Robin Jacob - Director's Diary

Pre-Production (Bangkok & Singapore)

Shadow Island Pre-Production Singapore, October 18th 2005 I was first approached about this movie several months ago. I was asked to come on board as Associate Producer, Editor and Script Supervisor. I would be asked to direct it later on. After a read through of the script, I made several suggestions about re-writes. The story was a good one, but as is often with low budget movies the script lacked cohesiveness, good dialog and a sense of practicability and an understanding of the link between locations and the script. A golden rule for low budget movies is the idea or story first, then the location. Finding an exotic or high production value location at a reasonable price aids the story and production. Only once you have established the two former principles should one then write the script.

There is often in Asia, especially in Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines the misconception that one must have a finished script before one can budget develop or start pre-production on a movie. This is totally wrong!

Low budget movies are location sensitive, so find a great location that is reasonably priced and then sit down and develop the script and characters. EON Productions (James Bond) often source out the locations before they write the script for the Bond movies. You Only Live Twice is a good example.

The first draft of Shadow Island was written by Kevin Harriman who has no experience in script writing, so Ric Lawes did several re-writes as did I bringing a good story up to an acceptable level. Whilst the re-writes were going on locations where sourced by Executive Producer Stephen Rouse and the project was starting to gel.

Principle cast were chosen and late into the production one of the leads was changed because the English was not of a high enough standard. This caused a delay but it turned out for the best.

Ric Lawes came down to stay with me in Singapore where he had a meeting scheduled with the investors for the movie. He also met with my choice for the main lead replacement Angela May, a Thai/American girl who from the first time I met her was my choice for the lead. Confidence, good looks and above all intelligence exudes from this young lady and she will go far. Hollywood will notice her I am sure.

With the script at a good standard, the main cast in place, I returned to Bangkok to meet up with Carroll Raver one of the DOP’s and check out the locations which I had not done before.

Laurie K. Gilbert the second DOP had already checked out the locations. So that having been done, I started to checkout the props, costumes, supporting cast. I returned to Singapore with Carroll for our visas and proceeded to fly back to Singapore two days later and get into final Pre-Prod.

Shooting Day 1

As is always the case, the first few days one has to gauge the situation, crew, personalities of all and especially those key people one has to deal with.

The set is run by First AD Boyd, who is a hard working guy with a good sense of humor. Without him there it would not be running as smoothly as it should.

Our main actors had to work themselves into the roles and the set. For all of them this is first time they have played such leading roles and for one or two of them it is their first screen performance.

They are all good in their roles, giving more than 100%; Angela our lead has good screen presence, attractive and good voice. This has made the other leads are raising their performances.

David plays Peter spot on, with Anna playing the ditsy Jane to a tee! Patu gives a good performance as the nauseating would-be boyfriend. Angela as the intelligent girl friend of Peter more interested her studies than boys except for the occasional lapse. Keith playing Captain Robards is a real find. He is working himself into the character well.

We are shooting on HD instead of film for several reasons, the cost and the ease of playback, etc. The picture quality is very good and lends itself to such a project. But HD is not something I would recommend for every project. Horses for courses. I am fortunate that both Carroll and Laurie (DOPs) are giving me the shots I want and more.

Shooting Day 2

We had scheduled two major stunts on this day. One the Cobra (snake) stunt and the other the pit. Angela’s character Simone trips to find herself in front of a Cobra. This was done for real. No glass or snake with fangs taken out. A snake handler was on set and Angela bravely fell down and we got the two shot of them in frame. If we had done this in the US or UK, I doubt we would have been allowed to this stunt. But the both snake handlers were there all the time in control.

The second major stunt was Anna being sucked up into the sand pit, or quick sand. How to do this stunt was problematic from the start. However, buying the DVDs with behind the scenes stuff certainly paid off. A similar stunt was done in Lawrence of Arabia (My favorite movie) by Harry Fowler the props man. Simple dig a hole, put a roof on it with a small hole in it stick your talent in it, surrounds them with sand and pull them down into the pit. We did something similar with a few modifications. Thanks Mr. Fowler! Thank you Davis Lean.

We did the evening fire scene where Robards explains the curse to Jack and Simone. A long difficult scene but we got it in the can eventually.

Shooting Day 3

We set up the party scene at night, using a light out at sea on a scaffold to mimic the moon. We had a fire and several lanterns around the camp site to help give us an excuse for fill in lights. Anna (Jane) had to do her first on-screen kiss (Somewhat reluctant).

Good lighting and music gave the scene a certain flavour and style. Did a number of beach shots of Robards, Simone and Jack. Nice sunny weather, the sea and sky melded into one vast sea of whiteness… really cool.

Shooting Day 4

Three big set ups today, although they will be on screen only for a few seconds, they are an integral part of the story being told by Captain Robards. Big Al and his friends turned up for the pirate scene.

Now Big Al is 350 pounds and a little shorter than myself. He has a raspy voice which just adds to his character. Big Al is bald and we added a tattoo to his head. He comes with so much to the screen I used it all and tried not to mask him with hats and the usual pirate garb! Keep it natural… works much better. He and the other pirates were awesome!

Big Al’s screen presence sets the whole story up. He appears within the first 30 seconds and gives the whole movie a flavour.

Shooting Day 5

First day on the dive-boat and it rained. Started with the stock shots of the diving boat and our leads. Spent two hours traveling around the islands.

Then we anchored in the position off the island location and started doing all the pick up shots and shots on the boat. There was a great deal of resistance to doing that on location, because it is impossible to put a dolly or crane on board. But we did have a work boat and I had one camera (Laurie) on a bungee-cord and Carroll on the diving boat.

Shooting Day 6

I seem to make our talents do lots of stunts which they are reluctant to do. Angela had to dive off the back of the boat and swim, but the current there was very strong and she didn’t want to do it. But I cajoled her into it. We had three safety divers just off camera, including one in the water ready to pick up in case. The current there is due to the tide going out. She did two takes, the last being good.

She continues to rise to the occasion, giving good performances. This helps the others raise their performances. Patu (Jack) gives a good performance all the time and one can see that he is not only improving his acting skills but also he looking for ways to improve them. I think in ten years time if he gets a break in Hollywood or Europe he’s going to be up there with the best of them. Anna (Jane) is doing her first movie and she is getting into her role very well. She is a popular local singer and like Patu is giving a good performance. If she decides to continue in the acting business she will do well. Sweet girl with a wry sense of humor.

David who plays Peter is full of confidence and has attitude. Sometimes over the top and hammy but when I get him focused he gives the right performance for his character and has great improvisation skills, a good talent to have when doing a low budget movie. Like Patu he has the ability to be up there if he can get the break in Hollywood. He is always a bouncy character and I like him.

Today Keith (Robards) had to do a lot and delivered good performances. He looks a bit like Robert Mitchum with a bit of Humphrey Bogart with the voice of a Northern Englishman.

We have had a few accidents on set so far. One production staff getting his hand burned, an actress getting bitten by a centipede and Patu getting his foot cut when the dead Barracuda was thrown on board. But being the professional he was, he waited until I called cut before shouting out. He went off to hospital for five stitches and then continued after lunch with a bandage around his foot covered in a plastic bag to protect it from water.

Shooting Day 7

Today was a stinker. The natural elements through their worst at us and we all took up the challenge and came up with great shots and action.

We started with the underwater shots of Robards trying to cut away the seaweed around the propeller. We could have done this in a swimming pool and reconstructed the underside of the boat, etc. However, I wanted to do as much on location and decided that the best way to shoot this was to use a small underwater digital camera for all these scenes. Keith who plays Robards was a sailor and was in his element. So we spent two hours of him in the water along with Carroll and our safety team getting the shots. We ended up with a lot of good footage but with one exceptional shot which makes the scene.

We then got stuck out at sea during a storm. All the gear and 30 crew and cast. Thunder and lightening, and we got some good stock shots of the sea and the island which will help us establish the evil. I inserted a line for Robards to say as he surfaces to get air. Again fortune smiled on us and gave something extra that had we wanted it would have costs us a lot of money to stage. Hollywood would have set it up and spent a fortune; we got it by coincidence,

We got several smaller scenes on the boat in threw afternoon. Both Keith (Robards) and Angela (Simone) gave very good performances in their scenes together. Angela continues to grow in her work. If she gets a break she will go far. I hope she and the others get more opportunities.

Shooting Day 8

We moved to the quay and the arrival scene of our gang. We managed to get the first arrival scene and then it we had to stop shooting the subsequent actions because we would have had a continuity problem. So we did a couple of small pick up scenes. 2 hours later it stopped raining and we continued with the scene. The last take with Peter and Jack in it is where they walk off to find the mysterious captain. I was just about to call cut, because of the arrival of a big fishing boat making a lot of noise when I caught it coming into shot behind the two guys. I glanced up at Paul Clark our sound guy who looked up at me and signaled not to cut as he saw the same thing I did. I let it role, the actors got the lines and actions down just right and I have a great shot of the fishing boat coming up behind them with a fisherman throwing a rope over a post to tie up as the deliver their lines. If I had tried to get that shot, it would have taken for ages to get it just right. Sometimes, it just works and one has to grab it.

Went on to do the Pool Bar scene, where Jack and Peter are playing pool and talking about Peter’s father, etc. One take two cameras and a couple of close-ups to establish the whole set up. We got it right in take 11! The guys had a hard time with this. I could have done it shot for shot but I find that breaks yup the flow and make it unnatural. Although Carroll (DOP) wanted to do it that way with good reason I nixed that and went for the hard way. Both David and Patu improved with each take. Stretching themselves and trying slightly f=different things each time. Also, they had to take into account that each take would be different action because the balls would break differently each time. Had I had a cou0le of days to shoot this scene as I would have had in a big movie production, we could have done it shot for shot, but we had two hours to shoot this scene and their exit scene.

The exit scene was difficult as the boys exit through the door and walk straight into the girls who get pissed of at them and we have Captain Robards leaning up against the wall. I could have done it the usual way with at least three shots, but Carroll set up the shot with the camera on the inside of the bar by the door looking out through the circular window of the door to show the girls arriving. Got it in take 6 and it works well for that camera with the other camera outside establishing Robards.

I always like to do a scene in one by positioning the cameras just right. Of course 3 cameras are better than 2 but that set up is not always necessary. Yet another day where we got great shots.

Shooting Day 9

The Destiny leaving the port was the shot of the day. Robards (Keith) actually steered the boat out of the harbour himself. Backwards and forwards swinging it round until it faced the right way and then it sailed off into the distance, just as another boat came into dock. Couldn’t have got that if I had wanted to.

The sounds of the harbour played havoc with the sound recording but we managed to get some good takes. Paul kept a close eye (ear)on things and would from time to time give me sound advice on the quality of the sound and whether we would have to ADR or not.

Often after the shoot we would get together to discuss the next days schedule and shots. I would cut scenes out and add some, constantly reviewing and re-writing the script as I came across continuity problems. Tony my continuity guy was spot on all the time, feeding me with the info to make the right decision.

Shooting Day 10

Night Shoot

We started in the afternoon at the Chinese Temple, a magnificent sight. Then moved on to the Destiny for a long night. The problem with night shoots is you have to light everything. You have to create alight source doubling up for the moon. So in order to do this, although the boat is supposed to be at sea anchored off the island we had it anchored at the quay so that we could run generators. Luckily we only had one night shoot and did all the night scenes required in that session.

We had several small scenes which make up part of Simone’s nightmare. That all took time setting up. We used my Canon XL1S shooting at 1/6th speed, wide open and we got a really weird look, just right for a spooky nightmare.

Jack hanging dead from the mask arm. Jane aged and withered, Simone freaking out… not bad at all. We finished at 4am, ahead of schedule.

Shooting Day 11

A couple of scenes only today. The flea market scene and the girls nearly getting run over by a Tuk-Tuk.

That took some setting up, getting the right camera angles and getting the Tuk-Tuk to arrive at just the right time and Robards pulling the girls away… all about timing.

Plus the hospital scene. Simone talking to a Policeman in Thai. Well it looked good and Tony who speaks Thai checked for the delivery.

We then returned to Bangkok for three days break, well needed. But had to do stuff on the internet and check out production designs, etc. So it wasn’t much of a rest.



Shooting Day 12

Day 12 came after a three-day rest period. These days didn’t really help at all. We moved to the big house, where Thomas Saville resides. It is a lager round house with three floors plus an attic. It was quite a magnificent structure befitting the character of Thomas Saville.

We had some good scenes there, including the finale, which was shot of course out of sequence. We set up a nice establishing shot with Carroll and Laurie doing crane and tracking shots at sunset.

We also shot the dining room scene where Peter is humiliated by his father. A good scene for all. Continued at the house with young Peter in his father’s study. That went well.

Shooting Day 13

We did the CGI/Blue Screen outside using natural mid afternoon sunlight. Makes it is easier than trying to light it in a confined position. Brought the office desk and chair outside. Shot the scene with and without the chair, etc. and the actors, just to giver me options in post. This being a low budget we have to take all eventualities into consideration during shooting. ‘Fixing it in Post’ is not a phrase I like to use or hear.

The finale with the ghosts and Thomas Saville seemed to work well. But I will only know that in Post!

Shooting Day 14

The final pick up shoots and Simone's finale, with Blue Screen of the pirate boat meant we had finished early afternoon. Time to go back to the hotel and soak in a bath.

Shooting Days 15 & 16

China Town, the old shop and exteriors. The one thing you realise shooting on location in a city is that the noise from traffic and city life is just about impossible to control and there will have to be some ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording).

However, the locations where high quality (thanks to Lek and Wat) and they give the film a more expensive look. Changing camera angles and moving around the corner can give the appearance of a complete new location.

Shooting Day 17

Up country to the River Kwai where we would shoot the last two locations. The waterfall and the cave. Also, a few special shots on a black background this time instead of blue or green. I always like shooting black because unlike Green or Blue you don’t have to worry about an even light over the screen, you have to make sure there is no light on the black background. You however have top light to the subject properly and that can take a lot of smart lighting. Laurie did a nice job giving me all the main characters on the black background for a possible use in Simone’s dream sequence. Might use it, might not. But being prepared is the wise way to go.

The waterfall is split into 7 sections or levels. Quite stunning. We used the third level, which is in itself was split into three or four sections. The main section has a large waterfall at the end and quite a large pool where out heroes went swimming. It was however quite cold and in between takes they were all shivering away.

Did pick-up shots in the forest for chase sequences. Did the death of Jack and Peter’s injuries. Rain and wind shots and a load of German tourists assisting with their flash cameras to add to it all.

Shooting Days 18 & 19

We shot the pirate scene with Big Al and the chief being killed. Also we shot Dee Dee who was playing the Princess who gets done in by the dastardly Black Buccaneer (Big Al). Enjoyed working with all the pirates and Dee Dee. Everyone gave his or her best and it looks great.

Some love scenes between Jack and Jane on the waterfall add to the overall flavour of the movie.

Shooting Days 20,21 & 22

The hard part of the shoot was upon us. The cave, lighting the cave, recording live sound and keeping everyone focused was the order of the day. Boyd my AD did a great job. Tony my continuity guy did a great job as did all the crew. Boyd and Tony kept me on track and pointed out any problems that occurred. They are on my next shoot for sure.

The statue was great looking and both Carroll and Laurie gave me great camera shots. Slow and meticulous set ups where needed since we could not come back to shoot this location again. It was a hard slog but we did it.

On the afternoon of the last day we finished early and made it back to Bangkok by 8pm.