The Aim
As Paul began writing LONDON TO BRIGHTON he set out to create a world generally ignored in today's society, a world full of characters that we pass each day with barely a moments thought. Rather than tell a story in such a way that a "message" was rammed down an audience's throat, he sought simply to show what can and does go on in London's underworld. Although essentially a character piece, the story LONDON TO BRIGHTON tells is a thriller - Will the two girls get caught by Derek? If so, will he turn them in to Stuart? What will Stuart do with everybody in order to satisfy his need for revenge? As a result, the film has a dynamic energy to it, and a pacing that is unusual for realist low budget British films in that it defiantly seeks to draw the audience into its world and the experiences of these characters in a highly dramatic and personal way. As such LONDON TO BRIGHTON has some similarities with Fernando Meirelles' CITY OF GOD, and Mike Leigh's NAKED, whilst remaining original and thoroughly engaging in its own right.
The Script
After Paul had made the short film ROYALTY he was hungry to work with the main actors from the film on a larger feature project.
"Even after auditioning the actors I knew they were something special, people who were able to immerse themselves in a role while still keeping the external self aware enough to be directed well and to debate ideas in order to make the character and scene better."
Paul wrote the script with Johnny Harris and Lorraine firmly set in his mind for the main roles.
"Being aware of their talent and understanding of the characters they have already played it made it much easier for me to write the script as I could see how they would do it in my head."
But finding a young actress to play the role of Joanne was not as easy as he didn't have enough money to hold massive auditions. Strangely enough when Paul first laid eyes on Georgia Groome, he thought she looked great.
"I walked into the Carlton Workshop in Nottingham, and she was the first girl I saw sitting down. I immediately thought she looked perfect. After her improvisation, I thought she was also brilliant. But her script reading wasn't so good so I carried on auditioning. After seeing more girls we held another workshop, a few days before I watched the old tape and after seeing Georgia again I thought she was actually pretty good. We arranged for her to come down again and after another recall it was clear that her maturity and openness as an actor was what we needed for the part of Joanne."
In May 2005 Paul began writing LONDON TO BRIGHTON, a story adapted from his acclaimed short film ROYALTY. In just four days the first draft of the script was written.
The Production in Summary
Upon completing the script in May 2005, Paul took it upon himself to get the film made and through several private investors he managed to raise some money. By mid-August 2005 LONDON TO BRIGHTON was in pre-production, during which time Paul worked very closely with the actors to develop their characters. By the beginning of October cameras were rolling, with all cast, crew and facilities companies working on deferred fees. After a grueling 19 day shoot (in 22 days) principal photography was completed. After editing on weekends and weeknights, on software purchased for the editor from the production budget, in February 2006 some more private money was raised and 5 days of pick-ups were shot. By mid-March the British Council had agreed to screen it for the Director's Fortnight selection committee, the UK Film Council had verbally agreed to provide completion funding and by the beginning of April several UK distributors were interested in securing distribution rights. Vertigo Films won out in the end. Not bad for a truly independent British feature film shot and edited for the cost of most films' catering budgets.
The Look
In his preparation for the shoot Paul decided that the camera must become a character in itself, in order to fully involve the audience in every scene, and to effectively immerse them in this taut and perilous world. The hand held aspect gives LONDON TO BRIGHTON an edge - a certain kind of roughness - and an immediacy that the story needed. The technique was used in every scene apart from the one in Duncan Allen's house, where track and dolly were used to convey power, slyness and cunning, and to depict a world of wealth that none of the other characters had seen before.
Locations
As the film's title suggests, both London and Brighton make up the key locations for the story. In London it was essential for Paul to have dark, menacing and dirty spaces in order to fit with the story. Fortunately the locations in London (including Bermondsey, Hackney and Waterloo) were pretty easy to come by - there is so much life in certain parts of the capital that it was easy for Paul to create a cinematic world that already exists in the look and surroundings of many of the city's streets.
Numerous locations, especially the exteriors came about at the last minute without giving the director or cameraman a chance to see them before they turned up to film. For example, the café where Joanne meets Derek for the first time was found only the day before shooting. Strangely it turned out to be one of the best looking locations with a colour scheme that really fit the scene.
There was also much begging and borrowing - the Duncan Allen house scenes for example were filmed in the residences of two of our private investors in the film. The flat of the character Shane was actually one of the producer's.
One of the most challenging parts of the shoot turned out to be filming on a train, in the scene in which Joanne and Kelly make their run for Brighton. The production team had no budget for anything that resembled a modern day train, and therefore had to make do with an old tourist train. Worse still, the authorities would only allow Paul to shoot for two hours, and in that time the train only moved for 45 minutes. Shooting one large scene and two smaller ones in that time proved to be an immense challenge.
Arriving in Brighton Paul and his team were welcomed by the sun and some terrific filming weather. Being Britain it could not last, and on the following day when the weather was due to match, the shoot was disrupted by hurricane force winds and monsoon rain. Fortunately this initial disruption would not set the tone for the entire Brighton shoot. Ultimately all the locations selected for the film (including the ones planned in advance, and those found literally the day or night before) worked perfectly, becoming characters in their own right and situating the audience in a world that they may not often see.
The Music
After watching an early cut of LONDON TO BRIGHTON Vertigo Films' music supervisor Lol Hammond (The Football Factory, It's All Gone Pete Tong, The Business) knew immediately that this was a very exciting and special British film that needed a similarly dynamic soundtrack. With the multi talented composer Laura Rossi already hard at work orchestrating the film's score with the Prague Philharmonic, Hammond set about sourcing tracks. Taking his cue from the film's gritty urban style, and high energy, he looked to the thriving world of UK Hip Hop for inspiration. First up was the world beating mix champions SCRATCH PERVERTS who weighed in with their tracks FREAKS featuring the explosive TY and DYNAMITE on the mike. Then came ice cool drum and base artist JANO WAT? For the closing credits, Hammond looked to one of the country's finest new talents PLAN B (Ben Drew), who offered up a dark and twisted lament with his EVERYDAY composition. Not finished there, Hammond approached the London based German composer Tom. E. Morrison for some dark and broody electronica, and added his own lightly chilled track ROOM WITHOUT LIGHTS (a collaboration with Roger Eno) to the mix.
The Finished Film
Despite the challenges of the shoot, Paul and the producers were incredibly proud of their achievement. The aim had been to shoot a cool urban thriller, informed by a realist aesthetic, on a budget small enough to cover only the catering budgets of most larger films. In May 2006, Shane Danielson (the artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival) sent a personal email to the filmmakers to congratulate them on the film, and invite LONDON TO BRIGHTON to play in the British Gala section of the festival where it would be eligible for three prestigious awards. Describing the film as "One of the discoveries of the year", the festival will hopefully set the tone for the coming months as LONDON TO BRIGHTON moves towards its UK theatrical release on December 1st.
