Director Trial Run

Luke and I decided early on that with the lack of dialogue, we are going to put emphasis on the visual tone of the film along with building a rich soundscape. I want everything from the sound of the footsteps on gravel to the wind blowing through the trees to be the soundtrack to the film.

We went to the location in the Dublin Mountains where the film will be shot to get more of a feel for what way we are going to shoot it. Luke took some photos which really helped with visualising the shots and creating the storyboards.

For research purposes, I watched some films and TV shows such as Into the Wild, Wild (2014) and Vikings to get an insight into what ways the film could be shot in that sort of terrain.

We went back up the Dublin Mountains with the equipment to do a test shoot. I took this time to get familiar with the best combination of shutter speed and aperture to use. I also found that although the picture seemed dark, the sky was usually over exposed so I had to find the right balance by bringing down the shutter speed. I experimented with static shots that were zoomed in order to get a shallow depth of field to give the film a more cinematic look.

Luke wants to shoot the film using entirely static shots to put emphasis on the final shot which pans from the caveman to the hiker, bringing them together in the same shot for the first time. While I can understand his reasoning, I feel like it may restrict us in terms of the way it can be shot and it may feel like the audience is already in the location as the character arrives into it as opposed to the audience discovering the area with the character. We discussed this after watching an edit of the test footage and we both decided we'd shoot it both ways which will leave us with options if one doesn't work out. 

Producer Trial run

Shortly after Luke and I were put into are group, we sat down with the script and talked about what way we wanted it to go and what changes were to be made. We then had a talk with Daithi about a rewrite and told him what changes we had in mind. He felt that we had a clear vision of where to go with script and suggested handing it over to us but I said we’d wait for another draft. After receiving the next draft, we were all on the same page and were happy to continue with Daithi as the writer.

Given there is no dialogue in the film, it will rely heavily on the authenticity of the costume. After researching attire from the stone-age, I began looking at different materials that could be used to make the costume. I found the most authentic looking materials to be Hessian and faux fur. It is ten euro for five one meter squared sheets of hessian and six euro for one meter squared sheet of faux fur.

  

I researched and bookmarked a variety of websites depicting Neolithic weapons and tools to understand what is needed to recreate them as authentically as possible.

I got talking to an actor by chance and pitched him the idea. He liked the concept and when I asked him to play the role of the hiker he accepted and gave me his details. I asked him about his previous work and he informed me of extensive experience in stage acting. I will also put a post on some relevant social media pages advertising the role.

I put a casting call post on numerous acting and filmmakers pages on Facebook for the role of the Neolithic man. Within hours I had several requests to play the part. After conversing with them and informing each of them what would be required of them, I settled on an actor who had experience in similar roles and had the look we were after. He was also very enthusiastic about playing the part.

In case the costume proves too difficult to make or find someone to make it, I am going to contact Octagon films who produce Vikings and enquire if they could lend or perhaps rent us a costume as the extras costumes in the show have a similar look to what we need. I also plan to contact Eimear Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh who is a costume designer on Vikings.