Long time readers of this blog will know that I’ve been looking back at my diaries from ten years ago, during the filming of Robot Overlords. From now on the diary entries you’ll see are the ones featured in the back of the film’s novelisation (and if you want a signed and dedicated copy of the paperback, then please step this way and click here).
I flew home from Belfast on Sunday 2nd June after Jon and I spent a solid five hours on Saturday working on last minute rewrites. Mostly forensic little bits, poring over the BFI notes and the notes from our exec producer Chris Clark. Once Jon and I were done, we sent the production draft to Piers (Tempest, producer) and Chris for approval. This is the document that the crew would be using to make the film. Any changes from now on would be issued as “pinks” — additional side pages coloured pink, so that every knew a change had been made: hugely important when so many people are working on a film. And so my work was pretty much done.
Not one, but four cabs came to pick me up from the airport. I guess they wanted to be sure I was off!
Tuesday 4th June, 2013
Got a call from Chris Clark on the way home last night: could I check and transcribe all the line changes for SBK? Took me about an hour and a half.
Lots of locals in Bangor posting photos on Twitter of yesterday’s night shoot of the death of Connor’s dad.
I asked Jon how it went. “Hard work,” though SBK was brilliant. And he’s doing Smythe with a Huddersfield accent! Not what we wrote or expected, but he’s knocking it out of the park.
I forget that Sir Ben doing the Huddersfield accent was a surprise to us at the time. I can’t imagine it any other way now. Apparently he based it on an old teacher of his, which was a perfect choice. For more on SBK and his line changes, check out my previous diary entry here.
As for the Belfast locals taking pics of the shoot (in Holborn Avenue), I was sent a few via social media which I can share with you here. I believe these were taken by someone known as Rossographer, but if that’s wrong, or you were one of the photographers then drop me a line and I’ll update!
Mark Stay Writes 