Shoot Day 8 Another Day in the Mountains

Zeta Moran in "I've Seen Angels"

Shooting "I've Seen Angels" really has been a continuously enjoyable,
fascinating and rewarding experience for me - but today has been one
of the best.  If you're serious about making films, serious to the point
that you spend mast of your waking hours thinking about what you're doing,
how you're going to do it, how to solve a particular problem - you spend a
long time preparing - not just the usual film prep - recceing, storyboarding,
scheduling - but the mental, emotional and often 'political' decisions and
manipulations you have to go through to get what you want.
So today was one of those days when an awful lot of stuff went on
beforehand: this was to make sure that I got the actual, real mother
of the character of Rebecca - played by Jordanna Moran, to play her
mother in the film.  I knew they looked like mother and daughter, so it's
important that the audience can 'see' this immediately.  Jordanna's mum,
the lovely Zeta Moran, isn't an actress, hasn't acted before, and was
quite nervous about doing the scene.  Basically, the scene is about
Rebecca's mother laying flowers at the roadside shrine where her daughter
has died - nice and easy then! To add to the mix, the weather
forecast had predicted quite cold weather and we were off up into the
Black Mountains to the shrine location.
Just the four of us set off - myself, Cai Thompson my DP, Jordanna and Zeta.
The usual nervous banter in the car, great for me because I can start
sussing out and gauging this mother-daughter relationship and use this later
on - also I try and keep Zeta from getting too nervous.

Cai Thompson DOP dressed for the occasion

When we get into the mountains, there's very light snow flurries.  By the time
we've set up, it's snowing.  Cai has changed from his long trousers into
his usual shorts!  We have to work fast now - is Zeta going to be able to do
this?


"Sorry, Zeta!"

















I very quickly explain what she needs to do, very simple actions.
We start turning, and for Zeta she's in the reality of this.  She's not acting,
she's there experiencing the moment when she might be laying flowers on her
daughter's shrine.  It's incredibly powerful and we've got it in one take.
The snow is now horizontal blizzard, and we're all freezing nicely.  Then
there is the part of the scene with Jordanna and Zeta.  Zeta's hand reaches
out and touches her daughter's cheek - a look is exchanged between them -
incredible beauty and power - Jordanna embraces and kisses her mother's
hand - and I know I've got what I've wanted and dreamt about for months in
a few short moments.
We skid our way back down the mountain road to Brynamman - it feels like I've got gold in the camera and I'm carrying a precious cargo. Straight into the
editing room on my own - everyone else has fled the snow.  I capture and edit very quickly, it feels like it's editing itself and I'm not actually doing
anything.  I place a temp piano track next to it, along with Sara Kelly's
voice over which is tender, bitter and full of longing - I watch it over
and over - it gets better each time.  An incredible feeling.
At another level, filmmaking is simply about the people.  Today, all I did
was remind a mother and daughter how much they really
loved each other.  I can see it in each frame.  It's more important than a
'film'.



Jordanna in that orange coat
















That night I think that maybe it's taken years, decades even, to achieve
what happened today.  All creatives have to love their medium, but maybe
it has to be reciprocal - it has to love you back.  Today felt like my film
wanted to be made - perhaps there are gods watching over me - Bresson, Bergman, Tarkovsky.