An Epic Tale of an Epic Tale

by

Anna Littler

(click on images to see them full size)

PART 2 – The Bickley shoot

At our latest big shoot in Bickley we had about 50 people involved during the course of the day, including c 25 extras and actors (aged 2 to c 87) including a number of ladies who were treated like royalty in the beautiful 1930s cars!

Due to some of the main actors only being available in the morning, we had to film a lot of the footage out of sequence and do lots of the cutaways in the afternoon. Scheduling and planning for all these clips was quite taxing and despite a huge amount of preparation, we still missed filming a number of shots. We have since had to return to get these cutaways, without which the finale would not have made sense!

Another problem with having to film the cutaways (or half a conversation) later in the day was the fact that the weather kept changing from overcast to bright sunshine to rain!

Continuity can be a big headache! People’s hairstyles can change throughout the day, or they forget to put their gloves on or which hand they had their handbag in! (Or, like me, they wear their 1930’s hat the wrong way round!).

On some days we’ve been good at doing continuity photos – getting quick snaps of actors, props and sets – by using a simple digital camera which stores the photos for easy reference later on. At other times we’ve failed to get the photo we needed and we’ve had to hope for the best! But this can make editing much harder! (So if you join me for any of our remaining little shoots (for ‘pick ups’) and no one is snapping away (other than the professional Photographer Simon), please ask where my digital camera is – please!! I cannot stress the importance of such photos – it’s one of the most useful lessons I’ve learned! N.B. If you’ve a day between shoots, you can print photos from the film footage.

Lots of Simon’s fab photos can now be seen on: www.facebook.com/blitzandbananas

Part 1 of the Blitz And Bananas story can be found HERE

Part 2 can be found HERE

Part 4 can be found HERE

Thanks again for everything! Anna annahopelittler@yahoo.co.uk

An Epic Tale of an Epic Tale

by

Anna Littler

(click on images to see them full size)

PART 2 – TV actors ~ Brian Murphy and Linda Regan

It’s been such a pleasure and great fun to work with TV actors, Brian and Linda on Blitz and Bananas. They’ve been so generous with their time and skills. Even a couple of weeks before filming, when I met up with them to have a script chat, they had already taken time to get to know their characters well and they were so enthusiastic about the project. We had such a laugh as they tried on their costumes that I felt confident that we would have fun working with them! I’m so grateful that they kindly took time out from their very busy schedules to take part in the film.

It has also been a privilege for us to work with such experienced professionals, as I’m sure we all learned a lot from working with them.  On set they also entertained us greatly with their repartee in between takes!  (Much of it captured on film of course!)

The Farnborough shoot with Brian and Linda was probably our slickest operation! As always much planning helped, but having only 2 actors to film in 1 location made things considerably easier! Also having actors who remembered their lines and who did the same actions at the same time on each take showed they were pros!

Amanda, a University student, has helped me twice a week during August which has also made a huge difference, as it meant she was clued up before each shoot and could deal with the production side, so I could focus more on directing.  We had swift scene changes with props all ready waiting on trays. People timing scenes also helped us to stick to schedule. (I’ll write about this useful tip another time.)

We could have easily been deterred by the wasps, bright sunlight or other setbacks, but the team was so united that we found ways to deal with the obstacles, we kept focussed and even finished early enough to whizz over to Derek’s to film a scene outside his house. We ended the day with chocolate cake to celebrate Amanda’s 21^st!

Lots of Simon’s fab photos can now be seen on: www.facebook.com/blitzandbananas

Part 1 of the Blitz And Bananas story can be found HERE

Part 3 can be found HERE

Part 4 can be found HERE

Anna  annahopelittler@yahoo.co.uk

An Epic Tale of an Epic Tale

by

Anna Littler

(click on images to see them full size)

PART 1 – Background to Blitz and Bananas ~ How it all began!

First of all a huge thank you to everyone who’s been involved in my epic – Blitz and Bananas! For those of you who are new to OVFM, I started work on this project more than a year ago!  2010 was the 70^th Anniversary of the Blitz which inspired me to start gathering stories from people in the SE London/Bromley area who remembered the Blitz, WW2 or who had been evacuated.  I then used these amazing memoirs along with my own ideas to create the script.   I was already working only part time to enable me to do some script writing and filmmaking courses and I was keen to put into practice what I’d learned.

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to spend 2 days behind the scenes on Coronation Street. It was inspiring and educational – and an invaluable learning experience – the kind of experience you can’t get from attending a course! Since then I’ve found it very difficult to get onto other TV / film sets so I decided the best way to learn was to set about making a film myself…and at the same lots of other people could learn about filmmaking too! I wanted a big challenge and so somehow Blitz and Bananas became a feature film!

Props & People!

I then had a great excuse for going to auctions and doing the rounds of charity shops in search of props, costumes and vintage furniture! I started inviting friends and advertising locally with the result that many friends, members of OVFM, amateur dramatics friends, 1940s Society members, school and university students all got involved. In addition, more people from the local area and OVFM offered to help out too, some providing us with air raid shelters, vintage cars, props, costumes and period houses.

Community Project

I’m amazed and thrilled that this has become a real community project with people of all abilities and ages involved – from 1 month to 91 years.  People have simply got stuck in! If they weren’t given a specific role, they spotted something that needed doing and simply did it!  Many people have learned online casino pokies new skills, shared their expertise and taught others, worked fabulously as a team, developed their creative skills, taken photos, dressed up in costume as an Extra or as a Stand-in (leg model/hand model!), driven vintage cars and done various essential behind the scenes jobs (clapper, boom mic, camera, lighting, reflectors, continuity, script supervision, set dressing, wardrobe, hair, props, refreshments, luggers and even ‘Shadowmakers’! etc.).  Some people who helped on many shoots got the chance to try out lots of different roles and I think many found their niche (or two!).  The best thing is that we’ve not only made a film but we’ve had lots of fun, we’ve learned a great deal and we’ve made lots of new friends!

There’s been such a great and supportive atmosphere even when things were stressful and/or when time was short. I can’t thank you all enough!  It’s been a pleasure working with such a great team of people. I hope it also inspires us all to stretch ourselves more in the future!

Lots of Simon’s fab photos can now be seen on: www.facebook.com/blitzandbananas

Click on LIKE to get updates re. future photos/clips.

We’ve still a few pick ups to film and the odd cutaway (so volunteers are still welcome) but the bulk is now fortunately filmed and captured.  There’s a huge amount of editing to do of course and we’re also focusing on organising the Premiere (details to come soon).  If you’d still like to get involved – and if helping with post production or the Premiere event is up your street – I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks again for everything!

Anna  annahopelittler@yahoo.co.uk

Part 2 can be found HERE

Part 3 can be found HERE

Part 4 can be found HERE