Details on Shane Meadow's production strategy from the man himself:
Who or what is Le Donk?
When Paddy and I were in bands together, there were always these guys hanging around who thought they were svengalis, but were just roadies in a suit. Paddy created this persona, but we never found the right vehicle until I had the idea for Five-Day Features.
What are the rules?
The only rule is that it has to be shot in five days. These days even an SLR camera can record hi-def video. It’s that punk mentality. It’s not about somebody putting up £2 million and putting pressure on you, it’s about smaller characters and crazy ideas.
What are you offering?
We’re not offering any money yet, just the idea. We’ve proved that five days is long enough to make a film for £30k and get a release. The Donk DVD and website will be a working manifesto of how to do it. In the end, people are going to have to get off their arses and do it themselves. You can send a film in, and if we like it, we’ll give it our stamp, maybe build a body of likeminded films and help release them.
Who’s it for?
There’s no demographic. You’d imagine it would be for some brand new kid putting stuff on YouTube, but it could equally be for a 75-year-old who made some shorts on super-8 in the 60s. If Steven Spielberg was making something over here and his filming got delayed, he could do it. We’ve already been contacted by filmmakers from New York.
How do you see it developing?
Hopefully we can raise a pot of £1 million, or see if Panasonic, Sony or Apple would give us equipment, to become this titchy studio.
PRODUCTION TIMELINE
Shortly before the Arctic Monkeys/Amy Winehouse two-nighter at Old Trafford in July 2008, Shane has the idea to plant Donk backstage and film what happens.
* Day One (Thursday)
Shooting Donk’s domestic life in Nottingham. Retired rapper Scorzayzee plays his lodger. Donk and Scorz head for Manchester in a clapped-out minibus. Shane winds Paddy up by telling him to sleep in the van and pay for his own meals.
Shooting Donk’s domestic life in Nottingham. Retired rapper Scorzayzee plays his lodger. Donk and Scorz head for Manchester in a clapped-out minibus. Shane winds Paddy up by telling him to sleep in the van and pay for his own meals.
* Day Two (Friday)
Donk meets the roadies. Scorz sent off with camera to improvise his storyline. It’s better than the Donk stuff. An idea emerges to blag them onstage as a double act on Sunday.
* Day Three (Saturday)
The first gig. Shots of Donk and Scorz rehearsing backstage. Lights blow, sound fails. Everyone tired and pissed off.
* Day Four (Sunday)
The sun shines. Producer Mark begs and bribes for Donk and Scorz to open tonight’s gig. It works! Donk sings, Scorz raps. The audience don’t know what’s hit them.
* Day Five (shot a few months later)
The journey home in triumph. Scorz has a towel inexplicably wrapped around his head. Comedy genius. Really he’s hiding the fact he shaved his skull in the intervening months. Gentlemen, we have a movie.
How to make a 5 Day Feature:
- Shoot in story order to avoid reshoots.
- Use a small cast, base the story around the performances.
- Spend time finding the right location so you don’t have to change and dress it.
- Don’t force a big idea into a small budget. Avoid effects, keep the crew small, cut all the offscreen costs that you can, set yourself rules and stick to them.
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