Mark Stay Writes

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). 

After the test screening and the comments about the title Our Robot Overlords, there was a frenzied email debate among the producers about what to call the film. Some of the suggestions were (and these were all real suggestions!)…

Cyber-Lords, Robo Warrior, iDrone, and, my favourite, Alien Scrapers (really!?)

We finally went for…

… drum roll…

… can you bear the tension…?

… ROBOT OVERLORDS.

Phew. That was close.

So after many test screenings, we identified the points in the film that needed pick-ups. Not re-shoots, but little scenes that help glue the film together. Some were very small – a finger tracing a line on a map – others were a little more involved, such as bluescreen shots for the finale, and new scenes to help clarify the story. We had always expected to shoot these and there was enough in the budget for one day at Pinewood.

I also saw this as an opportunity to ask the actors to read an extract from the book on film. The plan was to record them saying individual lines as they moved around the studio. I had originally envisioned maybe doing this with my cheap old camcorder, or even my phone, but an old schoolfriend – Jeremy Mason – who now makes documentaries and has done more reality TV than any one person should endure, came to the rescue and offered to film everything! The clip is below…

Sunday 2nd March – Pinewood

Really tired, but if I don’t write this now…

Friday night was a rehearsal and reunion with Callan, James and Ella (Milo had only one line and it seemed unfair to drag him across town to rehearse that). Jon and I had written two scenes for the following days’ pick-ups and we had a couple of hours booked in the Millennium Hotel in Sloane Street.

Any fears we had that we couldn’t recapture the gang’s camaraderie instantly evaporated. They clicked back together like they’d never been away. 

On Saturday morning I picked up Gillian Redfearn (the book’s editor), and Jennifer McMenemy (Gollancz marketing manager) from Slough Station and we made our way to Pinewood Studios, up Goldfinger Avenue and into stages N&P. Shooting was already underway: the finger on the map.

Not long after, Jeremy and his sound guy Matt Johns turned-up with some serious-looking kit… and to think I was going to do this with my poxy little camera.

I had explained the book reading idea to the kids last night, and that I didn’t want to get under their feet, and that I knew it was a long day etc. Well, once again, I needn’t have worried. We had everything we needed by 2pm. They threw themselves into it and we shot all over Pinewood. Just fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for more. A particular highlight was Milo learning a gory bit for the dinner table, and all the others walking away in disgust.

In the afternoon, Jenn interrogated me for author interviews, and thank God she was there to coach me, otherwise the message from me would have been ‘All teachers are weirdos like Smythe,’ and ‘This book will give you nightmares’.

Jeremy and Matt were just brilliant. Quick to react to an actor’s sudden availability, they were professional, discreet, fleet of foot, and the few clips I saw at the end of the day looked extraordinary.

And then Louise Mason turned up and did the impossible: took some photos of me where I don’t look like a gurning idiot!

Jon and his crew worked tirelessly through the schedule. The scene we wrote at the wall overlooking the school (shot against bluescreen) worked really well.

Then we all decamped to the container park on the edge of the studio. It was dark now. Clear skies and bitterly cold. We arrived just after 8pm and we had to release Ella and Milo at 9.15 (there are strict rules about how long child actors can work for). The crew sprung into action. A crane rose in the distance with a powerful light beaming down on us, a smoke machine added atmosphere and fresh sandwiches, cookies and tea helped keep us warm(ish).

The kids must have been chilled to the bone in their costumes, but there wasn’t a word of complaint, just singing and fart jokes (we could hear all this via our headphones picking up their radio mics).

We got what we needed in time and everyone hurried back to the relative warmth of their cars. I gave Jon a lift to Gerrard’s Cross train station. He was tired but happy with the day’s work. Mission accomplished.

Here are a few pics from the day, all photos © Mason Photography, http://www.mpsv.co.uk

And you can find a full playlist of Robot Overlords videos by clicking here.