BEN A. WILLIAMS

We’ve wrapped on THE PASS, my first feature.

THE PASS was written by John Donnelly based on his incredible play, and stars Russell Tovey, Arinze Kene, Lisa McGrillis and Nico Mirallegro. It’s produced by Duncan Kenworthy.  My old collaborator Chris O’Driscoll was Director of Photography and Peter Francis was our designer.

Today is the first day of the edit, and for the next few weeks we’ll be in Masahiro Hirakubo’s expert hands.

Check back here soon for more information!

Since the summer I’ve been preparing for a feature I’m directing this winter.  We’re shooting at the end of December, and I’m working with lots of the professionals I’ve enjoyed working with before, as well as many others.  I can’t say much more yet, but I’ll update with information soon, and then lots more when we start production.

My friend Al Lewis asked me to film the recording of ‘Say You Miss Me’, a Wilco cover, performed by his new band ‘Lewis and Leigh’.

Lovely.

The British Society of Cinematographers included SELFIE at its annual New Cinematographers night on 10th July.

DoP Chris O’Driscoll and I went along and met a great group of other teams who have shot some stunning work.

SELFIE’s natural feel and its stabilised running shot were very well regarded by the assembled industry pros and famous BSC DoPs.

It was a great night, and big thanks go to the BSC for the nod.

My next project is a hybrid TUBE TUBE storyline called ‘STONEBRIDGE’.

It’s a thriller about two intelligence analysts who take it upon themselves to bring in a source, set on London’s Bakerloo tube line.  Unlike regular TUBE TUBE episodes, these contain edits, scoring and sound design.

We filmed the six episodes in January and February, and post production continues.  We’re still figuring out our release pattern, but they’ll most likely be released one per day over the course of the working week, so you’ll have something to watch every morning.

I’m working on a trailer between corporate work at present, so check back soon for a preview!

My short film ‘SELFIE‘ has just been made a Vimeo Staff Pick.  I’m really grateful to the Vimeo guys for picking it out in such a way.

On Vimeo’s advice, I thought I’d put together a sort of behind the scenes article about ‘SELFIE‘, in this case centred on our approach to the film’s cinematography.  I’d like to share some Before and After shots with you, to show how remarkably faithful we remained in Production to the decisions we made in Prep.

My friend Jon, who joined us on the day we planned our shots, played Trisha for us.  I’d like to apologise to him for sharing these photos…!

On the advice of Director of Photography Chris O’Driscoll, we planned pretty much every shot in ‘SELFIE‘ using an amazing app called Artemis.  I’m normally made nauseous by people extolling the virtues of an app, but Artemis really is brilliant.  It’s a virtual director’s viewfinder that allows you to take photos of your intended shot and save it along with lens and camera information.  The preview images, as you’ll see, are very accurate.

Here’s our opening shot:

And here’s what we planned through Artemis several weeks beforehand:

Here’s another shot that I took in Artemis:

And the final article:

Another before:

And after:

While I know the practice of pre-planning your shots is nothing new, I was really pleased in Post when I noticed just how similar the finished product was to the shots we agreed upon beforehand.  On a low-budget short like SELFIE, having your shots locked, with all the information your camera department will need printed below it, saves you a lot of time on set.  Even more so in a pokey house location.

Once again, I’m absolutely indebted to Chris O’Driscoll for his suggestion we undertake the exercise in the first place.  We’d probably be still shooting SELFIE now if we hadn’t…

You can now watch my short film ‘SELFIE’ online:

At its premiere in Brighton last night I ran off a list of thank-yous which I will repeat here!

Thanks first and foremost to my brilliant crew, in particular DoP Chris O’Driscoll on whose shoulders the film rests in more ways than one; Rose Wickstead, our fabulous casting director and Adam and Johnny our composers (here they are on Twitter), who put up with my changeable demands and requirements through post.

Then there’s our young cast, Jasmine and Tom, who brought depth and heart to their roles through our unconventional but rewarding rehearsal process.

Big thanks, too, to Lighthouse for embracing the idea of a companion film, and to the BFI.

Finally, the biggest thanks of all goes to Stephen Fingleton, director of ‘SLR‘, who showed us kindness and trust at every stage of the process, and let me put my own, slightly more emo twist on his film’s world.

My short film ‘SELFIE’ will have its premiere in Brighton on 30th January – which is also the date of my birthday.  To celebrate, here’s a little teaser for you:

It’s being screened at an event organised by Lighthouse, a Brighton arts organisation responsible – among other things – for administering BFI short film funding.  The event will screen ‘SLR’, by Stephen Fingleton and upon which my film is based, followed by ‘SELFIE’.  You can find out more, and buy tickets, here:

http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/programme/slr-who-s-watching-your-shadow

I’ve just directed this Christmas music video promo for my friend Al Lewis.  We shot for two exhausting days in Swansea, with a tiny crew of three.  Back in London, Alan Tang graded our Red footage at Splice to give it a creamy, 16mm look.

I’ve got several things in post at present.

I shot an advert for clean water charity Just A Drop over the summer which we’re in the process of polishing off.  My short films POST JUMP and SELFIE are having their final touches added.  And TUBE TUBE rumbles on, with new episodes written and planned for filming before November is through.

I’ve also been very busy working for corporate clients.  I’ve directed three films for the Royal Institute’s Christmas campaign.  The British Science Festival asked me to shoot and edit a film about their annual festival, the oldest science event in the world.  And I’m working on a music video for Welsh singer-songwriter and bud Al Lewis.

Watch this space for updates when we’re done!