LIFE AFTER THE SHOOT

About time we gave you the latest on LEDY. In a nutshell, we spent a mad ten days filming in September, and have spent about two months recovering from those ten days. It all went to plan (sort of) and we believe we have some good stuff on the thirteen HDV tapes that were produced during those days. We say believe because we don’t know…it has felt like a good idea to have a bit of a break before embarking on the lengthy process of editing, during which it would be helpful to have at least one brain and a pair of eyes that work.

Shoot trivia: the three-legged dog that was meant to take over Seanconnery's role after he retired to the country, sadly passed away before filming. The role was eventually offered to and accepted by Sausage Dog (pictured above), who did a wonderful job.

Whilst the moving image footage of the film is still in virgin condition, we’ve had the pleasure to sample the hundreds of still photos that were kindly taken during the shoot by the very talented Mr Matt Hass. They look pretty cool indeed! Thanks Matt, and also big thanks to Tania Dolvers, our other still photographer, and Rowan Hand, who took on the roles of 2nd AD, yoga coach, photographer and generally useful person on set (Rowan also plays the cello, teaches maths, writes screenplays and has some pretty interesting stories to tell). Some of these stills should find their way to this blog in the near future…

To stay true to the slightly restless nature of this project, our director Laura has once again re-located, this time to the dark and remote rock & roll capital of Finland, also known as Hell City, to focus on the editing of the film without unnecessary distractions. Here are Laura’s greetings from Helsinki:

“It was sleeting horizontally and was pretty dark when I arrived. The situation has somewhat improved since: it’s now plus five degrees Celsius and grey. I have been trying to organise editing equipment for LEDY in between engaging in various Finnish rituals such as sampling Jallu (a Finnish cognac), eating Pulla (a Finnish sweet bun) and hanging out in Sauna as much and often as possible. Also spotted someone doing Sauvakävely (pole walking) in central Helsinki on a Friday night. In case you haven’t heard of this marvellous sport, you can check out an ace demonstration of the activity by a fellow Finn Mikko Karhu HERE.

Meanwhile Adam & Tree, and our associate producer Preethi are flying the LEDY flag in East London.

FUNDRAISING

We would like to give a big THANK YOU to River of Light [ www.riveroflight.tv ] for their support of the film by covering our communications equipment costs! We are now counting the days to the shoot ...starting on AUG 31... and any donations are entirely appreciated!

CAST REHEARSALS

...are going so well that last Sunday our director Laura decided to rehearse with Ed & Jasmine at the garden of the wonderful local pub, The Stag's Head, whilst enjoying the very generous sunshine & delights of the BBQ on offer - both suitably provided gratis and very much appreciated by our pale & starving team. Interestingly, some way into the rehearsal we realised that our producing team Adam & Tree were two tables away, also enjoying the free entertainment provided by the kind management of the pub. Who ever said there is no such a thing as a free lunch?

Pub rehearsals aside, Laura has been sending the cast on various method challenges, such as on dates and East End partying "in character". If the results of these exercises could be measured in painfulness of hangovers, we'd definitely be scoring many points. More seriously, though, it seems that things are coming together in terms of relationships in the story, and also in achieving the generally chaotic state of mind that is also sometimes called 'creativity'.

LOCATIONS UPDATE

We've secured The Stag's Head pub on 55 Orsman Road with the kind help of Matt who runs the newly refurbished venue. The Stag's Head is the best pub in Dalston at the moment. With a fantastic enclosed private beer garden, pool tables, fine ales, free Sunday BBQ's and a stage/sound system for bands to perform. We haven't been this excited about a pub since the George and Dragon opened in Shoreditch!

CREW UPDATE

Sophie Jacobs is our newly appointed Production Designer. She is a St Martin's Set Design graduate and has already been enthusing about some interesting ash trays...to be continued...

We would also like to welcome our terrific Makeup & Hair Designer My Alehammar back from Tunisia, where she has been up to no good for the past month or so. She says it was a horror film shoot...Essential trivia: My's name is inspired by the My of Moomins. My will be designing with Pippa Woods who is currently also working on the Clash of the Titans remake! We are thrilled to have these two makeup heavyweights onboard our East End adventure!

For our sound engineers we have on board Myles Hayden who we would like to thank for providing his sound kit! Also on board as sound engineer is Takatsuna Mukai, an exceptionally multi talented individual who is also is a musician, an actor and a music producer. Thanks to Taka for providing his flat as our greenroom!

We've found our lighting person in the shaped of a man called Gavin Brabant who also making a cameo appearance in a K-HOLE scene!

We are also looking for a bunch of those vital people called Runners. If you would like to get involved, or know someone who would - send us an email! lvestdiyng AT gmail.com !!!

CASTING UPDATE

Just in time - we have found our missing link - Teddy! The identity of this fine actor is a closely guarded secret, and you'll have to watch the film to find out. Shhhhh. We can only say that the casting of this character entailed, among other things, an evening trip to the legendary Vauxhall spot RVT and watching the larger-than-life spectacle that is the Texas Chainsaw Masscara, as performed by the fabulous Jonny Woo , Feral, Scottee...and of course, Jeanette. You can view the video clip that accompanied that Texas Chainsaw Massacara here.
The evening included generous portions of fake blood, a broken stiletto heel, a cold bath, several gin and tonics and other alcoholic beverages, a distinctly "method" approach to acting, and a cab back to the safety of Hackney.

Tree, with her Casting Director's hat on, has also found us a charming Homeless Person, a small army of Strippers, two sexy Bouncers, many Skinny Guys, a Three-legged Dog and it's two-legged Owner, a convincingly Trashed Girl and a Club Owner...who has promised to grow a distinctively shaped mustache just for the occasion. We think our collection of characters is slowly starting to look like a representative snap-shot of Shoreditch. Thank you, Tree, and all the wonderful people lending their appearances to us! You know who you are...

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Last Saturday we had a fantastically productive day in terms of taking a tour of potential locations. We were able to check out and secure pubs, clubs, toilets, houses, warehouses, and strip bars. The owners and managers were more than helpful, and we were very happy with how receptive everyone concerned was to working with us. Pictures say more than words, so here are some pictures which will appearing in various scenes throughout LIVE EAST, DIE YOUNG ...