Rufus at film festival Q&A in March
Mar 3, 2013 22:29:21 GMT
Post by lovethemanrs on Mar 3, 2013 22:29:21 GMT
Watersprite - Film Festival - Cambridge - 2nd March 2013
And before you settle down to read this I suggest you get a cup of tea or coffee - it's LOOOONG...sorry....
I arrived fairly early and managed to see the end of the make-up workshop which was very interesting.
Obviously my main objective of the trip was to view the Restless Panel at 3pm, but before I get to that I'd like to tell you a little about the previous panel that I sat in on. It's slightly off the Restless topic, but you will see why it caught my attention.
I had read the festival brochure and liked the idea of staying to see this one:
SCORING TO PICTURE: FROM ROCK 'N' ROLL TO FILM COMPOSING
It featured a former Dire Straits guitarist and a film director. When they started to set up it looked like there was to be some live music so I hung around. I am so pleased I did.
There was a large projection screen on which they were to display clips from films. The list of files was displayed on the screen. I scanned down the list just for something to do while I was waiting and spied a couple of files that looked interesting.....
..Can you see what caught my eye?......
Well as you can imagine I couldn't wait for the 6th file!!
And would you believe it clip 6 was the scene in TOTS where Petruchio knocks (bashes loudly) at Harry's door. When you watch the film again note the music in the background, the twanging etc....
Hal Lindes (ex-Dire Straits) worked on the film score for TOTS.
Plus the director (David Richards) worked with Rufus and Co. on the production. He actually directed the film.
They showed lots of other clips from various films including actors such as Alun Armstrong and Robson Green with alternative incidentally music to emphasise their point. For example, violin/Cello/piano/guitar etc.
When the session ended it was possible to meet the speakers. I had a nice chat with David Richards. I explained how I was a great admirer of TOTS and that I had lost count of the times that I'd watched it.
Very excitedly and proudly he said, 'I did that'.
I also explained that I am an admirer of Rufus' work. David Richards spoke extremely highly of Rufus and said that he was 'delightful' to work with and a really nice guy.
I managed to get a photo of the two of them together, but I declined the offer of having my photo taken with them. Ekkkk, noooo
I'm so pleased I got to speak with David Richards and he seemed so chuffed that someone had taken the time and trouble to speak to him about his work. A really nice down to earth, easy to talk to, non-starry guy.
As for the Restless Panel.....
Well first of all, there were no cast members at all!!
The panel consisted of 4 people
Hilary Bevan Jones (Restless producer and patron of Watersprite)
Tom Nash (Development Producer)
A film editor (from the cutting room)
The interviewer (who I assume was a student connected with Watersprite).
The interviewer posed a series of questions and after each section a clip from Restless was shown. And YES, I did see Lucas...xx
They spoke about various aspects including:
I could say more, but I am sure you are bored rigid by now.
To conclude, I got to have a chat with Hilary Bevan Jones after the presentation. Nice lady. I congratulated her on the production saying that I thought it was classy production and beautifully filmed. We had a laugh about the 3 legged dog and she thanked me for taking the time to speak with her.
All in all, well worth making the trip and a fantastic insight into the world of film. Brava Watersprite.
And before you settle down to read this I suggest you get a cup of tea or coffee - it's LOOOONG...sorry....
I arrived fairly early and managed to see the end of the make-up workshop which was very interesting.
Obviously my main objective of the trip was to view the Restless Panel at 3pm, but before I get to that I'd like to tell you a little about the previous panel that I sat in on. It's slightly off the Restless topic, but you will see why it caught my attention.
I had read the festival brochure and liked the idea of staying to see this one:
SCORING TO PICTURE: FROM ROCK 'N' ROLL TO FILM COMPOSING
It featured a former Dire Straits guitarist and a film director. When they started to set up it looked like there was to be some live music so I hung around. I am so pleased I did.
There was a large projection screen on which they were to display clips from films. The list of files was displayed on the screen. I scanned down the list just for something to do while I was waiting and spied a couple of files that looked interesting.....
..Can you see what caught my eye?......
Well as you can imagine I couldn't wait for the 6th file!!
And would you believe it clip 6 was the scene in TOTS where Petruchio knocks (bashes loudly) at Harry's door. When you watch the film again note the music in the background, the twanging etc....
Hal Lindes (ex-Dire Straits) worked on the film score for TOTS.
Plus the director (David Richards) worked with Rufus and Co. on the production. He actually directed the film.
They showed lots of other clips from various films including actors such as Alun Armstrong and Robson Green with alternative incidentally music to emphasise their point. For example, violin/Cello/piano/guitar etc.
When the session ended it was possible to meet the speakers. I had a nice chat with David Richards. I explained how I was a great admirer of TOTS and that I had lost count of the times that I'd watched it.
Very excitedly and proudly he said, 'I did that'.
I also explained that I am an admirer of Rufus' work. David Richards spoke extremely highly of Rufus and said that he was 'delightful' to work with and a really nice guy.
I managed to get a photo of the two of them together, but I declined the offer of having my photo taken with them. Ekkkk, noooo
I'm so pleased I got to speak with David Richards and he seemed so chuffed that someone had taken the time and trouble to speak to him about his work. A really nice down to earth, easy to talk to, non-starry guy.
As for the Restless Panel.....
Well first of all, there were no cast members at all!!
The panel consisted of 4 people
Hilary Bevan Jones (Restless producer and patron of Watersprite)
Tom Nash (Development Producer)
A film editor (from the cutting room)
The interviewer (who I assume was a student connected with Watersprite).
The interviewer posed a series of questions and after each section a clip from Restless was shown. And YES, I did see Lucas...xx
They spoke about various aspects including:
- Liaising with William Boyd to deal with aspects of adapting the book to make it suitable for a TV production. This involved thinning down and certain alterations to the original book in order to meet the time constraints for the production.
Originally the idea was to have 4 x 1 hour episodes, but it had to be scaled down further to 2 x 90 minute episodes before the BBC would green-light it.
There was also a restriction on swear words! The BBC did allow the four letter one, but only a certain number of times (apparently they count them) - I think it was 6.
- There was quite a lot of information on locations and the way in which they used them to best effect. The majority of the filming took place in South Africa, which in turn became parts of London, New York, Mexico etc....
In certain parts of the film there were scenes that were filmed in different countries.
Two examples of such were....when Eva was doing the 'follow' scene where she wore the red scarf - and at the end of it she walked down some steps only to find Lucas waiting for her at the bottom.
From what I understood, the stairs were in SA, but the bit where Lucas appeared was in London! (Incidentally, should you watch Restless again, check out the background music that plays when Lucas appears - very sinister indeed).
There was a concern that these particular steps were off-period because of the way they sounded when walked upon. This apparently was catered for by sound editing. - Several clips from the film were shown as split screens. This highlighted the before and after of the colour in the clips. Much of the colour was muted in the original 'before' clip and subsequently enhanced greatly in the 'after' shot.
They also explained that they had to add and subtract certain things post filming:
A monument that was in the background on one take was removed as was anything else that detracted from the time period.
The red classic car that was used was actually a dull orange colour, so had to be altered post filming to red to match the description already stated previously.
And tiny little details such as the 3 legged dog crossing a street were put in afterwards. All in all there was amazing attention to detail.
I could say more, but I am sure you are bored rigid by now.
To conclude, I got to have a chat with Hilary Bevan Jones after the presentation. Nice lady. I congratulated her on the production saying that I thought it was classy production and beautifully filmed. We had a laugh about the 3 legged dog and she thanked me for taking the time to speak with her.
All in all, well worth making the trip and a fantastic insight into the world of film. Brava Watersprite.
It must have been a great day.
(The man who directed such a lift scene has to spread his knowledge indeed. ;D)
.... thx you so much for sharing your report of your lovely day there... 
LTM .
