THE LATEST FROM HOLLYWOOD errr WOOLSERY

I am really rather proud of the new movie that we are making. Although this will be my eighth film, it is only the second one that will I have directed from start to finish in the conventional manner, and the first of such to be feature length. The first film, The Case for Crop Circles (1997) was avant garde nonsense from start to finish, and the least said about the Owlman movie the better.

Most of the crypto films were shot on location by two or more camerapeople whilst I was back in England. I would then take the thirty or forty hours of rushes, and painstakingly cut and paste different bits together to make something that - hopefully - works as a cohesive whole.

The only exception to this was the 2006 film Eel or No Eel which was filmed mostly by me or Mark North under (mostly) my direction. However the new film is different, and I am actually enjoying doing it ore or less conventionally.

The top picture shows me, the leading-lady (the eponymous `Emily` of the title), and my dear, sweet and long suffering wife in the office looking at the day's rushes and trying a brief rough cut to make sure that the sound and lights are roughly in continuity. As you can see from the middle and lower pictures I am breaking every child labout law in the book (as well as all the film-making ones) by having an eleven year old lighting technician.

To be honest (and I usually try to be) this is not exactly the truth. Oll has been doing most of the lighting tech, and doing it very well indeed - some of the scenes we have filmed indoors look wonderful. However, for those not in the know, Oll (like me) is somewhat portly in figure, and is not physically able to kneel, crouch, and fit into small spaces like young Jessica here. Jessica is, by the way, the younger sister of Emily, and also has a series of cameo roles in what is rapidly turning into the CFZ's analogue of Mutiny on the Battleship Potempkin.

By the way: Thank you to everyone who responded to my call for animators the other day. I have received a number of calls, and am presently talking seriously to three animators..