"Jen"
Last Update: October 2007
TeamTV is currently moving along in production of it's 11th fiction production to date - and we're going for the big screen this time!
"Jen" is a feature-length production to be shot on MiniDV in the coming months of 2007. It is essentially a romance story following the plight of street alcoholic Jen, who, after a bad day, is befriended by a kind taxi driver named Brian. The two struggle to come to terms with their seperate addictions with each other.
In traditional TeamTV style, the movie begins as an incredibly raw, gritty look at the life of street alcoholics, then takes a turn and becomes a fully fledged romance story - happy scenes and all!
Written and Directed by Julian Allder, "Jen" is set to be a great success for TeamTV.
It's
been 6 months in production so far, not to mention nearly a year since concepts
were originally discussed, but with the official change in working title from
"Another Life" to "Jen", we can happily say that TeamTV
has completed Principal Photography on it's eleventh fiction piece to date,
which is also it's first feature-film. A huge amount of hard work, dedication
and talent has gone into the work so far, and although it's a huge relief
to have come this far, we know everyone is going to miss the days we have
spent shooting, and the regular contact with all our friends on the production.
With the exception of possible reshoots, the actors and actresses probably won't see anything more of the film than the public for the next few months, as we quietly sit down to start editing, designing the sound and grading for the piece, and generally polishing the piece to perfection, before hopefully going on the road with it and taking it to film festivals.
A website for the film itself should arrive shortly, and after that a trailer. As things are progressing at the moment, we can estimate a release in either the late first or early second quarter of 2008. More news articles will be posted here as we have things to report, not to mention all kinds of goodies to come on the film's site (announced) which will be publicised here at the time for it's release.
Look out for more, thanks for staying with the news updates, and once again a huge thanks to all the actors and actresses, without whom none of the progress we have made so far would have been possible. We know the wait may drive you crazy, but we're hoping it'll be worth while!
"Jen" had it's first seeds sown in late 2006, after filming for "Flying Apart" had been completed, and Julian, Stuart, Larry and Rik were recording the commentary sessions for the DVD release. Whilst on a break, they began talking about the possibility of the next project, and Julian inspired everyone with an abridged verbal rendition of the story of a street alcoholic who finds love in the arms of a kind taxi driver.
More then 6 months on, after many weeks and hundreds of hours in pre-production, TeamTV is pleased to announce that we are approximately halfway through the Principal Photography of "Jen" the story that conversation inspired. In this time, we've been through many different parts of the professional filmmaking process, and weathered both the exhilarating highs and tragic lows of the process, and we're still here to tell the tale!
Every time we finish a shoot, a rush edit is prepared during the week so we can keep tabs on how we're doing, if there are any major problems, and to keep an eye on continuity. As such, we know that the quality of footage we have in the can so far outstrips our other projects, and all of us are very excited about the results.
41 Scenes down, 12 to go...
Over
the last few weeks, TeamTV has been progressing steadily with it's latest
film, "Jen". Both the Cast and Crew have been putting in
so much time and effort to make the production exactly what it is today.
As the film is beginning to take shape, talks of editing are beginning, as well as pickups and reshoots. Principal photography officially terminates in August, but there will be much more material to record to make the finished product. The final few scenes are to be shot in the coming weeks as the rough edit commences.
The most recent shoots have been interesting, and although many of them have involved our most-used static set, we have had excursions to film on location, such as the coast, and a certain institute synonymous with monkeys!
To the right, you can see actors John Hoye (BRIAN) and Paul Brodie (STANLEY) preparing for a scene whilst the crew finalizes the shot.
Now that we're talking about finishing the film, there are questions floating around about what's going to happen just before, and after the film's completion. Talk of a trailer is premature at the moment, but one will inevitably appear at some point, so watch this space! Also, all news on "Jen" will be posted on this page, in this format until we let you know otherwise. The possibility of the film's own website is being debated, rest assured if it comes along, you'll know about it!
Leads Danielle Ryan (Jen) and John Hoye (Brian) on location.
Other than that, when the film is finished, the only place we want it to go is up! The film will be premiered to a private audience (those involved in production) and then start doing the rounds at any and every film festival TeamTV can get it's hands on! We're hoping that with all the work that has gone into the piece so far, that people get to see it, without having to search everywhere to find us.
For now, it's best to just watch and wait, as we're still not completely finished, but we're close! Of course, time in post-production can be lengthy, and there is no telling exactly how long it will take, but for those people who are incredibly anxious to know when we plan to finish, the release of "Jen" is currently scheduled for the early part of 2008.
D.O.P. Larry Brangwyn, Director Julian Allder, and Lighting Supervisor Mike Allder review a shot on location.
As for everyone who has worked on the shoot so far, we're getting to the stage where we know the end of shoots are coming around, worryingly closer and closer. Working on a shoot can be an exhausting, stressful, chore of a task (especially when you're not being paid!) but it also happens to be one of the most fun, rewarding and exhilerating experiences, and that's why we do what we do, and come back week after week, rain or shine, in the boiling heat or the sub-zero rain - because we all love it! In that regard, it's going to be very sad to see it come to an end. However, this doesn't mean other projects aren't already in the pipeline, and that you won't be seeing more from TeamTV - trust us, you will, and probably sooner than you think.
Not
that the end of principal photography is the end of the process however. We
have extensive work to do in editing, grading, sound design, compositing,
musical score (our composer James Semple will be working closely with us creating
a score for the film) and graphic design before the film is completed, not
forgetting organization of publicity, advertising and hopefully showings.
In reality, we're barely halfway through the entire process, but to come this far with such results - it's a large milestone for all of us at TeamTV, not to mention a satisfying one.
None of the film would be made possible without the enthusiasm, dedication and endurance of all the cast and crew, especially those involved regularly. Most of all, TeamTV would like to specially thank leads Danielle Ryan and John Hoye for their outstanding patience and performance, and directors Julian Allder and Kiva Murphy for putting their all into this production.
Let's keep up the good work guys, and we'll have a gleaming feature in front of us before we know it!
We'll leave you with a picture of Lighting Supervisor Mike Allder putting up an impromtu radio mast on location with Sound Supervisor Phil Hotton (not pictured).
Danielle Ryan (Jen) and John Hoye (Brian) discussing a scene with co-director Kiva Murphy and director Julian Allder.
Having been through the rushes, it is clear that we have a chance to make it big in film festivals with "Jen" and are really hoping to go to some kind of release, whether this is DVD, TV or cinema we don't know, but we're pushing it all the way!
The success of this project so far is down to many different aspects, but most of all it's to do with all of those aspects fitting together like a giant jigsaw puzzle and complimenting each other. So far everyone has been top notch.
Harmony between cast and crew operations is essential for quality footage. Left to right; Danielle Ryan (Jen), John Hoye (Brian), Peter Kerry (Asst. Sound Sup.), Philip Hotton (Sound Supervisor).
The producers would just like to say that we have a superb cast, the leads of which have simply blown us away with their performing talent, a fantastic crew of skilled and supportive people who all lend their various skills and whole-hearted enthusiasm into every shoot, and all the people who have supported us throughout the process with locations, sets and so forth. This in concert with a fantastic script is proving to be very successful, so well done everybody, and please - keep up the good work!
Director of Photography, Larry Brangwyn, reviewing a scene.
Due to casting problems at the start of the film, we had to throw our original timescale out of the window and make up the schedule as we went along. Now, halfway through, we have a definitive schedule to work from, which will see us finishing principal photography in August 2007. After this, it's just a matter of editing and publicity work!
Danielle discusses a shot with Julian and Kiva.
In the meantime, keep an eye out for word of "Jen" - you never know where you might see it next.
UPDATE!
After having recast one of the lead roles in "Jen" and putting the entire production back by about a month, we managed to start on time with our late schedule and have finally begun principal photography! The first two days we shot 6 scenes and already have the rushes back to reassure us that we're on our way in the right direction with the film. Unfortunately we can't show them to our online audience, but keep watching for stills, behind the scenes materials and maybe a teaser in the near future.
We're also happy to welcome Kiva Murphy to the core team, who is now acting as the assistant to our Director/Producer, Julian.
The Crew on location, shooting a tracking shot using most sophisticated technology! Left to right; Kevin Turner (Grip), Kiva Murphy (Assistant to D/P), Julian Allder (Director), Mike Allder (Lighting Supervisor), Larry Brangwyn (Director of Photography), Peter Kerry (Sound), George Chapman (Grip). Not pictured: Danielle Ryan (Jen), John Hoye (Brian), Phil Hotton (Ryan), Roger Proctor (Photographer).
Come the second shoot (another 2 days) we moved into more interesting camera techniques and effects, not to mention bringing in the most professional actors we have had at a shoot. These actors have been cast from professionals up and down the UK and have been absolutely superb so far.
The Cast and Crew on location. Clockwise from top right; Mike Allder (Lighting Supervisor), Larry Brangwyn (Director of Photography), Julian Allder (Director/Producer), Phil Hotton (Ryan, Sound), Laura Hopwood (Mary), Alan Thompson (Ron), Danielle Ryan (Jen), Dave Seymour (Stu). Not pictured; John Hoye (Brian), Damian Nixey (Dave), Kevin Turner (Grip), Peter Kerry (Sound)
"Jen" has also been a nice opportunity to break free from the usual constraints of our low-budget movie making, as we aim high, we shoot high. We have had the good fortune to use more traditional movie visual effects intead of using our reliance on special and computer generated effects and CGI.
A Fire Engine creates rain effects, soaking the leads.
A signature shot from the movie. D.O.P Larry Brangwyn shooting John Hoye (Brian) wth suction mounts.
Keep a look out for the future news articles and information on "Jen" - we don't want to reveal too much about where we're going at the moment, but we'll certainly drop information here from time to time as we get nearer and nearer the completion of principal photography. As it looks at the moment, TeamTV is poised to excel with this latest production.
Director Julian Allder directs Danielle Ryan (Jen) as the fire engine tanks up.
"Everything from superb performances by the Actors to the wonderful work from the crew has
added up to the best we have done by a country mile."
Julian Allder, Director/Producer
At present, TeamTV is has fully cast the main roles for "Jen". We were in fact meant to begin principal photography on February 24th with a full cast, but (as with any production) we had a slight problem and one of the lead thespians got cold feet. We have since re-cast and are set to begin our principal photography in early-April.
If you think you, or someone you now, would be suitable for a crew role in this production, please contact us.
Director (Julian Allder) goes over the initial casting choices.
Articles by Larry Brangwyn, 2006-2007.
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