the estate - Go Victoria!

20th September 2006
GJ Productions commission special effects house Artem to create a giant egg
that will spew out yellow and white yoke when cracked.

19th September 2006
Andy tells us he plans to go the AFM (American Film Market - Santa Monica) in November '06. He will take with him the short film teaser, Cracked Eggs, to pitch the full length feature
Charlie Don't Surf which will be produced by GJ Productions/Insight Films
and directed by Eric Loren, (based on Steve Jones' play - Charlie Don't
Surf).

September 15th 2006
Victoria and Andy secure permission to film on the Heygate Estate. Yes! Eric will get his aerial shot from the top of Draper House and the guys at GJ prods also find locations for Rosie and Joe’s flats.

September 13th 2006
Andy and Victoria order the building of “The Egg” from special effects house Artem. Can’t wait to see this baby in its full glory.

August 21st 2006
The beginning of the viral marketing frenzy that will make Snakes On a Plane look like a massively successful hype campaign begins with the building of the Cracked Eggs web site courtesy of the writer's wife.

July 21st 2006
The first reading of Cracked Eggs kicks off live from Eric’s living room. Steve listens to the whole reading and chats with the cast from his office located deep in the bowels of old Europe. All hail to the wonders of Skype!

July 20th 2006
Eric and Luke Palmer, the Director of Photography, find the Heygate Estate in Southwark and shoot a bunch of photos. In an interesting Kismet-like twist Steve had visited this estate many, many years ago and whilst writing the short film it was the image of this estate that came into his mind. Steve thought that it would be a perfect location for shooting Cracked Eggs. Interestingly he never discussed this with Eric or Luke so it was amazing that they stumbled on this exact same estate. Seems that we’re not the only ones who like the location, ‘Ghost Squad”, a new C4 series has a chase sequence filmed on the estate.

June 15th 2006
Eric meets with co-producers Andy and Victoria for the first time and gives his vision of Cracked Eggs. Guess the dude did good since he wasn’t summarily expelled from the premises.

May 31st 2006
Steve receives an email from Andy and Victoria that, after reading the script of Cracked Eggs, they are very interested in moving ahead with the short. Great!

May 20th 2005
Steve flies down to Cannes and amidst the Evian slurping Carlton Terrace pow-wows with sales agents and distributors regarding his romantic comedy project he managed to meet Andy Isaac and Victoria Wood at GJ Productions for the first time. They got on like a house on fire and he agreed to send Andy and Victoria the script of Cracked Eggs.

A film composer friend of Steve who was also down in Cannes introduced him to actor Johnny Hansler. Johnny played Peter Cook in ‘Pete ‘n’ Me’ at the New End Theatre and is developing his own play based on Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Johnny had them in stitches all evening with his impromptu impersonations of Derek and Clive. Johnny also does a brilliant impersonation of John, Paul, George and Ringo. Steve decided that he had to work with this guy, even if it was just to have a good laugh. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized, “The Marquess! Johnny would be perfect!”. Eric looked at Johnny’s show reel on-line and agreed, perfect. Steve SMS’d Johnny asking if he would come on board and thankfully he replied with a, “That’s a yes, mate”.

October 11th 2005
Cracked Eggs moves ahead on the casting front with Jared Harris, (‘Lady in The Water’, ‘Ocean’s Twelve’, ‘I Shot Andy Warhol') joining the excellent cast of Carol Starks and Jonathan McGuiness. Both Carol and Jonathan played the roles of Rosie and Rob in the original stage version in 1996.

August 15th 2005
Steve sat down to rewrite the play, which essentially, takes place in one room and attempted to un-play the play i.e. to make it more filmic, introduce external locations/situations etc. Funnily enough he did have an early draft of a short film version from many years ago when he and Eric must have toyed with the idea of adapting it into a film. Some of these early ideas still worked so he pulled them into the script.

The general feedback on Steve's first draft was that it was too long. The script was coming out at over 20 minutes and the recommendation for shorts is 15 minutes, max. It was time to kill his darlings. Eric enlisted the help of an editor friend and they went away, machetes in hand and proceeded to hack away at the script, chopping it to pieces and returned the traumatised remains to Steve per email.

Of course, he knew it had to be done. Steve knew from experience that a brutal edit can work wonders for a script. An agent once suggested he shave off 20 pages off a 130 page rom-com script. Steve thought it would destroy the story. All it did was to make it a much tighter and energetic read.

Steve agreed with 90% of the edit, fought his corner on some points and with a bit of tweaking came up with a much sharper, leaner and meaner story.

April 19th 2005
Steve's wife had always urged him to shoot Cracked Eggs as a short film, and over the years a few other people had also expressed interest in shooting the play as a short. Steve was either not interested, didn’t see the point or was too distracted with other projects.

One fine April day, 8 years after the play was staged, Steve was sitting in Starbucks in Clapham Common and by chance a friend of his walked in. They somehow got round to talking about Cracked Eggs and shooting it as a short and for various reasons, after all these years, it finally made perfect sense to him.

Eric and Steve had always talked about making a low-budget guerrilla version of his full-length play, Charlie Don’t Surf, and as with Cracked Eggs, quite a number of people had suggested that it would make a great low-budget feature. Since Cracked Eggs was intended to be a story thread in Charlie Don’t Surf it made more sense to go off and shoot Cracked Eggs not only as a trailer to garner interest in the feature but also to shoot it as a self-contained piece in its own right. After Steve's great revelation, (which was what people around him had been telling him to do for years!), he phoned Eric and he agreed, let’s shoot the short!

December 20th 1996
Steve sent his full-length play, Charlie Don’t Surf, to the Finborough Theatre in the Autumn of 1996 and then, well, kind of forgot about it. He then received a letter saying that he had been selected for their New Writer's Season and that he would be commissioned to write a twenty minute play.


He sat down to write a light, post-apocalyptic comedy and he was about a week or so away from the submission deadline when he met with Eric Loren in a café near Bond Street. Eric said to him, in so many words, "Forget this play, this is not you, it's not your voice, write something which says this is you." Mmhh. “And I have a week to write this?” asked Steve. “Yes”.

Wow. Steve didn't expect that. Still, Eric was right, and Steve was glad he was straight with him, otherwise he wouldn't have gone home and written the play, Cracked Eggs, which became the basis for this short film. 



Later, on the way home Steve's brain started ticking over with ideas. He was alone that weekend, it was just before Christmas, and he wrote the whole play over a 48 hour period. It turned out to be a very powerful, cathartic writing experience that poured out in one frenetic burst.



Eric loved it and they tweaked it a bit, arranged a reading with 3 actors and then did some more tweaking. Steve then had to tell the literary managers at the Finborough that the play that he had written and work-shopped over the previous weeks was not the play they were going to put on! Luckily they accepted the new play and it went into rehearsal. 



The short play, a very black comedy, was staged in February 1997 to great feedback. Some of Steve's friends were a bit shocked by it. It was kind of dark and disturbing, but funny in a Fargo-esque way. They were probably wondering what the hell was going on in my head!