Dying to Meet You
PHASE 1: PRE-PRODUCTION
It was the summer of 2021:
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Bryan had finished the final edits of the screenplay transforming a successful solo drama into a psychological thriller.
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Ava's longtime cinematographer Ben Saffer, sets his sight on an Arri Amira camera to create the film.
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Rob Wingfield, another longtime friend of BoundsFilms and sound recorder extraordinnaire, joins the shoot.
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We were desperately sourcing an Art Director, which is a first for Bounds Films, but absolutely vital for historical accuracy. Robinia Farnaby joins the team.
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Casting has begun with self-tapes arriving from across Europe - as always we're astounded by the level of talent in the acting industry today.
The Big Challenge:
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We scoured the countryside around Yorkshire, searching for a location that will replicate Akron, Ohio's Mayflower Hotel lobby, where the action of the film takes place. From this room in May 1935, Bill Wilson took the first steps in creating Alcoholics Anonymous.
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Observation for new filmmakers: simulating a hotel is a challenge because working hotels are occupied and night shoots are just not practical. We're currently looking at town halls as well...
PHASE 2: PRODUCTION (Sept. 2021)
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We've found a home:
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We settled on The Crown Hotel in Harrogate, North Yorkshire to serve as our Art Deco lobby. Then begins a scrumptiously creative phase with ROBINIA FARNABY our brilliant Art Director, launching to gathering props and set pieces that will transform this English Edwardian room into an Art Deco film noir setting.
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Director AVA BOUNDS and Cinematographer BEN SAFFER and our hard-working crew roll cameras on this surreal thriller and its four-day shoot. Day One: underwater sequences and stunt shots. Day Two: The Courtroom. Days 3 & 4: the hotel lobby shots with three entirely different looks.
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LESSONS LEARNED FOR FUTURE PRODUCTIONS: Feed the crew. A lot. It’s easy to overlook that all the folks behind the scenes are busting their butts and doing a lot of heavy lifting. Food makes a happy set (i.e. Curry pots from the Curry Counter in Harrogate).
PHASE 3: POST-PRODUCTION (OCT. 2021 - APRIL 2022)
"It is not hard to compose but it is wonderfully hard to edit." Johannes Brahms.
400 hours to edit a 15-minute film.
If you’re outside the industry, you likely have no idea how much time it takes to edit a film. We didn't either, because the rollercoaster of ‘Dying to Meet You’ was more demanding than previous BoundsFilms. But fire up a spotlight to shine on Editor AVA BOUNDS, Assistant editor BRYAN BOUNDS, and Additional editing by KIERAN BORRICK-NIXON. Editing begin in October and completed in April.
SPECIAL POST-PRODUCTION THANKS TO:
LUIS REGGIARDO, a colorist at film and digital services company Digital Orchard. His helpfulness and his patience are as vast as his industry skills, and we are eternally grateful for his help. Through each step of the way, Luis guided Ava through a prickly post-production process, giving her priceless advice.
The color grade for Dying to Meet You has been funded by the Digital Orchard Foundation, created for those facing barriers to starting or progressing their careers and they deliver workshops and training for early career individuals.
ALEX GREGSON and his team at 344 Audio in Manchester, who really made Dying to Meet You into a film by creating a soundscape that is both realistic, fantastical and terrifying.
SAM JOHNSON of Sam Johnson Music who composed some truly hard-hitting, mind-bending background music, as well as playing the incidental Scott Joplin rag that's used in the film.