Episode three - nearly there!

Episode 3 is now getting the music glued on - there are a couple of new segments from David Jennings. Should be up on Thursday or Friday.

Beyond the call of duty!

A big 'Thank You' to everyone who braved the bitter winds for filming down at the Ferry. And a specially big 'Thank You' to Angela and Dee for stepping in at the last minute to play the parts of the Artists - they both did an excellent job (and were word perfect!). Thanks also to the other people who had been in touch about those parts. A special mention too for Doreen May, who provided the lovely painting for us. The film would be nowhere without the commitment and enthusiasm of a lot of people - cast, crew and groupies!!

So it's a wrap for Episode 5 now! And I never knew until I was listening to Chris Evans on Radio 2 yesterday, that a 'wrap' in filming is actually short for 'Wind Reel and Print'. Which is what they told the cameraman to do when they'd finished filming. Apparently.

Me acting bit!

Well yesterday saw my own acting bit done with - I enjoyed it, and the session certainly has added extensively to the out-takes collection! I'm reasonably pleased with it, so that means that episode four is completely in the can, recording-wise!

Artists Found!

We've had someone really good come forward to be our Artist this weekend, and she's bringing along "Lisa's Friend" too! So, we're filming this Sunday from 9:30am, down at Felixstowe Ferry, for anything up to a couple of hours. We may have to make use of the Ferry Cafe for a nice drink to keep us warm - but the forecast is looking not too bad! We're also filming on Saturday morning, by the Leisure Centre, just a couple of quick scenes.

I've seen the rough draft of Episode 3 this afternoon, and it's looking very good. Just a bit to finish off at the end, a few minor tweaks here and there, and the music to weave in. Keep watching this space!!

Episode 3 again . . .

Episode three is very close to being completely edited now, just got to get Giles to have a look and than whizz a copy off to the excellent David Jenning for him to cast his musical eye over. Should be online around the middle of next week on this basis.We now just waiting for our chums in the police to have a chat about the ongoing attempted murder of Rachel Sloane - she was hit by the bullet way back in the autumn, and now we want to fire the gun!

Sorry - delay in Episode 3 upload!

One of the most frustrating yet entertaining things about running FTV is that sometimes things just happen, and you have to go with the flow.
Yesterday morning, after writing the last entry, I found a really exciting new way of presenting the FTV news, and making short programmes similar to news presentations. This looks not only extremely good onscreen, but straightforward enough to use - a vital factor in production, especially when rushed.
So rather than push Episode 3 through, I sorted that out - did the purchase, etc. This means that the Lost sock is dropping back until next week. While I'm sorry about this, we do need to keep the priorities clear - without FTV, there wouldn't be any Socks, lost or otherwise!

Editing episode 3

Big push on getting episode 3 rough cut today - should get some done this afternoon, in between shooting two FTV stories and probably editing one of these to go online today. I really think that between 10 and 15 video stories a month is a fairly sensible number to aim for; it gives us a news production of around 30 minutes a month, plus weekly newsreads running another 10 minutes in total.
And while I've been writing this, just had an invite to another do which I'll go and cover - you'll see the result online tomorrow!

Actors / Artists Urgently Required!!!

Unfortunately, at least one - if not both - of our Artists who were cast for some filming cannot now make the dates we were hoping to shoot their little scene. (They could have made the filming last November, but it had to be postponed when Tony injured his ankle...) So we urgently need a couple of keen budding actors to fill their shoes. One must be female, aged 18-80 (!), and also be a bit of an artist - she has about 4 lines, and needs to be working on a landscape painting. The other could be female or male, and has 1 line. We're hoping to film on Sunday 29 January, starting around 9:30am for 2-3 hours, - or if the weather's too bad then, we'll try for the following week (5 February) at the same time. If you're interested, please contact us a.s.a.p., either through the blog or the usual Felixstowe TV email address.

We're also filming tomorrow (Sunday) (before the Siberian winds blow in from the East!), just a couple of short bits, meeting at 11am outside the Post Office in Hamilton Road, later moving down to the prom.

Episode 2's online!

...just in case you hadn't noticed!! It's all happening at the Fort...

Have you seen 'The Sock' in the Evening Star?!

Today's Evening Star has a picture of Chris filming Richard Cornwell (their Felixstowe Editor) and a rather menacing-looking Dawson (Neil Hawcroft), from Saturday's shoot. Richard said, "It was an interesting experience and I really enjoyed it." We're really glad he's got involved - a natural actor! If you want to find out why Dawson had to go to the Evening Star offices, then keep watching...

Episode 2!

The new episode of The Lost Sock will be online on Thursday morning - 12th January, a day ahead of schedule to give us our long-planned January week of revival and renewal. Episode 3 should go up around the 27th.

It's worth mentioning at this point one of the things without which our movie would suffer - that is the music, specially composed and created by David Jennings, of djmedia.co.uk. The problem with music in any sort of drama is that the very best makes itself hard to notice fully - it becomes a part of the whole experience. I think that this is what David has achieved with his soundtrack - I've played the Coes sequence of Episode 1 with and without the faint musak, and the difference is very clear, especially at full resolution.

If you have a project which needs some specific musical backing, have a chat with David Jennings - and say we sent you!

It's a wrap! ...for this weekend.

Well done to Alan, Nigel, Mum, and Pete, who all did a great job, in difficult conditions (i.e. cold!!). And thank you also to Dot, Ken and Damo for their help and the lamp, and to John for letting us in - and out again - of the Fort! Episode 2 should be well on its way to your screens later this week. We hope you enjoy it!!

I've still got to confirm with everyone involved, but hopefully the plan for the next few weeks will be (weather permitting): Next weekend - no filming; 21/22 Jan - a bit more Bill & Bert?; Sat 28 Jan & Sat 4 Feb - Gunner Bates scenes & other shop scene (or vice-versa); Sun 29 Jan or Sun 5 Feb - filming down at Felixstowe Ferry; first available Sun morn in Feb - the next beach scene (with Mickey & Jamie). I'll be in touch with you all soon!...

Saturday morning shoot.

This morning's shoot of Richard Cornwell of the Evening Star and MIB Neil was absolutely spot-on - how wonderful it is when everyone knows their lines and can do them with very few problems. Richard had also organised some posters (rachel shooting, beach erosion), which looked just right stuck to the wall beside his desk.

Neil looks suitably unfriendly and threatening - nice!

Here it is at last!!

Well, how exciting that Episode 1 is up and running - and has been for nearly a week. All the work that the writers, cast and crew have put in has finally started to come to fruition, as the story comes to life. (I sometimes wonder if 'The Lost Sock' has a life all of its own?!!) I've heard some very positive comments so far, and people seem quite bemused to see their very own Felixstowe on TV, with a genuinely local story, - and a rather intriguing story at that... (you ain't seen nothing yet!!!). Do let us know what you think, and keep tuning in to find out what comes of Chris & Lucy's encounter with the Men In Black...

Giles joins blog

The Lost Sock's production manager, Giles Meehan, has now joined this blog and will be posting when he wants to, or when he has something to impart! We'll try to use it to give you constantly running updates on the production, and if you have any comments to make, please do so.

Responses

Well, we've had some really good comments about the Lost Sock since it went online on Friday. One of the best was from a interesting DVD maker from King's Lynn, Geoff, who was interested enough to make some serious and worthwhile technical and artistic film-making comments. I have to admit that all of his notes were very on the ball - while I find news-film making relatively easy, the fictional and dramatic forms come quite hard.
But I do think that we're getting better at it, although only time will tell! The hardest problem to cope with is being sure you get all the angles and shots; with many actors involved, the weather, and the location availability, it's seriously hard to go back!

Filming week commencing 2nd January, 2006.

We'll be filming Richard Cornwell of the Evening Star for the Lost Sock, at his office on Saturday morning, and at the Landguard Fort on Sunday afternoon (closed to the public)