Making of 'The Odd Bunch'

Two years ago today, I woke up a little earlier than I wanted to (especially considering I'd been to a Halloween party the night before) so I could go and shoot the first scene of my short film 'The Odd Bunch'. Or the short film I made in my final year about a man who was in love with a satsuma.

It remains one of my favourite films I've ever produced, and I certainly remember feeling very proud whenever I showed it to anyone. I wanted to take it's anniversary as an opportunity to break down the entire development and production process of the film, most because I'm feeling nostalgic, but also because I thought it makes for a genuinely insightful look into what is required to make a short film. I'm basically doing a DVD special feature here, so strap in and turn back the clock with me.

One of the unseen promo pics for the film: Mitchell taking a selfie with his beloved Claire

Concept and Development

Probably the most asked question I get asked about the film is 'How did you come up with this idea?' I always answer with 'I just really like oranges.'

In truth though, boredom and daydreaming was how I got the idea. I think I was in an especially tedious lecture and the mental image of a guy dating an ornate made me chuckle. I wrote it down and just kinda forgot about I. Funnily enough, I never actually gave the idea much credence beyond the initial concept, I thought it was a one-note joke and I couldn't do too much with it. At this point at uni, we all had to come up with an idea for a short fiction film or documentary so I tried brainstorming for more ideas, but the orange one stuck out for me, and after actually giving it some thought, I felt that I could make it a pretty funny mockumentary.

Research

I took the idea to my tutor who agreed it was quirky and he sent me away to check out some other great mockumenatry films/series like Documentary Now and Best in Show. I switched on for the first episode of Documentary Now ready to take notes.

It's hard to believe I gleaned anything useful from this show exclusively based on this screenshot

The episode was basically about two elderly sisters living together, In their childhood they were Hollywood darlings but they are now washed up and staying in the house where their mother raised them. Bill Hader and Fred Armisen play the old ladies, and you can already see how it's not even remotely meant to be taken seriously. One of them can't hear properly, and the other is self obsessed so a lot of the comedy revolves around that dynamic. The thing that struck me was around halfway through the episode, in the midst of the gags and the screeching was a very genuine moment that made you feel a little bit sorry for the characters. It blind-sided me because it came from a genre that’s exclusively about the laughs. After that the episode just got far too silly, but I held onto that last bit.

By the way Best in Show is also a fab mockumentary, but I only got the chance to see years after I made the film. It's not riotously funny, but it somehow feels true to itself and it's characters so it ends up being pleasantly heart-warming – I really recommend it.

Wholesome little mockumentary

From there I wanted to look into people who were genuinely in relationships with inanimate objects. You can go ahead and Google them and you'll find articles and lists of people in love with their cars, roller coasters and even The Eiffel Tower. Here's a link to one of the articles I read.

On a first read, its quite easy to discredit them and laugh it all off, but what stuck out to me is how well they are able to speak about their odd relationships. Most of them acknowledge its weirdness, and defend their affections, Tracey Emin famously married a large rock from Hong Kong and said this:

'...But maybe it's an anchor for me, something I can identify with. No matter how mad my life might be or what may happen that stone is stability and comfort.'

Obviously, Tracey Emin is going to be a bit more eloquent and, dare I say, pretentious about this topic. But most other people in relationships with inanimate objects share the same philosophy: The want love just like everyone else, often because they find it difficult to understand the hearts of others.

It reminds me of that Alan Moore quote about people who believe in outlandish conspiracy theories:

'...Conspiracy theorists actually believe in the conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is chaotic.'

By loving inanimate objects, they choose to believe in a relationship that doesn’t really exist because real love is never as simple as it seems. These people find comfort in something that can't harm them like another person can. They desire the fairytale version of love where everything ends happily ever after.

While I couldn't 100% empathise with their beliefs, their views on love resonated with me. I decided I wanted to make my mockumentary not only feature jokes, but to take you through the same stages I did about researching into this topic. First I felt like pointing and laughing at the freak-show, then I realised how human their feelings were. It just fascinated me how far they were willing to effectively lie they tell themselves just to feel an emotion that everyone deserves to feel. 

In some cases though, the above sentiment gives them too much credit. One bloke just goes around and rubs himself on classic cars. Obviously this is much closer to a nasty perversion, I wanted to focus more on understanding the arguably more wholesome individuals.

Armed with this new-found appreciation for the power of mockumentary and 'quirky individuals' I got to script writing.

Writing

Character is king in films, and even moreso in mockumentary. Before writing the script I wrote up a quick character bio for 'Mitchell', the main character of the film. Basically he's a hopeless romantic who recently got dumped by his ex-girlfriend. From there, he's desperate to find something else to pour his love into and convince himself that he is worthy of affection.

You can read the whole bio here:

The entire script was written in an afternoon after I hammered down the beats of the story. A lot of Mitchell's lines were influenced by the real people in relationships with inanimate objects. It was important to portray him initially as if he was someone you would point and laugh at in the street, he makes cringy comments and acts without irony – to him his relationship is pure and he is (mostly) oblivious to the 'weird' element of it.

By the end though I wanted him to almost drop his lovey dovey act and open up a bit about his recent heartbreak which begins to reveal why he's turned to something else to channel his love into. The orange is a safe bet, it will never talk back or hurt him and it appeals to his personal concept of what love is. But again, that's not what real love is, though he finds it comforting to simply feel that his love is being reciprocated. I wanted the audience to stop laughing at him and start to understand his position. Under no circumstance did I think I could make the audience empathise, but they could at least recognise the thought process behind these kind of people.

In a way, the most hilariously tragic part of the story is the fact that oranges really don't last forever – they will deteriorate long before he will – which makes it all the more painful since he's convinced himself this relationship is an undying romance.

I tried to write it so a crack in his undying love appears at the very end and you can start to see it's harder for him to justify the lie he's telling himself. Not sure if that came through all the way in the finished product, but that was my intention.

You can read the whole script here

I realise the above sections make me sound like Spike Jonze in this unsettling interview or like I have some bizarre unrequited love with my lamp or something equally bonkers. I simply found it to be an interesting subject matter and wanted to share my thought process in writing Mitchell's character.

Pre-Production

This whole bit when a lot smoother than I expected. I arranged a meeting with the manager of my local Waitrose supermarket to ask about using it as a filming location. He immediately said yes as they are fond of helping out students – a commendable bit of PR. From there it was just a house location which we lucked out on with Air B&B. We found a small nearby house owned by a young man and his girlfriend. (Come the day of the filming, they just locked themselves in a bedroom and watched Game of Thrones on their laptop which I always thought made for a funny mental image.)

Our actor, Matt, came through to me via Rebecca since she was his tutor in second year. He had a passion for acting despite studying public relations. I went to a script reading session with him and was quickly impressed with just how much he could lend to the role. Often, he made suggestions into how he should read lines and I was always happy to hear him out.

Really glad we found him. I put an ad out for local actors much earlier asking them to send in a small clip of them reading the script and the responses were all pretty dire in comparison. Lotta dark bedrooms and a lot of people emphasised the 'creepy' aspect of the character, which just didn't gel.

Filming

So the day of the shoot comes around and I wake up at 6am to appreciate my local high-street looking like a ghost town. Guess that was God's way of saying 'You should be in bed now child.' 

Winton highstreet looking creepy

 

I had the ever professional Matt Winlow as my Production Manager and chief watch tapper to keep me in check if we ever started going over time. We only had one hour in Waitrose, but we powered through all the shots we needed. While I don't have any storyboards to hand to show here, I cannot stress enough just how useful drawing up your own boards are. Even if your like me and can't draw for toffee, it's worth doing just to free up decision making you have to do in the heat of the moment – they save a lot of time on the day.

Me looking very important in a hi-vis while directing Rebecca on how to pick up a lemon. You know, the important things.

It's also fun to mention that my girlfriend Rebecca stars as the jilted woman in the supermarket. She also effectively served as a production assistant during the day and bought us all Subway lunch – feed your crew folks.

The crux of the film was Mitchell's interview which we did continuously at our second, Air B&B location. Obviously we set up the entire film to be a faux documentary,and as TV students that all came quite naturally to us.

Shoes off in the directors seat

 Finally we cracked on with our fake cutaways to add a bit of visual comedy to the piece. I had a few in mind but my cameraman Tom Goddard had some witty ideas which we used to bulk out our coverage. The sexy bedroom stuff was the most fun we had that day as several members of the crew were giggling and couldn't believe what they were doing.

I should also mention that 2 oranges we harmed in the making of this film. One got a bit too bruised after hours of filming. The second one though, total professional.

Editing

Over the course of the edit, I grew out my beard as part of my 'No Shave November' challenge to myself. If nothing else, it provided an ample home for my hands as I mulled over how best to splice together the final film. 

Beardy and weary.

The uni allocated 2-3 minute length for the final edit. Initial drafts of the film were really pushing it to the limits, but some ruthless chopping got us down to just over 2:30 plus credits. The biggest overhaul we did in the editing phase was bring the bedroom scene into the opening of the film. This was my tutor's idea which I wasn't 100% sure about at first. In edits though I always try to re-order things if needed, and there's no harm in doing a quick re-change to gauge the flow. I was worried that it comes in too quickly and spoils what I considered the funniest moment in the film. As it stands, it quickly grabs your attention, but without an understanding of what’s actually going on, the scene lacks something when it's at the beginning.

One of my favourite touches to the entire piece is the music we got for the credits, a melancholic rendition of 'My Darling Clementine'. Of course, the pun is brilliant, but the tone of the piece really fitted with the ending. More time than I care to admit was spent deciding when the music should start to fade in.

Overall the edit was completed over the course of about three long afternoons. There was a slightly late night working on the export and upload, but not quite 4am levels of awful like my grad film.

Watching it back now, the film is a little uncomfortable to sit through. Matt does a lot to make the character as socially awkward as possible and they are exacerbated by the long silences. The gags aren't laugh out loud funny, and some are perhaps a little too obvious, but the film doesn't feel like on joke that been stretched too thin which was certainly a concern of mine before I even started to develop it.

The shift in tone towards the end is the stand-out moment for me since it accomplishes what I set out to do. I'm still not sure if the ending feels slightly forced or mawkish, but there is a tangible moment where the jokes end and things get a little more serious.

Conclusion

The purpose of this post wasn't meant to sound like 'everyone, let me explain why this is an underrated gem that you'd be foolish not to love.' The film is not a masterpiece, but it was one of the first films I properly did some research into and I wanted to translate my findings into a character we have a shifting relationship with.

I guess one of the biggest things holding it back as a third year project is it's lack of physical ambition – it was a single bloke talking to camera between two locations. I guess I just wanted to experiment a bit with dialogue writing over camera techniques.

but hopefully, if you didn't know already reading this can help you appreciate just how much attention to detail and thought goes into movie making in general, this is just a 3 minute short too, so imagine the effort required for a feature film. That's crazy.

Anyhoo, here's the film again: