More H.O.T. Thoughts

Filming The Husband Obedience Trials has been an interesting experience. For me it started off as a usual request for rental of a Red One Camera, but about a fortnight before production start I was suddenly asked to provide a Red Wrangler (or DIT, or whatever they’re calling it these days). The Producer then explained to me that the film was to be a collaboration between a small group of professionals and a majority of completely unexperienced, but very enthusiastic, villagers.

For his first Feature the Director, Guy Browning, had decided to write a romantic comedy entirely based around the village of Kingston Bagpuize in Oxfordshire. As his home it had the advantage of being well known to him and furthermore the locals were delighted at the idea and agreed to help out in any way they could. What resulted was the bizarrest film set I’ve ever worked on, with villagers filling roles from make-up and hair to props, wardrobe and continuity. Catering was provided by the local WI, and I can honestly say I’ve never worked on a film (or any other job) that had better cakes.

Watching this world come together with that of a professional film crew was extraordinary and yet it all worked out remarkably well. The images from our Red Camera (with a little help from Balazs) look excellent and there’s a real chance that this film could achieve well beyond expectations.