Ten Years On – Mark Stay Writes

Ten Years On: Robot Overlords and Recording the Score

Long time readers of this blog will know that I’ve been looking back at my diaries from ten years ago, during the making of Robot Overlords. Some of 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).

There were many magical moments during the making of Robot Overlords, but the recording of the score at AIR studios is one that still lingers ten years on. For a start… AIR studios! George Martin’s palace of sound. Hallowed ground and a genuine thrill just to be there. And the day there came hot on the heels of another screening at Pinewood the night before. There was a moment when Jon (Wright, director) and Matt (Platts-Mills, editor) were strolling through Pinewood, and it was quiet and dark and it felt like we owned the place, and I had one of those little out-of-body moments where it felt like I was in a dream. The screening had been to see the latest edit, with the pick-ups from the previous Pinewood shoot and some almost-finished VFX etc. It’s hard to describe just how floaty I felt in that short walk. All I can say to anyone lucky enough to have a moment like this is to just soak it in. Take a mental Polaroid and treasure it forever.

Anyway, back to AIR studios…

Wednesday 16th April – AIR Studios

An incredible day, watching and listening to the recording of the score for Robots at AIR Studios in Hampstead. Situated in Lyndhurst Hall, an old mission house designed by Alfred Waterhouse (who also designed the Natural History Museum), the studios aren’t as big or as famous as Abbey Road perhaps, but the sound in that hall is incredible.

When I arrived at 9.30 most of the musicians were assembling and getting ready. I found Paddy in the studio cafe and we made our way to the sound-proofed control room room. Christian Henson (composer) and his team were raring to go. He gave a short introduction, explaining that we only had the budget for one day of recording, and there was lots to do, and then they were off.

That was when my jaw dropped.

The score is amazing.

I’d had a taste of it last night at the Pinewood screening, but it was Christian’s demo, recorded with synths and samples. It was great and it gave the film a whole new feel. But nothing beats the English Session Orchestra going at full pelt.

As they rattled through cue after cue, we watched the scenes on the monitors, each one of them elevated to another level by the soaring music.

Jon arrived about 10.30ish and him, me, Paddy and Piers sat looking on with silly grins on our faces.

We discovered that the musicians hadn’t had any rehearsals. They were all sight-reading the music and often nailing it on the first take, all playing in time to a click track synchronised with a timecode on the screen. It certainly put my amateur fumblings on the guitar into perspective.

The main orchestra played from 10 till 1, then after lunch it was reduced to a smaller group of strings who played overdubs that made the orchestra sound even bigger than it was. The afternoon ended with a quartet playing a Haydn piece that will be heard on Monique’s gramophone player during a scene set in her room.

Just as we thought it couldn’t get any better, the choir arrived. Just eighteen voices (including, we were told, the deepest bass in Britain), but in that hall they sounded legion. One of my favourite parts of the score is a ‘Day in the life’ style crescendo of strings and horns (Christian’s tribute to AIR studios’ founder and Beatles producer George Martin). But then they added eerie, Kubrickian-2001 voices to it and it was transformed into something spine-tingling. By now Tim Haslam, Chris Clark and Steve Milne had joined us and we were all agog.

The day ended just before 10pm. A crammed session, but the score is not yet complete: guitars and flutes will be recorded at Christian’s studio tomorrow. Sadly, I can’t make it, but I can’t wait to hear the results.

You can listen to the Robot Overlords score on Spotify and Apple Music…

TEN YEARS ON: ROBOT OVERLORDS. A PINEWOOD TEST SCREENING

It’s been a while since the last update, and a few key events occurred, not least that I returned to work at Orion. It was kind of inevitable and it made me a little sad to have to rely on the day job, but this is a fact of life for most professional writers (it’s nigh on impossible to pay the bills on a writers’ income) and I kept writing on my commute which kept me sane for the next few years till I was made redundant.

We’d also had a screening for financiers which was incident-free, Mick Audsley (legendary editor who had worked with the likes of Terry Gilliam and Stephen Frears) came on board as a fresh pair of eyes to oversee the edit leading to lots of tinkering with the opening. And I was getting meetings with the likes of Aardman for a writing gig on a movie called Germs (still unmade at the time of writing), I had a terrible toothache over Christmas, my son broke his ankle (though he’s broken more bones than Jackie Chan), and Jon and I started tinkering with ideas for a Robot Overlords sequel. But one of my favourite memories of the post-production period of the film was this screening at Pinewood Studios with a bunch of kids. Abdi, if you’re out there somewhere do please get in touch. You made my evening that night!

Wednesday 22nd January 2014 – Pinewood Studio

Quite a packed day. Here are the highlights:

Got a positive rejection from Aardman. They felt my take on Germs was too young. I feel that any story featuring germs as the main characters is going to appeal to a young audience, so I’m not sure they’re on the right track. They said they were looking for The Dirty Dozen via Star Wars… I told them if he wants that we should write that! And I’m the man to do it. We’ll see…

Another test screening, but this time in screen 7 at Pinewood studios. More kids this time, maybe 60+.

Matt and I were sat behind an 11-year-old boy called Abdi… Well, I wish we could clone him. He was hooked from minute one. I know because he talked all the way through the film, but it was handy barometer of when he was engaged and when not. My favourite moment was when Nathan points the shotgun at Mr Smythe and this kid shouts, ‘SHOOT HIM!’. Matt and I punched the air at that point. At the end Abdi turned to his teacher sitting behind him, ‘That was awesome!’ He told Jon that he was the best director ever and we signed autographs for him and his friends. Great to see that more girls seemed to like it this time, too.

Afterwards there was a focus group of about 20 kids. By and large the 11-14 year olds loved it, but the title got a thumbs-down. Hugo perked up like a meerkat when he heard this… I fear a title change is on the cards. The word that gave them a problem was ‘robot’. The older kids felt it was too childish and off-putting. One 16-year-old said he thought the film was much better than he thought it would be because he was down on the title. We’ll wait to see what the other cards say, but there’s a feeling of inevitability about this.

Jon and I felt the younger kids’ answers were being influenced by the attitude of the older ones, who were very down on it overall. There was fun moment when they realised that Jon was sitting behind them, hearing all their comments. They were mortified, apologetic, and bugging him for advice on how to make it in the movies.

But, overall, a very positive screening, The new edit is good – rattles along – and everyone feels good about the progress Jon and Matt have made since the last screening. Onwards and upwards!

Friday 24th January, 2014

Got the forms back from the screening. Very positive. Lots of “awesome”, though one of my favourite comments was a complaint, “If you’re going to blow people up, use blood!”

The number-crunching analysis should be with us on Monday.

As you can see there were some doubts about the title. Not noted in my diary for some reason is that the producers had been having doubts about the title for some time. In particular the word “Our”. They were worried that people either wouldn’t get the reference, or the word “Our” would create pronunciation issues at the box office. Yes. Really.

Monday 27th January, 2014

After a long weekend of panicky emails between producers about a new title for Our Robot Overlords (including Cyber-Lords, Robo Warrior, iDrone, and, my favourite, Alien Scrapers*) we finally went for…

… drum roll…

… can you bear the tension…?

… ROBOT OVERLORDS.

In the next thrilling instalment… we discuss whether or not we need reshoots or pickups for the movie! Subscribe and don’t miss out.

Ten Years On: Robot Overlords Financiers’ Screening

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. Some of 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).

Such a pivotal day for the film, and looking back it’s strange that we didn’t do better with it in the end. I guess the lesson to learn is to be wary of excitement and hype, but my memories of that day were that we bloody loved it and it was going to be a smash…

Thursday 26th September – Molinare, London – Financiers’ screening

Today saw the financiers’ screening of Our Robot Overlords. Jon warned me that these can be brutal affairs, where the money people wonder why they bothered to invest in the first place, and who the hell hired these clowns and I don’t understand the ending, so let’s go straight to DVD and cut our losses.

I didn’t need to be there, but it was being shown on the big screen in (post-production facility) Molinare’s in Soho and I wanted to take notes for the book.

Jon and Matt were both outwardly calm, but nervous. Piers arrived with an infectious energy about him, which definitely helped the mood. The financiers started arriving soon after. People from NI Film, Pinewood, Steve Milne from Molinare, Natascha Wharton and Jamie Wolpert from the BFI, and our sales team and producers Tim Haslam and Hugo Grumbar.

What I saw was a much slicker cut of the film with a few VFX and pre-viz sequences. It’s far from finished or perfect, but it’s really feeling like a movie. There were cheers at SBK’s death scene and effusive applause at the end, and I blubbed a bit.

The lights came up and Tim gave Jon a bearhug and congratulated him on a job well done.

There were one or two notes, but nothing unfixable and that we hadn’t considered ourselves already. It could not have gone better and we were all buzzing afterwards. Already people were talking about sequels, TV shows, games and even theme park rides! If all goes to plan I could end up writing nothing but robots for the next ten years, but I don’t think I have a problem with that… yet.

As an added bonus the new issue of Total Film arrived. SBK was interviewed and mentioned Robots as one of a number of ‘wonderful scripts’ he’s worked on. I am currently floating on air.

Oh, and I spotted dad and Lou McGhie in the film. Claire, Emily and I are still in it. No sign of George*.

*He’s in it, behind Tamer Hassan when he’s just fired the shotgun. We just weren’t looking hard enough.

Just a few days before I was chatting to Tom Fickling about doing a comic strip adaptation with The Phoenix comic (which is a terrific comic if you’ve not encountered it before) and the talk of theme park rides wasn’t just a flippant remark. Our financiers knew people who could make these things happen. A few weeks after this my agent said one of the financiers was ready to pay for a sequel script (that money never arrived) and everyone thought that Sky would be interested in a TV series. All we needed was for the film to get wide distribution backed with proper marketing and it would be a smash! Hmm…

One big note that we did get from this screening that plagued us over the coming months was to add an expository voiceover from The Mediator character at the beginning. Looking back, I regret caving to this request. It has the poor viewer doing sums in their head as they try and figure out how long the robots have been here and how long it is before they go etc… None of it’s important and the mystery would have made them all the more enigmatic. Hey ho, you live and learn! But despite all that’s happened since, this was an amazing day and I really was floating on air and anything seemed possible. I guess another lesson is to enjoy those moments when they come along, because there haven’t been that many since!

Ten Years On: Take Your Daughter to the Robot Apocalypse Day

I had never known anyone in the film industry when I was a kid. Growing up first on a housing estate in Hornsey, then in a caretaker’s house in Leatherhead, the very idea that I might get into the film industry was up there with being an astronaut. Or Batman. Both of which are still options, I guess, but fairly unlikely. My uncle Desmond told me once that he owed money to a man called Nosher Powell, who appeared in all kinds of films and TV shows as a heavy or a stuntman and the rumour was that he had been a Stormtrooper in Star Wars, which blew my tiny mind (it’s not listed on his IMDb, so who knows?). A girl was at my school for a short while who turned out to be the daughter of actor and stuntman Terry Plummer, which was exciting but she didn’t stay long. Then a couple of my best friends at secondary school had parents who worked in TV. My friend Tim’s dad worked for ITN and showed around the news studio one day, and my friend Jeremy’s mum got us tickets for the recording of a show called The Secret Cabaret where I met Ricky Jay after the show and he did some astonishing close-up card tricks for us. So that, and a screening of The Sooty Show when I was about six, was it as far as my childhood brushes with film and TV go. But they were memorable days and made me think that maybe working in TV or film wasn’t so unlikely. With that in mind, when Robot Overlords came along, I wanted my kids to get a taste of the industry in a way that I never really had. I’d already got them parts as extras in one scene (see this diary entry for the longest school run ever), but Emily, then 13, was showing a real talent for animation and editing. I had already banged on about how my favourite films were edited by women (Jaws by Verna Fields, Star Wars by Marcia Lucas, and Goodfellas by Thelma Schoonmaker) and I thought there would never be a better opportunity to inspire her than to take her to see an actual film being edited and get a sneak peek at CG animation, and so…

Friday 30th August, 2013

I decreed that it would be ‘Take your daughter to work’ day today, and so Emily and I hopped on the train up to London. Matt Platts-Mills (editor) kindly showed Emily how he cut together the scene between Gillian Anderson and the Steven Mayhew character based on Jon’s notes. He also added temp sound fx to the scene where the kids run from the Sentry.

We popped next door to chat with the assistant editor Vicky Webbley. who was very encouraging. She started out like Em: editing movies and putting them on YouTube.

After that we popped round to Nvizible (VFX company) where we got the VIP tour from Paddy Eason (VFX Supervisor) and Simon-Pierre Puech (compositor). We saw 3D models for the Spitfire, Sentry, Sniper and Skyship and they all looked incredible. Then it was fish n chips with Paddy, some shopping at Forbidden Planet, then home.

Emily is now 23 and an animator and storyboard artist working with her fella Kai for some very cool clients on Youtube. She still edits and I asked her what she remembered of the day and she recalled that Matt had discovered that the sandwich that Gillian Anderson holds in the scene moved from hand to hand and he was struggling to find shots that matched. And that Vicky told her that to be a good editor it helped to be good at Tetris with good organisational skills. She still remembers the day fondly and I’ll always be grateful to Matt, Vicky, Paddy and Simon for taking the time to show her around.

Ten Years On: The Post-Production Excitement Begins

I had just returned from a family holiday in Spain and, having seen a rough cut of the film and finished the first draft of the novelisation, I was raring to get back and see what I’d missed. And it all started with a meeting at Orion House…

Wednesday 29th August, 2013

Great meeting today with Piers (Tempest, producer), Gillian Redfearn (my editor at Gollancz) and Jen McMenemy (Gollancz marketing manager). Lots of exciting stuff we can do for the book and the film. Piers showed us the Toronto (Film Festival) sales trailer — very exciting — and let slip that thanks to SBK (Sir Ben Kingsley) we might have a Prince’s Trust Premiere! That would be an incredible launch.

Stayed behind with Gillian to run through her edit notes. I’ve got a good idea of what to attack next. She’s very good. It’s like having a co-writer. Great objectivity.

To say that Gillian Redfearn is ‘very good’ is like saying Pele was quite handy with a football. I knew that Gillian had edited some of my favourite authors at Gollancz, and they were fulsome in their praise of her, but this was my first time being edited and I had no idea I was getting the Rolls Royce treatment. There were 4440 comments and changes (I still have the Word doc… let me know if you’d be interested in seeing it!). A perfect blend of suggestions, encouragement, compliments and Joyce Grenfell-like moments of, ‘No, Mark, don’t do that.’ And she was always the eye of the reader, not only pointing out moments of potential confusion, but demanding more of me and making me a better writer. Gillian basically taught me how to write a novel with her edit and I shall always be grateful for that incredible experience.

We didn’t get a Prince’s Trust premiere in the end, and more excited hyperbole was to come, but more of that later…

Ten Years On: The First Cut of Robot Overlords

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).

The film wrapped principle photography on 25th July 2013, which was also the day I finished my second pass on the novelisation. Around that time I started my sabbatical from Orion and began adjusting to working as a full time author for six months. Jon and I were exchanging ideas for a possible sequel (one that sadly won’t ever happen now) and other projects while he was working on the edit of the film. Then I got a call…

Tuesday 6th August, 2013

Jon called to soften me up before I see the first assembly tomorrow. He still thinks it’s a good film, but he’s got a mountain to climb during the edit. We agreed that there’s no way we can go toe-to-toe with the mega-blockbusters, but we will have one of the most ambitious British films out there. Can’t wait.

Wednesday 7th August, 2013

Saw the rough assembly of Robots today. No VFX, no sound design, a temporary score from others movies etc, just a very rough cut, but I’m delighted to report that it’s going to be a belter. It starts lo-fi and indie and then just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. It’s quite extraordinary, the performances are great, and I can’t think of another film to compare it to.

What’s clear is that Jon, Matt and Vicki (Webbley – assistant editor) have a huge task ahead of them. At least 10-12 weeks of editing. Also at the screening today were Christian Henson (composer), Jeremy Price (sound designer), and Dan Johnson (dubbing). By the end they look googly-eyed at the prospect of all the work ahead of them. Again, it’s an ambitious film and people have been befuddled by it (in meetings when we were trying to raise the money, people were sometimes sceptical that we could pull it off) but once they get their heads around it, they’re cool. Nvizible now step-up. They’ve designed shots of the Sentry powering up that are so cool, we might use it for the opening titles*.

*We didn’t!

Seeing this for the first time was an out of body experience. I’d seen a few clips, and I’d been on set of course, but seeing it all put together was unreal and very exciting. And you learn so much. I soon realised there was far too much grown-up chit-chat/exposition for a kids’ film, and that the things you cut that you think are essential so often strengthen what’s left behind. Big learning curve and an absolute treat.

That comment about not knowing what film to compare it to will come back to haunt me. One of the problems we had with robot overlords is there really wasn’t anything like it out there in cinemas… which made it difficult to sell.

Oh, and I also spotted this in my diary from Monday 12th August:

Also had a good idea this evening. MAGIPOCALYPSE — fantasy where magic disappears and former wizards go on the run without their powers… Watch this space.

That became The End of Magic. More about that an its sequel soon…

Ten Years On: Robot Overlords and My Shameless Cameo

I managed to convince Jon to cast me, my wife Claire, our kids George (11 and suffering from growing pains) and Emily (13), my dad Derek and his friend Kevin as extras in the Poseidon Hotel crowd scenes. By this point the shoot had moved to the Isle of Man.

Sunday 7th July

Douglas, Isle of Man

A rather noisy and thrumming flight on a prop engine plane to the Isle of Man this morning. Movies have taught me two things about prop engines: 1) they conk out, usually mid-flight, and 2) they’re good for slicing-up Nazis. Disappointingly, the engines on our plane did neither.

Our taxi driver did his best to sell the island to us: there are no foxes, moles or badgers on the Isle of Man, there are some stretches of road with unlimited speeding, and we had to say hello to the fairies as we crossed over the fairy bridge. Very peculiar.

Met with dad and Kevin for lunch and, later, dinner. Dad got all proud and soppy over dinner. It was very sweet.

We’d had a stroll along the front earlier to find the location for tomorrow, bumping into Ella, then Callan, then (our Line Producer) Aidan Elliot on the way. Claire had to take George back to the hotel early. Still tired from his growing pains. We relaxed in the hotel room all afternoon, watching Andy Murray make history winning Wimbledon. The room is nice, but stuffy. I did nod off, but was awake to see him win the final set.

Monday 8th July

Douglas – Isle of Man

A fun, but exhausting day as an extra at the Castlemona Hotel. We all arrived at 8.15am for costume. Our clothing was deemed ‘not outrageous enough’ and the costume dept. got to work kitting us out. Dad looked like a 60s acid casualty, and Kevin ended up in a dress with a mohair cardigan (the costume lady took one look at Kevin – a former police officer, over 6ft tall with a beard – and said, ‘I’m putting you in a frock!’).

I got off lightly with a cotton paisley gown.

We soon realised just what the costume department meant when I met some of our fellow extras. They looked amazing, and many came in their own clothes, with terrific hair and beards and one girl had these incredible metal cones on her forehead. We, in comparison, were quite the squares. Paddy got roped-in too, and his paisley gown complimented mine*.

*And in any subsequent script revisions we were referred to as the Camp Gentlemen in the gowns.

We started with an energetic scene — a punch-up between two brawlers, and the crowd went wild cheering these guys on. Claire had to pretend to be drunk/unconscious while all this was going on as Emily tried to wake her up, and George joined in the yelling with gusto. I couldn’t see, but apparently dad was cheering while standing on a chair at the back.

We worked our way through shot after shot, and the room got hotter and hotter, but spirits remained high. I got chatting to Jon’s dad Bill – also roped-in as an extra with Jon’s sister – who looked like Willie Nelson in his get-up. He was always quick with a joke to gee people on.

George began to flag and he had his head on the table between scenes. He was tired and in pain, not a great combination. But Emily was having a great time. She and I ended up in the scene where our heroes are grabbed by the mob. Em was pulling at James Tarpey’s coat, while I was wrestling with Ella Hunt. She was fighting me by jamming her hand under my chin. Her refrain between takes would be, ‘Right, let’s have the chin…’

Tamer Hassan, despite suffering with a foot in a cast, soldiered on through a key scene with a shotgun, and we all somehow kept the energy levels up… except George who spent some of the afternoon with the nurse. His growing pains so bad, that if you listened carefully you could hear him creaking like bamboo.

Jon seemed to think we’d all be in it, though so much would depend on the final cut. But he was happy and with two and a half weeks to go there’s a feeling that they’re in the final straight.

While Claire and the kids rested, I went for a drink with dad and Kevin. Ella was playing piano and singing in the hotel bar — and very good she was too. Had a quick chat with Ella and her mum before turning in. Early start tomorrow.

Thursday 9th July – Douglas to Epsom

We did our longest school run ever today. Up at 4.45am to get to Douglas airport (where George and I saw the actor John Rhys Davies queuing in security. We somehow held back from sidling up to him and whispering, ‘Asps… very dangerous…’). We were on a plane a couple of hours later, then dashed from Gatwick to a local supermarket for packed lunches and quick change into school uniform and both in school by 10am.

Damn, we’re good. And knackered.

I did a little writing in the afternoon, but kept nodding off. Back on track tomorrow hopefully.

Oh, and I bought a new office chair. Exciting!

Also got a very nice text from Jon. I’d thanked him for letting us join in all the fun, and he replied saying that he hoped I liked the finished film, and that he was putting everything into it. I don’t doubt him for a second and am massively impressed with his efforts.

This was an insane few days, and we still talk about it now and yes we all made it into the final film. Sort of. Here are some screen grabs from the finished movie…

Claire enjoying her hat a little too much.

George’s growing pains really wore the poor lad down and he was exhausted and spent a lot of the afternoon’s filming with a nurse. He’s made up for it since. He’s six foot two inches tall, studying acting at university, and has his mother’s looks and talent so has the potential to go far!

Here are a few behind-the-scenes pics from the day…

Milo’s character was based on George, so it was great to see them finally meet!

I could show you the photo of Dad in his moo moo, but he’s threatened me with legal action, so sorry folks.

And yes, we really did see John Rhys-Davies on that long school run which just added to the surreal nature of our little adventure. I had used up all my allotted on-set days by now (there was budget to have me on location for eight days only, including the rehearsals), so these were my last days on the shoot, meaning I did miss out on the day when they filmed the Spitfire, but I wouldn’t have missed these days on the Isle of Man for anything. Making movies is insane and fun and I’d like to do more, please.

Ten Years On: Robot Overlords and a chat with Sir Ben…

In this jam-packed look back, I get to visit the set and bump into Sir Ben Kingsley and have a chat about Spitfires… as you do…

Saturday 22nd June

Belfast and Carrickfergus

Crikey, where do I start with the last couple of days? I had a meeting with my accountant, which doesn’t sound terribly exciting, but he did explain and reassure me on a few things, and I came out with a confidence that I can get through the next six months of unpaid leave from work in one piece.

On Thursday evening I was at a colleague’s retirement party and I saw Gillian Redfearn (Gollancz editor) with a big grin on her face… I got the go ahead to write the Robots book! They’re offering £10k (which I think I have to split with the production) and I gather it was Gillian who convinced them to do it. I gave her a huge hug!

Then first thing Friday, (my wife) Claire dropped me off at Gatwick and I was Belfast-bound again. First stop was at the production offices to see our editor Matt Platt-Mills, his assistant Vicki Webbley and the rushes and first assemblies of the film. It’s looking very good. You’re going to hear this a lot, but SBK is fucking awesome. His interpretation of Smythe is nothing short of bloody genius and his improv lines really work*.

*The whole cowboy Wayne bit is his. So good I pinched it for the book.

But also Milo in the scene where his dad dies… bloody hell, he really nails it

Scene after scene I was cackling with glee as each beat either surpassed my expectations or came very close to it. I left Matt and Vicki in good spirits and headed to the set on an industrial estate on the other side of Carrickfergus.

In a cavernous warehouse, there stood a huge bluescreen cyclorama, and next to it a set of the interiors of the houses in Fleetwood Street. I loved the details inside: the multicoloured piano keys, the plants in old baked bean tins, the graffiti on the walls, ‘Robot-Free Zone!’

When I arrived they were in the middle of the scene where Kate (Gillian Anderson) asks Smythe (Sir Ben Kingsley) if she can look after Connor. Everyone was on form, and I was sorry to be pulled away to do my EPK (electronic press kit – the kind of interviews you get as extras on DVDs).

These took place in the warehouse next door with the standing stones behind us as a backdrop. Trouble is, we were in a warehouse and not a proper soundstage, and so we had to keep stopping for the noise of trucks reversing, generators thrumming into life and jet aircraft zooming overhead*.

The noise did create problems throughout this section of the shoot: feet scuffling in the adjacent hall could ruin a take and our 1st Assistant Director Barry Keil had to lay down the law a few times.

*On Saturday we had about 40 minutes of the Red Arrows zooming about.

The EPK was fun. My interviewer Ian Thompson asked interesting questions and, thanks to everyone at Orion showing an interest over the past few months, I already had some well-rehearsed answers.

But when I returned to the set, the scene they were shooting was not going well.

It was the swear box scene. Designed to show that the kids were sick of being cooped-up, and that Kate might be losing her marbles.

There were two problems: tonally it was just too broadly comic, and these beats and ideas were covered in other scenes. It’s the kind of thing you desperately try to iron-out during rewrites, but this one somehow slipped through.

We finished shooting the scene, but concentrated on coverage for the montage that followed it.

I was then asked to rewrite a couple of bits for Milo’s scene with his home-made rocket launcher, and I got to write it in an empty trailer at the unit base.

Yes, I finally had my own trailer.

For a bit.

They finished the day with an exterior bluescreen shot of Kate driving the boys in the Jeep. When the huge fan they had wasn’t strong enough to suggest driving at full pelt through the hills, the SFX guys managed to find two canisters of compressed air. Very resourceful!

Gillian had to dash to catch a flight right after, and so I missed my opportunity to say hello. Big shame, but hey-ho…

I had dinner with Jon (Wright, director and co-writer) that night. He’s bowled over by SBK. We talked Skyhook*, an LA trip, and his desire to do more big budget movies. He’s tired, but working through it and he’s great with the cast and crew.

*Skyhook was an awesome spy adventure that Jon and I wrote featuring a female lead. Alas, we were told his by his LA management that no one wanted a female lead in a spy movie and it never went out. Yes… I know… FFS…

This morning was all about the bluescreen stage and Tamer Hassan and SBK facing off in the belly of the Skyship. It looked fricking amazing, like something from Star Wars. All of us, including Jon, were geeking out. Tamer’s best known for playing hard men in movies like The Business and Kick Ass. He’s certainly a hard man in our movie, but he seems to be having huge fun, holding his own against SBK in today’s scene.

There was some discussion about yesterday’s failed scene, and we decided to shoot some ennui boredom ideas for the montage. I was despatched to write them, but rather than go to the trailer (at the unit base about half a mile away) I sat on a sofa in the currently-unused house set.

This is where I found myself chatting to Sir Ben Kingsley and his PA Todd Hofacker. Sir Ben said some very nice things about the script and he asked what I was working on next. I told him it was a World War 2 movie (The Black Spitfire) and he seemed intrigued and definitely knew plenty about the period. We parted company, but ten minutes later he was back and asked if I knew the film A Matter of Life and Death. I told him it was a big influence on my new script and he approved. Since then I feel like I’ve been levitating about a foot in the air.

Callan and James came in on their day off to work on the scene I had written and they were about to start when my taxi arrived. A shame I couldn’t see them play with it, but I know I’ll enjoy the finished result.

Oh, and I got my photo taken in the Deep Scanner. My author photo for the book.

After the taxi ride where the driver asked for directions… twice… I met (actor friend) Lou McGhie at the airport. She and twenty of her army colleagues will be extras in the final celebration scenes! Brill to get an Ashtead Players/Slumming-It* actor on the movie.

*The Slumming-It Theatre Company was the name of the theatre company that I ran with my wife Claire, and Lou was one of our regular actors. And the Ashtead Players is the am dram group where Claire and I learned a lot of our craft as actors.

And now I’m home. A tired, but very happy writer.

In the end I got to keep the ten grand advance for the book, and the production got any royalties after it earned out. I think, for once, I got the better end of the deal there. To say that Gillian Redfearn was pivotal in my career as a writer would be the understatement of the century. She also read very early versions of what was to eventually become the Witches of Woodville, giving me encouraging notes on what, looking back, was complete crap! My thanks also to Lisa Milton, Jon Wood and Malcolm Edwards at Orion who had to give the nod for the deal to go ahead.

I tried to find the EPK interviews mentioned, but I don’t think they were ever used. And we did more at Pinewood later in the year, which suggests the producers weren’t happy with them. I think clips might have been used in the making of on the DVD/Blu Ray. I’ll have to check!

Wandering through the set I was constantly taking notes. The little bits of wonderful production design — the plants in baked bean cans etc — were all details that I pinched for the book. And just as well as you hardly ever see them on screen in the finished film. All parts of a greater mosaic.

The on-set rewrites definitely focus the mind. Knowing that everyone on set is waiting for you to pull your finger out and produce something pronto definitely puts a rocket up your backside. No time for staring out of the window. Open the laptop and get on with it and write without second guessing yourself. I learned an important lesson that day. Write without fear. It’s very liberating.

Here are a few pics from the day…

Ten Years On: Robot Overlords on Location

In this thrilling episode I get to fly out to the location! They only had enough budget to have me on set for eight days, so I had to pick and choose them carefully. I’d written a scene where the gang decode a message left on some ancient standing stones and I really wanted to see how it was done. And thus it was that I headed for Tollymore Forest Park in Northern Ireland (which was used extensively in Game of Thrones)…

Tuesday 18th June

Belfast and back again

Left work early, hopped on the Gatwick Express and was in Belfast City Airport by nine o’clock.

No sign of my taxi driver (again), but I was greeted by hordes of teenage girls, weeping with mascara running down their faces… turns out I’d just missed JLS passing through Arrivals.

When it eventually arrived, I shared the taxi with Martin Chamney from (our VFX company) Nvizible. It pulled up outside a magnificent hotel facing the sea in Newcastle (the Slieve Donald Hotel, look it up… it’s amazing). It must have had 200 rooms, a golf course, spa and luxurious marble lobby. ‘This,’ I thought, ‘is more like it.’ Of course, it was the wrong bloody hotel!

We were directed to our correct hotel in the main street, passing the condescending sneer of the concierge as we slunk out.

The Main Street Donnard hotel was much more welcoming. A friendly man and woman waved us in, not needing us to sign anything, and their son (?) showed us to our rooms. They were comfy if basic. Martin and I popped out for a drink and when we returned the woman was watching a horror movie on a laptop in a corner of the lobby… When we came down at 6:45am she was in the same spot with a duvet wrapped round her.

We arrived at the location in Tollymore Park bright and early. I got chatting to the security guy who had a London accent and it turns out grew up not far from me in Hornsey.

I jumped in a minibus with the VFX guys and we made the bumpy journey up twisting, narrow roads. The location was terrific. Sweeping views of hills and mountains and a lake and, in a clearing, were our standing stones. Made of polystyrene coated in concrete, they look so real that some of the crew thought that we’d desecrated an ancient monument (the story requires that they’re covered in graffiti).

SBK was up first. He had to converse with two robots who weren’t there, but he really delivered and put everything into it, take after take. We had a Panavision crane on rails, which swooped above him for the robots’ POV, and the shots were very cool.

Between set-ups it was great to catch-up with the crew, and I got chatting to SBK’s stand-in Brian. A very affable chap, not only a veteran of Game of Thrones, but also an architect. This is something I came across again and again today: many of the NI crew and extras know one another from shows like GoT and work so well and efficiently together, they save us time and money, essential for an indie movie like ours. Brian told me of SBK’s first scene of the shoot, which involved a rain machine. He told Jon in no uncertain terms, ‘I don’t get wet!’ Somehow Jon got him on board.

I was interviewed by a couple of guys from Radio 4, and Total Film. I hope I didn’t say anything slanderous…

After lunch, Gillian and the kids arrived and the energy levels went back up a notch. They’ve clearly bonded brilliantly during the shoot. Good to catch up with James Tarpey, who took the time to have a chat. Milo’s dad Ray was also on good form. Milo is having the time of his life.

Unfortunately, I had to leave earlier than I hoped as I was sharing a cab with Piers and producer Steve Milne (whose flight was departing earlier than mine). But Steve is a Spitfire fan and I took the opportunity to drip-feed bits of Black Spitfire to him and I think I might have his interest.

I also got talking Robot sequels with Piers. He’d like a pitch by the end of the month and a script by May.

Uneventful flight home, though I did see Air Force One land at Belfast International (it’s the end of the G8 summit).

I discovered later that we had been taken to that first posh hotel because that’s where the actors were staying and the taxi driver assumed all the crew were staying there. I presume the producers heard that I didn’t play golf and that’s why they put me in the cheaper hotel… (insert your own shrug emoji here).

The day was my first opportunity to see the actors in full flow and they were definitely having fun with it. There’s something very odd about watching Oscar winner Sir Ben Kingsley have a conversation with an invisible robot, speaking dialogue that you came up with in your lunch break at work.

And no, Steve Milne wasn’t interested in The Black Spitfire project, but talk of a Robots sequel was exciting. Sadly, that’s all it was in the end. Talk. But we’ll get to that later. In the meantime here are some pics…

We named the castle featured in the film after Grabbers screenwriter Kevin Lehane.

Ten Years On: Robot Overlords and Gillian Anderson plugs us on the BBC…

After the amazing response to the last blog, I’ve realised that I need to put the name Gillian Anderson into the title of my blog posts more often… Sorry, Gillian (and hello fans of Gillian… plenty more to come!).

Tuesday 11th June – home

My phone suddenly went mad at about five to eight this morning with people texting and tweeting me. Robots was featured on BBC Breakfast News! We managed to catch a couple of minutes, then saw the rest online. It was part of a piece asking if Northern Ireland is the new Hollywood after the success of Games of Thrones, The Fall and now Robots. They interviewed the stunt team, Piers and SBK and it was a great plug for the film.

Mum called, very excited. She was in the canteen at work when it came on. She was proudly telling all her friends.

Wednesday 12th June – home

Had a call from Jon this morning for an emergency rewrite: needed a few lines between Danny and Sean talking about his powers. Jo C (my boss) kindly let me duck out of the office for an hour while I zipped to the relative peace of the Curzon to have a go.

Emailed them to Jon and Chris, but haven’t heard back yet (night shoot tonight).

I’ve been reading Paddy’s pass on The Black Spitfire and making detailed notes for my rewrite. There’s some really good stuff to play with. He’s done a cracking job.

Thursday 13th June – home

Got a very brief call from Jon tonight. He had to cut it short when he realised the restaurant he was in was about to close, and he had to eat!

Got some additional notes from the BFI today. Chris is going to run through them with me tomorrow and Jon and I will speak first thing.

More BBC coverage tonight. BBC NI interviewed Gillian Anderson at the ravine location. Top marks to our publicist.

Friday 14th June – home

Went with work chums to lunch at the Giant Robot restaurant in Clerkenwell Road. The taxi pulled up and we were looking for it when (colleague) Jo Jacobs cried, ‘Look! Look what it says!’ On the chalkboard on the pavement outside the restaurant was written “OUR ROBOT OVERLORDS ARE COMING SOON!”. I thought that was nice of Jo to set that up, but she knew nothing about it. When she asked, the waiter said, “Oh yeah, it’s the name of a movie coming out next year.”

Jo nearly exploded. “Oh my god, he’s the writer! He wrote the film!”

So a fantastic little bit of serendipity. Made my day, I don’t mind telling you.

Sent Chris my comments on the BFI notes. He seemed happy. Going to tweak sc200 – when Sean links with the Mediator.

Here’s that chalkboard…

I haven’t been able to find the original BBC piece with SBK and Piers, but here’s the clip with Gillian…

The Curzon mentioned is the one in Soho. It was just around the corner from where I used to work at Orion and I would regularly write in there on my lunch break. They have a great basement bar with nice quiet nooks where you can tap away in peace with a cup of tea and a bag of chocolate covered raisins.

The Black Spitfire was a script that I was developing with VFX director Paddy Eason. It was, if I say so myself, a bloody excellent action adventure feature about an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot called Ginny Albion who has to rescue Churchill from the advancing Nazi Blitzkrieg in France in the lead up to Dunkirk. Sadly, it never got picked up. Too expensive, too British for Americans, and back then film backers were iffy about an action movie with a female lead. Hey ho. But check out the sales poster we commissioned…

Art by Brian Taylor aka Candykiller: https://candykiller.artstation.com| Model: Claire Garvey

Readers of the Witches of Woodville books might have spotted that a black Spitfire arrives at the end and is piloted by a young woman called Ginny. Yup, that’s her…

Next instalment: I go to Belfast and find some standing stones, there’s more Gillian and a cameo from Air Force One…

Wednesday 16th April – AIR Studios

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