Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Eight weeks to go till shooting starts. Eight weeks may seem like a lot of time, especially when you see it as two whole months. But really, that's not much. So many things to look for, the first being locations. The Last One is a film that is set in several places- it is about a man who needs to get from one place to the other- so the whole film is in perpetual motion. He's moving, moving, moving all the time.

One of the reasons why I chose to deal with that problem is because if you look at most short films, especially low budget ones, they often take place within the confines of one or two locations. That's totally fine, but I guess after watching way too many JJ Abrams and Michael Mann stuff I was itching to really get out there and do something that bucked that norm. And besides, my last film was set in a barbershop and I still remember how numb my ass felt after sitting in one corner for the whole weekend. I want to keep moving, moving, moving with this one.

So yes, locations. Hugh our location scout found a fantastic run-down hotel in the outskirts of the city that has a perfect second floor. Hugh works as a motorcycle courier during the day and he stumbled upon this location while delivering something to the owner. Happy accident number one!




Much to our delight, the owners agreed to let us use it and I am salivating at the prospect of having our armourer go nuts with his blanks and squibs and whatever he has in his arsenal in there. I need to make sure the Michael Bay in me doesn't emerge and I end up deciding to blow the whole place up. Nah, the action in The Last One will be a perfect example of 'less is more.' Gunshots won't be excessive to the point that the viewer becomes numb to them. Every single gunshot in this film will matter.