Today we're filming the 'big scene' on the beach - it's the climax of the film in which Mark finally remembers all the horrors of his past. Matthew Gurney went off on his own to rehearse and to focus. He knows he has to get this right.
We're filming on an empty shingle beach - using steadicam so we can get 360 on the whole scene. Lots of things to look out for - all sorts of shadows, people and vehicles getting into shot - but if it works it should be fantastic.
Watched Matthew get ready to do the big scene. He's brought some personal 'props' - pictures of his baby daughter, letters from his partner - to help him get into the right emotional gear. Just before he's called, he hands the stuff over to me for safekeeping. Its weird - I feel I'm somehow intruding into his private life just by holding it.
The scene starts with Matthew's character throwing up. So just before the action is called he takes a mouthful of chicken soup - tries not to swallow it - then when he gets his cue - runs up the beach (which is tough - because its shingle and not sand) and "acts" throwing up the soup. None of us realised until it was too late that chicken soup we had provided was 'curried'. The art director must hate actors!!
Watched the first take - breathtaking - the emotion was so right, so raw. Can he repeat it again and again?
Sophie is a revelation to me. Louis had worked with her before but we only met shortly before filming began. She's just finished training at RADA and it's given her confidence, technique, discipline. Sophie always knows her lines, she thinks about the character and keeps the story arc in her mind, despite all the scenes being filmed out of sequence. I think she's an actress to watch. The day after she finishes filming for us, she's joining the National Theatre to play in Fiona Shaw's production of Brecht's Mother Courage and her Children. She's seems worried and excited in equal measure!