Director's Notes

DIRECTORS NOTES
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DIRECTORS NOTES
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DIRECTORS NOTES
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Welcome to the Director’s Notes. This is technical breakdown of each of the 45 shoots in the
Cities At Dawn documentary which tells you about the content within each scene.
This document tells you who’s in each scene, the location, the genre of the filming style,
interesting elements within the rushes and possible ideas on how to cut. It’s great to use
in conjunction with viewing and the breakdown process in the beginning weeks of the
course.
All directors you end up working with throughout your career will have numerous
observations about their footage. Things they liked, things they didn’t like, technical
problems, reasons for why they did something a certain way and not others. We are here
to take all of these observations on board but also look at the footage from an impartial
distance and in a completely fresh way.
It is very important that you read this document through several times and keep it as a
reference when cutting each individual scene. There are so many different ways to cut
each scene within the film and we’ve been very careful not to cut every single one of them
within our tutorial demonstrations. It is very important that you take an unbiased attempt at
cutting each one without copying the edit example within each tutorial.
Shoot 1 City of London

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Various locations around London’s financial district.
Footage genre
Generic observational B roll.
Action within the scene

Four or five different photography set ups.
Possible meanings or usage

Will be used solely as B roll over any one of Anthony’s interviews.
Interesting elements
There are some very nice wide and close up shots of Anthony at work. Specifically, the
setting up of his camera, changing lenses, changing film, using his light meter etc… The
shots where he’s photographing the huge mirror in the square is also interesting and would
make a great mini sequence.

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Technical issues
As this was Anthony’s first shoot for the film and as he was quite nervous a radio mic was
not used and so any sync that he does say to camera is probably not usable in any great
amount.
You’ll also see that he naturally works at quite a fast pace when photographing. This caused
problems with the focusing as the cinematic beauty of narrow depth of field filming means
that the characters can’t move around to quickly.
As the shoot progressed and with some producing he learned to slow down and realise that
shooting for a documentary has to be done at a more unhurried pace.
Observations
Like so many non trained television characters Anthony got more and more comfortable as
the shoot went on. This first shoot was always thought of as a testing exercise to not only get
some preliminary B roll but to also get him used to being filmed.
Shoot 2 Parliament
Characters
Anthony.
Location
Walking to Westminster Bridge, central London to photograph the Houses of Parliament.
Footage genre
One on one interview based sync as well as accompanying observational B roll.

Several nice walking shots through central London and then an sync based observational
scene on the bridge as he photographs the famous parliamentary building.

Could definitely have several uses. There’s enough good sync from Anthony describing the
process and technical side of photographing the Houses of Parliament which could make a
good stand alone scene. But there’s also enough good B roll that could be stolen and used in
a more reflective scene cut against any number of Anthony’s Master Interview subjects.
The important point being that if we did steal B roll elements from this scene and use them
elsewhere we should be very careful not to use them again in a solely observational scene
about shooting the Houses of Parliament.

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There are some great set up shots of Anthony walking through the underpass and across
several streets that could be used to either set up the main scene on the bridge or as
wallpaper shots in a more reflective scene at a different part of the documentary.
In the later part of the shoot when the sun has actually risen there are some really nice lens
flare shots on the bridge and sun rays hitting Anthony.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
Anthony actually got up a bit too late on this morning and so not only did he miss the first
breaking light of dawn but also there were quite a lot of people around. Much of Anthony’s
more reflective sync about what shooting at dawn is like often revolves around the fact that
most of the time he is alone on the streets. When cutting this scene together is would be
important to avoid shots with to many people in it.
Shoot 3 Tower Bridge

Characters
Anthony.
Location
South side of the River Thames facing Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, central
London.
Footage genre

Anthony sets up his kit just in front of Tower Bridge and then walks down to The Mayor of
London’s office.

Could have several uses. As a straight observational scene of Anthony working and him
talking through the various things he looks out for when photographing as well as some
interesting thoughts on dawn light.
Some of the early shots of him setting up with Tower Bridge in the background are so
nice that they could be used in numerous reflective scenes or montages of photography
locations.

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There’s also not many people around this location and so any sync from Anthony based
around isolation, deserted streets or serenity at that time in the morning could definitely be
used with some of these shots.
Anthony gives a few explanations that could make up an interesting scene. He talks us
through the technical side of using his light meter and also the several lighting issues
around photographing the Mayor’s office.
There are some nice cutaway shots of the north side of the river including the 1000 year old
Tower of London.
Technical issues
There is quite an extreme light change during the shoot as all of the night time artificial light
was turned off on the street.
Observations
The light and backdrop of Tower Bridge at the start of the scene really is beautiful and is
definitely worth using in several places throughout the film. Aside from the few interesting
sync based explanations the morning is so grey in colour palate that the scene probably
wouldn’t last too long as an observational scene. However, many of these shots could be
used as a primary connection between any sync subjects from Anthony talking about how
grey the light in London can often be or possibly how often the light at dawn is rarely great.
Shoot 4 Trafalgar Square

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Outside The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and also down by the fountains next to
Nelson’s Column, central London.
Footage genre

Anthony stands with his back to The National Gallery and photographs Nelson’s Column
in Trafalgar Square. He then walks down the steps and starts to take photos of the frozen
fountains and the statues.

One of the primary elements of interest is the snow. It’s pretty rare to get that kind of snow

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in central London, especially in Trafalgar Square. These shots illustrate the seasonal work of
Anthony. He does this all year round and linking many of the most beautiful shots of him
photographing in the snow with sync explaining that would be a great primary connection.
We could also look for any sync with Anthony saying that he goes out in all weathers.
There’s some great shots of some of the kind of people you do actually see at dawn. Street
cleaners, people who’ve obviously been partying all night and not slept. These shots could
definitely go into a bin on the subject. In Anthony’s Master Interview he talks about what
kind of people are out and about at this time and these would help illustrate that perfectly.
Technical issues
None
Observations
There is some interesting descriptive sync from Anthony talking about snow and light
that link into the larger themes around unsuccessful mornings. His hope and expectation
around beautiful dawn light bouncing off of snow is nice and could make an interesting
short scene. You can see that he’s getting more and more confident in front of the camera.
There are also quite a few really interesting shots of him working in the snow which would
cut beautifully around this scene but could also be used for other more reflective scenes.
Shoot 5 Battersea
Characters
Anthony.
Location
North side of the River Thames opposite the famous Battersea Power Station.
Footage genre

Anthony sets up his kit and shoots the power station from the opposite bank of the river. He
then packs up and walks off.

This is definitely a candidate for a short scene about an unsuccessful mornings
photography. Anthony has quite a lot of expectation about the quality of light as the dawn
breaks but when it happens it’s actually quite a flat and dull light that doesn’t photograph
well. As it’s below freezing and the light is bad he cuts his losses and leaves.

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Some very nice establishing shots over the river of the industrial areas of Battersea.
Technical issues
None
Observations
A well covered scene with several good camera angles. Would be easy to make this short
observational scene look good. There’s a good amount of coverage, nice sync and nice
angles. Would definitely be a candidate for a slightly longer observational scene that stands
on it’s own.
Definitely worth looking in all of Anthony’s interviews for some sync themes around
subjects like “unsuccessful mornings”, “putting in the hours” and “you never know what the
light will be like at dawn”. Intercutting these with the on location observational interview
could intro the scene nicely and possibly round it off.
Shoot 6 London GVs

Characters
None.
Location
Various locations throughout London.
Footage genre
Mostly tripod based GV shots of London.

Establishing shots of London life. Lots of high angle wide shots of the London skyline at
various times in the day as well as lots of morning rush hour shots of Londoners going to
work.

Multiple uses. Many of the high angle wide shots of the London skyline can be used as
establishing shots for the beginnings and endings of scenes. As there are many of them
from numerous times in the day we’d also be able to use them across lots of different types
of scenes.
The rush hour shots of people going to work would be great to use as an illustration of what
London is like after Anthony has stopped working. The city wakes up and is extremely busy,
these shots could be used in many different ways cut against the serenity and peacefulness

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of when Anthony is working.
Apart from the high angle wide shots of the London skyline there’s quite a few beautiful
early morning shots of several London landmarks that are completely deserted which is
a rare sight in a city as busy as London. These could definitely be used as short breaks
between scenes to keep the theme of the deserted city in the audience’s mind.
Technical issues
None
Observations
Nothing specific in terms of observations apart from the fact that many of these shots will
really help us illustrate many of the big themes within the film.
Shoot 7 Tower of London

Characters
Anthony.
Location
First section of the shoot at Tower Pier overlooking the River Thames with Tower Bridge in
the background. Second half outside The Tower of London.
Footage genre
No interview based sync. Mostly tripod based cinematic wide shots.

A few walking shots of Anthony but mostly beauty shots of him waiting for dawn.

Multiple uses in some of the more reflective scenes. Anywhere where Anthony talks about
waiting for the dawn to come, the expectation of what kind of light it will be or themes like
that would fit perfectly with any of these shots.
There are some beautiful silhouette shots of Anthony overlooking the River Thames with
the lit up Tower Bridge in the background. There’s also some really nice pull focus shots
from Anthony in profile to the water.
Also some very nice images of him waiting for dawn while looking at The Tower of London.

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Technical issues
No sync, so no radio mic used on this shoot.
Observations
In general, much slower and wider shots of Anthony at dawn that will really give the film a
cinematic look. With the right score and sync underneath these shots,any scene we cut with
them will look really beautiful.
Shoot 8 Buckingham Palace

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Opposite Buckingham Palace, the London home of the Queen.
Footage genre

Anthony sets up opposite the Palace and shoots. He moves around a bit but mostly stays in
this one area and then packs up and walks off.

Could use elements of the sync to tie in with larger themes in his master interview. Themes
like “the window of opportunity” and the technical side of photography.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
Not the most interesting of dawn scenes. Anthony talks about the technical side of
photography, including issues like contrast which is fairly interesting. He also delves into
the running theme of “the window of opportunity”. He points out that Buckingham Palace
is actually quite a difficult building to photograph as street access is very limited.
But he’s not hugely excited in any way and therefore I’d probably be inclined to limit the
duration of this scene. There’s definitely elements that can come out of it and maybe feed
into larger themes but I’m not sure it’ll stand on it’s own as a scene. I might be wrong about
that so it’s worth going through and breaking it down in detail to see what’s there.

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Shoot 9 Prepping The Negs

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Anthony’s basement office in Waterloo, central London.
Footage genre

Anthony is going through all of his old film negatives and examining them with an
eyepiece. Most of the action happens at his photo desk around his light box.

Really nice rushes and definitely a candidate for a stand alone observational scene. The sync
subject is very interesting and the pictures would illustrate the scene very well.
The main conversation is about the changing landscape within photography as everyone
is moving from film shooting to digital. Anthony has some great opinions and historical
insight about the subject. Much of the B roll is very darkly lit and cinematic and it’ll cut
together beautifully with what he’s talking about.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
Because of the naturally slower and cerebral pace of the rushes it would be worth trying
to position it in between two faster or more emotive scenes that have been scored. I’d also
think that this would be a candidate to have as a scene without a music bed.
Shoot 10 Paris Negs

Characters
Anthony.
Location

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Footage genre

Anthony is again at his light box selecting film negatives. This time the images are from a
recent shoot in Paris.

Definitely a candidate for a stand alone observational scene. Anthony introduces in detail for
the first time his new project of shooting Paris at Dawn. It could be a good intro scene into
the subject.
Anthony also talks about his meticulous selection and scanning process and how long it
takes. There’s some really interesting sync and images later on in the rushes when he’s
scanned some images and is looking through them on his computer.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
This is definitely a scene that needs to be quite far away in the running order to Shoot 09
as they are very similar pictorially. We can show both scenes but the audience must not see
them in close proximity.
After so much dawn shooting it’s nice to see what happens after the pictures have been
taken and hear his creative thought process when selecting and post producing each
one. Again the lighting down there is quite dark and moody and will definitely look very
cinematic when cut together.
We could try and cut it in a slightly different way fromShoot 09 so that the two scenes don’t
blend into one in the mind of the viewer. Possibly use music this time to differentiate it even
further.
Shoot 11 Venice Day 1

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Venice, Italy. The Rialto Bridge and then various locations around the city.

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Footage genre
A mixture of one on one interview based sync and accompanying observational B roll,
tripod based beauty shots and hand held geographical shots.

Rolls 1-5 are mostly around the famous Rialto Bridge as Anthony is photographing it at
dawn. There are several tripod based establishing shots of him walking around the area to
find his shooting location beforehand. Rolls 6-10 are various locations around the ancient
city including a marketplace, on a water bus and numerous canals and alleyways.

The first half of the rushes could definitely be used as a stand alone observational scene of
him photographing the 400 year old bridge. His sync and the B roll accompanying them are
really good.
The second half of the footage is Anthony exploring the city on foot throughout the course
of the day. There is lots of great sync and B roll and this could definitely be built into an
establishing scene before the three dawn shoots.
The observational rushes around the Rialto bridge have a great section within them about
how everything changes when the night time lights go off. This could be a running theme
as it happens in so many different locations in London, Paris and Venice. Whether that
would be one scene with multiple mornings in or several separate scenes would definitely
be something to consider in the later stages of the assembly stages.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
I would consider building a fairly fast paced establishing sequence of Anthony roaming
around the city intercut with small bits of hits sync. This could go after the mini establishing
sequence of the city itself. They could blend into each other very nicely, definitely worth a
try.

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Venice, Italy. Several locations throughout the city including the famous St Mark’s Square
and outside the Doge’s Palace.

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Footage genre

There’s a good chain of action throughout these rushes. Anthony waits for the water bus,
get’s on it and sails to St. Mark’s Square. He then photographs the famous Basilica in the
Square and then the sunrise across the water outside the Doge’s Palace.
After this there are several high angle shots of the city from numerous different angles
filmed at the top of the bell tower in St Mark’s Square. The day ended with a whole Roll of
establishing shots of the city filmed from a water bus.

A definite stand alone scene would be to show Anthony’s whole morning from waiting
for the water bus before dawn all the way to photographing the sunrise outside the Doge’s
Palace. There is some very interesting sync throughout the morning as well as some
beautiful dawn shots over the sea.
The high angle wide shots filmed from the bell tower in St Mark’s Square would be a great
way to introduce the city for the first time. We could also use some of them to break up the
various locations within the rushes as stand alone wide shots in-between scenes.
There are so many interesting elements in this set of rushes All the shots of Anthony eating
his breakfast on the boat as we see the buildings in Venice sail past in the dark are really
beautiful. Many of the shots in St Mark’s Square are also fantastic and definitely a candidate
to use in multiple places in the film.
But the really beautiful shots are down by the waterfront outside the Doge’s Palace. The
actual colours of the sunrise were the best filmed throughout the whole documentary and
these definitely have multiple uses outside of a stand alone observational scene.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
Not much to say outside of what’s already been said. Loads of great content that has lots of
potential for multiple uses.

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Characters
Anthony.
Location
Outside the St. Maria of Salute Basilica and then onto the Punta della Dogana di Mare at the
entrance to The Grand Canal in Venice, Italy.
Footage genre

Anthony is photographing various things around the Basilica including statues and the
Grand Canal. He then goes around the corner and photographs the bay on the other side of
the point.

Not the most interesting sync from Anthony we’ve got but definitely worth breaking
down and seeing if it holds up as a stand alone scene by itself. He does say some good
stuff however about how you can come all the way to a location to photograph an specific
building but you end up shooting something completely different. Might be interesting
trying to construct something around that as a theme for the scene.
There are however numerous beauty shots that can be used in a location based montage of
Anthony photographing. If the rushes don’t sustain a stand alone scene we can definitely
sift through them, take out the nicest ones and use them elsewhere.
Morning joggers are a sight in any city in the world at dawn. There are a few shots of joggers
in these sets of rushes. Would be worth sub clipping them and putting them in a bin themed
on the kind of people you see at dawn.
There are several really nice silhouette shots of Anthony in the second location overlooking
the bay. And right at the end there are some really beautiful shots of him sitting on the steps
of the basilica overlooking the Grand Canal which could definitely be used elsewhere.
Technical issues
A few scratches on the mic in places but not too bad.
Observations
Again, not sure if it stands up as a scene by itself or if we should just take the best elements

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out and feed them into other sequences. But it’s definitely worth a try.
Shoot 14 Venice IV
Characters
Anthony.
Location
Hotel room in Venice, Italy.
Footage genre
Sit down interview.

Anthony being interviewed in two different frames sizes, a wide and a close up.

Numerous subjects spoken about throughout the course of the interview that can be weaved
into the observational scenes shot in Venice. This sync can also be built into some more
reflective scenes about Venice with the use of some of the more cinematic and beauty type
B roll.
Too numerous to list but we should methodically go through the transcript for this interview
and break it down into subjects and themes. After everything has been broken down and
organised we’ll have a much better idea of connecting the good sync with interesting and
relevant elements.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
This was Anthony’s first sit down interview in the documentary and you can easily see that
he is guarded. If you watch his Master Interview on Roll 44 which was shot a year later you
can see how much more relaxed and natural he is.
Shoot 15 BBC Radio IV

Characters
Anthony and Robert Elms.

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Location
BBC Building in Central London.
Footage genre
Observational radio interview.

Anthony is being interviewed live for BBC Radio by the DJ Robert Elms. There are several
establishing shots of the BBC building at the end as well for use either as starting or ending
establishers.

Would definitely work as a short scene early on in the film that could serve as an
introduction to Anthony for the Audience. It also adds a sense of kudos as it’s a very big
radio show from one of the biggest and most respected broadcasters in the world.
He’s actually there to talk about a project he’s involved with called We Love Photo but this
was not filmed so cutting out any references to it would be a necessity. We’d want to keep
the interview based around the broader subjects within photography which they are talking
about.
Any of the sync around Anthony’s opinions on modern day photography are definitely
interesting and worth trying to build into a scene. Could link into a broader theme of digital
vs film photography for which we have that great scene earlier on in Anthony’s office, Shoot
09.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
Might be worth introducing the scene over a montage of London shots with the intro audio
sting from The Robert Elms show and then cut inside to the interview.
Shoot 16 Paris Day 1

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Paris, France. Several locations throughout the north side of the city but mostly around the
high point and famous Sacre Coeur Basilica overlooking Paris.

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Footage genre

Anthony introduces us to Paris by photographing one of the best views of the city. From the
steps of Sacre Coeur. He then walks the streets in the surrounding areas while shooting.

Definite stand alone scene at Sacre Coeur. The sync is good and the shots are beautiful. The
wide vistas overlooking the whole of Paris will look great on top of a really cinematic score.
There are also numerous B roll shots of him shooting in the surrounding streets that could
be cut into an intro mini sequence of him in Paris.
There are some interesting observations that Anthony has about the streets at dawn in
Paris. It’s a city that is methodically cleaned every single morning by an army of street
cleaners and the steps of Sacre Coeur is an place famous for young people congregating and
partying every night as they overlook the city.
Could flow into the larger themes around the people you see out at dawn and the re-birth of
the city every morning. There’s a particularly funny bit of sync about pigeons eating vomit
with loads of shots of them, empty bottles of wine and alcohol and street cleaners beginning
to tidy it all away.
Technical issues
There was a group of young guys in a car on the road separating the Basilica and the steps
who were playing loud dance music. We asked them to turn it down several times but
they mostly ignored us. When building this scene we should try to cut this out as much as
possible. Scoring it will hide much of the problem but on some of the B roll it’s quite loud so
it would be worth stripping out the natural audio on these shots and trying to replace it with
clean sounds from earlier or later shots.
Observations
Multiple uses to this set of rushes but the Sacre Coeur scene is a great contender to introduce
Paris to the audience. Anthony points out many of the famous locations in the city and
gives lots of great intro sync.

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Characters
Anthony.
Location
Paris, France. Several locations around the River Seine which runs through the centre of the
city including the 1000 year Notre Dame Cathedral and the Love Lock Bridge.
Footage genre

Anthony Photographing Notre Dame from the opposite bank of the River Seine. Then
walking along the river to photograph The Love Lock Bridge, Pont des Arts.

The rushes down by Notre Dame will make a really nice scene of Anthony fighting against
time. He’s worked out that the street lighting will go off pretty soon and he wants to get the
shots before that happens so as to have a well balanced set of images. We actually capture all
of the street lights going out on camera so that would be a great end to the scene.
There are some nice walking and talking shots as he makes his way to the second location.
But The Love Lock Bridge would also be a great stand alone scene. He met two young lovers
sitting and watching the sunrise together on the bridge and ended up talking to them for
a while. They let me film them and it would definitely be worth seeing if a short actuality
sequence could be built from it.
There’s also a couple of young guys who had just come out of a party and were sitting on
the bridge playing a guitar and singing which was quite funny. They were nice guys but
struggling a bit! And lots of shots of street cleaners that could go into our ‘characters at
dawn’ bin or ‘street cleaners’ bin.
At the start of the rushes there are some nice establishing shots of Notre Dame and various
different angles of the river and streets around them.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
Lots of great uses for these rushes on top of all of the above. Some really nice dawn sky
shots, silhouette shots and sun rays hitting Anthony as he photographs which could be left

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out of these two possible observational scenes and put into some more reflective scenes. All
in all, a good days shooting with lots of great sync and B Roll.

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Paris, France. Various locations around The Trocadero, opposite the Eiffel Tower.
Footage genre

Anthony photographs the Eiffel Tower from several positions around The Trocadero and
gives a few separate and short interviews.

Will make a nice stand alone scene as Anthony talks through the technical side of
photographing it. But one of the really interesting parts is when he gives a short interview
about how you have to get there before the thousands of tourists turn up. Right on cue a bus
load of tourists turn up and start taking photographs. Definitely worth trying to build a light
hearted comedy scene around that.
Some nice establishing shots of the Eiffel Tower at the start as well as several versions of
pan and tilt shots of Anthony walking past camera and revealing the famous wrought-iron
tower.
There’s also a great shot of Anthony walking down the huge steps, revealing the Eiffel Tower
and all of the street lighting goes off at the same time, completely changing the look of
everything. Couldn’t have planned it better!
On Rolls 4 and 5 there’s a short but really nice interview from Anthony as he looks out
towards the Eiffel Tower and starts talking about some of the more reflective and emotional
sides of his work. He also talks about the ‘window of opportunity’ theme again so it would
be worth taking those relevant sections out and including them in a separate ‘window of
opportunity’ scene.

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Technical issues
Check for any focusing issues on some of the establishing shots. A few of them looked a bit
soft.
Observations
Feels like a lot of the early shots of Anthony walking up and looking at the Eiffel Tower.
Would lend itself to a more reflective scene. There are some really nice wide shots and close
ups that really do call for some emotional sync and music underneath. There’s also the really
nice birds flying shot that could be worked in there with the right sync.
Shoot 19 Paris IV
Characters
Anthony.
Location
Paris, France. A park bench.
Footage genre
Sit down interview.

Anthony being interviewed in two different frames sizes, a wide and a close up.

Numerous subjects spoken about throughout the course of the interview that can be weaved
into the observational scenes shot in Paris. This sync can also be built into some more
reflective scenes about Paris with the use of some of the cinematic and beauty type B roll.
Too numerous to list but we should methodically go through the transcript for this interview
and break it down into subjects and themes. After everything has been broken down and
organised we’ll have a much better idea of connecting the good sync with interesting and
relevant elements.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
This was Anthony’s second sit down interview in the documentary and you can now see
that he is getting much more comfortable with the camera. Not as comfortable as he is
in his Master Interview on Roll 44 but he’s definitely getting there. It really is one of the
pleasures of watching the rushes for a long form documentary. That mask or nervous

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emotional wall slowly gets broken down and you start to get some really nice and natural
sync which Anthony definitely gives us in this interview.
Shoot 20 Designing Book

Characters
Anthony & one of his book designers, Paul.
Location
Footage genre
Actuality.

The action takes happens in two places. On his long photography table and at his computer
in the corner of the room. Anthony and Paul are going through and checking the layout and
design of every page of Anthony’s books before they are sent off to the printer.

Definitely a short actuality scene that could easily sustain a couple of minutes. Would also
be worth checking if there is any specific sync in Anthony or Diana’s Master Interviews of
them talking about the design process or the fact that they are self publishing. This could be
used as an intercut to spread the scene out.
There’s a real undercurrent of pressure from Anthony as they are close to the deadline
and have a lot of work to do. On several occasions he is a bit curt with Paul as the stress is
obviously getting to him.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
My initial thought would be to steer the scene towards a theme around stress and tension
but in a light hearted way. It could be quite funny as Paul has a good sense of humour and
some of his retorts to Anthony could get some laughs. It might also be worth looking for
Master Interview sync from Diana specifically around how Anthony deals with stress or
pressure as an artist to cut against this.

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Shoot 21 Diana & Cara

Characters
Diana and Cara.
Location
Anthony and Diana’s home, west London.
Footage genre
Actuality

Diana is getting advise from her friend Cara about how to set up there upcoming crowd
funding campaign for the books and all of the necessary social media associated with it.
Everything happens on two sofas in the living room.

Could be used as a small part of a larger section within the film introducing the crowd
funding campaign and the race to get everything done. Would definitely be worth finding
Master Interview sync from Diana of her talking about the campaign and the fact that her
friend has come to help her.
There’s some good examples of previous work that Cara’s done on similar projects, would
be worth cutting a version of that together. Would also be worth feeding in interview sync
from Diana about how they’ve never done anything like this before and are completely in
the dark.
Technical issues
Audio is quite low, might need boosting in places.
Observations
I’m not sure if this will sustain a whole actuality scene itself. I would be more inclined to use
it as a shorter part of larger themes described above. But still worth a try.
Shoot 22 Budget Meeting

Characters
Anthony and Diana.
Location

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 23
Footage genre
Actuality.

They sit and have a scheduling and budget meeting on two chairs in the office for an hour
or so.

This scene could be pretty funny in several different ways and is worth cutting a few
variations to see how it turn out. Firstly, Diana outlines the enormous list of tasks they have
to achieve before the end of the year, including raising a huge amount of money, getting the
books printed, filling up their photography workshops with lots of customers and organising
two exhibitions. Anthony is visibly stressed by this.
There’s also a narrative thread running through the scene that they’re waiting for a
commercial photography client to call to see if Anthony has got a job he’s been pitching for.
Right at the end he finds out he has the job and Diana then crosses the amount of money
they’ll make from it off the budget which could be a very funny out for the scene. It would
also highlight the jeopardy to come.
I love the tone of these rushes. You really get to see the husband and wife team interact
with each other for the first time. They have a very funny relationship and the way they
communicate with each other is very endearing.
There’s huge amount of love between them but they also love arguing with each other in a
humorous way. Pulling these elements out of the rushes and constructing the scene around
these themes would definitely make a great scene.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
We could use these rushes to serve many purposes if we intercut them with Master
Interview sync from both Diana and Anthony. Many different interview subjects could be
woven into this actuality, e.g. describing their working relationship together, the enormity
of the project, how they have suffered financially in order to make their dream come true.
These are all well covered in the Master Interviews from both of them and this actuality
would provide a great illustration for them so there are many different possibilities for these
rushes.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 24
Shoot 23 Tony Arrives Home

Characters
Anthony, Diana, Theo and Tessie.
Location
Footage genre
Actuality.

Anthony comes home from a photography trip abroad and the whole family are there to
meet him at the door.

Could definitely work as a short actuality scene by itself but it’s worth going through all of
the interviews from Anthony and Diana to find specific sync that relates to Anthony going
away and how hard it is on them and the kids.
Some funny establishing shots of Trouser the cat on the bin at the start which would be a
nice way to start the scene. I shot the scene twice and still got great reactions from the kids
the second time which is rare. They hadn’t seen Anthony in a couple of weeks so they were
absolutely overjoyed to have him back home and it showed, even on a second take!
Technical issues
None.
Observations
Great scene where you see the love between the whole family. Would be worth cutting
this long and seeing what sync we could find about family life. I think this is definitely a
contender to leave as a longer stand alone actuality scene as there are some really beautiful
moments in it.
Would also probably be inclined to try a subtle music track underneath it. Nothing too
sentimental or emotional as the actuality is strong enough to sustain the scene without it.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 25
Shoot 24 Proofs Arrive

Characters
Anthony and Diana.
Location
Footage genre
Sit down interviews and actuality.

Anthony and Diana both give interviews in the garden beforehand and then open their
design proofs inside the house. This is followed by two further interviews out in the garden
afterwards.

This is a classic observational television scene with pre and post interviews that directly
relate to what is going to happen and what has just happened in the actuality rushes. The
structure could go several different ways but from looking through the rushes it might be
worth starting off intercutting the two pre-actuality interviews in order to highlight their
two opposing views. Then we could play the actuality scene as a whole. And finally intercut
the post-interviews to compare the emotional fallout afterwards.
There are numerous elements within this set of rushes that are very interesting. Anthony’s
confidence in the pre-interview, Diana’s lack off confidence in hers. The actuality in the
middle of the rushes is great as pretty much everything that could go wrong does. The
book really didn’t come out the way they planned and so most of the reactions are very
compelling.
The post actuality interviews are again, fantastic as both of them are very honest in front
of the camera and give some great sync. Anthony’s ends with him fed up and walking off
which is really dramatic and Diana’s end with her revealing how much trouble the project is
now in.
Technical issues
There’s a real problem with the background audio. As Anthony and Diana live underneath
the Heathrow airport flight path we were unfortunate that the day we shot this scene was
one of the busiest flight days of the year. On numerous occasions we had to stop filming the
interviews in the garden and restart once the planes had flown over.
From a cursory look through the rushes though, it all looks fixable. I filmed several shots of

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 26
planes flying over head so if we the establish the planes early on in a shot or two we’ll be
able to get away with it.
Observations
These rushes have everything, drama, jeopardy, comedy and so cutting this into a tight
scene will be a lot of fun.
Shoot 25 Kickstarter Live

Characters
Anthony, Diana and Petronella.
Location
Two locations. At their local coffee shop, Scooter Works and the basement office in Waterloo,
central London.
Footage genre
Actuality, observational B roll and sit down interview.

The whole of Roll 1 is shot in Anthony and Diana’s local coffee shop, Scooter Works. They sit
at a table with their laptop and launch the crowd funding campaign to raise the money for
their self published books.
Rolls 2, 3 and 4 are shot immediately afterwards inside their office as they start all of their
social media announcing the launch. There is also a short interview with Diana on the
outside steps of the office on Roll 3 followed by a Roll of observational cutaways of them
working on their computers on Roll 4.

This is a great set of rushes and has several different components. The initial scene in the
coffee shop where they launch their crowd funding campaign is a big moment for them and
definitely needs to stand on it’s own as a small actuality scene. Diana is really nervous and
excited as they press the live button but Anthony is nervous and is quite curt in places.
The interview with Diana on the steps outside their office later has some great sync in it
about how Anthony handles pressure and his current state of mind.
The second half of the rushes in the office straight after the launch is also an exciting
moment as they start to see the first crowd funding bids come in. Diana lets out a few
screams of joy and gets very animated about the whole thing. Again, Anthony is nervous
and has a kind of withdrawn demeanour.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 27
Cutting the two differing energy levels from each character against each other and using
Diana’s interview as the spine to illustrate Anthony’s state of mind is definitely a good
direction to start with.
These rushes are all pretty interesting, there are some great actuality moments which
illustrate the difference between Anthony and Diana in terms of excitement.
Technical issues
The sound recorder on Diana’s interview failed to record the radio mic audio which means
that only the front of camera mic was captured. It doesn’t sound great and any use of this
interview should be pretty limited in duration. Unfortunately it’s a great interview so it’s
worth pulling out the best bits and seeing if it works.
Observations
If the sync from Diana’s interview on the stairs outside the office is unusable it would be
worth sifting through her Master Interview and finding some similar sync about Anthony’s
demeanour. There are definitely sections within her Master IV where she describes Anthony
in a similar way and so definitely worth a try at weaving them into the actuality.
Shoot 26 Dawn Workshop

Characters
Anthony and his students, Jacqueline and Simon.
Location
Various locations from the River Thames, all the way through the financial district and then
on to the east end of London.
Footage genre
Mostly actuality and observational B roll with two short interviews at the end.

Anthony is taking his photography students on a tour of various locations in London as part
of his City At Dawn Workshops. As they walk through the streets he is teaching them the
technical and creative side of photography. They ask lots of questions and he demonstrates.

This could definitely work as a stand alone actuality scene by itself. There are loads of great
actuality moments as Anthony teaches Jacqueline and Simon the art of photography. What
we really want to get out of this scene though is several themes around Anthony’s teaching.
We want to see his expertise, his passion and his patience. He really loves teaching and so

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 28
pulling out some of the most passionate parts is a must.
There is also supporting sync in both Anthony and Diana’s Master Interviews that cover the
subject of him teaching which could definitely be woven into this.
The financial district of London, known as The City of London is, as you would expect, big
glass buildings and expensive architecture. But the east end of London is known as a much
more artistic and bohemian area which looks completely different. There’s some really nice
footage where the group photograph some of the street art in Shoreditch and seeing how
the look of London can change completely within a few streets is definitely something
worth considering when editing this particular scene.
Jacqueline and Simon are both fun characters and the rapport between them all is great. It
should make a nice, light hearted scene.
Technical issues
There’s a few shots with no audio in places.
Observations
The rushes for this scene are quite long, well over an hour but like most scenes in TV it
wouldn’t sustain for more than four minutes or so. Breaking down and building these
rushes will probably be a bit harder than the average actuality scene as there’s so much good
stuff and so much content. But if we keep in mind the object of the scene being to illustrate
Anthony’s passion and expertise in teaching it shouldn’t be too hard.
Simon actually joined the workshop a bit later in the morning on this shoot so all of Roll
1 and some of Roll 2 are with Anthony and Jacqueline only. This is a difficult one as it’s a
weigh up between a few factors. The beautiful dawn light has pretty much gone by the
time Simon turns up which is a shame. But it would be strange just introducing another
character out of nowhere. A carefully worded line of voiceover stating this might be the way
forward if we chose to include all of the early shots with just Anthony and Jacqueline.
Shoot 27 Test Books Arrive

Characters
Diana.
Location
Footage genre

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 29

The printers have sent over an initial small batch of books for Anthony and Diana to look
over and start to use in their exhibition promotion. After two years of work on the project
it’s the first time they have seen the finished products. She opens the boxes, takes them out,
looks through them and comments on them.
After the initial observational rushes of the box opening there are lots of nice B roll shots of
Diana looking through the book which can be used to hide the cuts over her interview.

Great stand alone scene that really show how excited Diana is. I’d be tempted to let this run
over a few minutes long as it’s a big moment for them. We have a one on one observational
start to the scene where Diana is opening the book and commenting on it. It would be good
to play that out and go through all of the emotions that she gives us. We could then move
into the best parts of the interview that was shot afterwards with the B roll of her looking
through the book used to cover jump cuts for the second half of the scene.
An interesting element to this scene is Diana’s explanation of what happened in Shoot 24.
They really were not happy with the way the proofs had turned out but Diana offers an
explanation as to how they feel about them now and what’s changed. This is something that
will definitely need to go in otherwise it will seem to the audience that they are not happy
with the final book, which definitely was not the case. Quite a strong narrative problem if
not included.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
It was a shame that Anthony was not there to see the test books when they arrived but he
was away shooting overseas that week. We shot a pickup interview with him at his house
later on which gave us his reactions to the book in Shoot 36 First Look At Book.
Shoot 28 Print arrives

Characters
Anthony and Diana.
Location

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 30
Footage genre
Starts off with one on one interview based sync and observational B roll with Anthony. It
then moves into an actuality scene after Diana arrives with the exhibition print.

The first part of the rushes is a small scene where Anthony is choosing the prints for the St
Pancras exhibition and the order in which they go in. He takes us through his process of
selection and his plans for the exhibition in a short observational interview.
The second part of the rushes is Diana arriving with the huge exhibition test print. They
open it up and take a look for the first time and are both very excited.

I think that Anthony taking us through the selecting process for his exhibition prints is a
really nice small scene in itself and worth cutting long to see what comes out of it. We really
get to understand Anthony’s creative process a little better and therefore we’re painting an
even more detailed picture of him for our audience.
The second half could be cut as a stand alone actuality scene. There are some very funny
moments in the actuality between the two and it’s another great illustration of their
relationship.
I love the way that Diana is joking around with Anthony and really want to use this scene to
illustrate their relationship in more detail. These are the most interesting elements within
the scene for me and I really want to emphasise the points. Yes, it’s great seeing the action
of seeing the big print for the first time and the reaction we get from both of them. But the
secondary theme within this scene is definitely their relationship.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
I’d definitely like to try splitting the scene up into these two parts and seeing whether we
could show them at different parts of the documentary. It might not work as there may be
too many references to the picture selection for the exhibition in the actuality part of the
footage. Also, the audience might remember the shots of the small prints on Anthony’s
photography tables and the clothes that he was wearing. But you never know, it’s worth a try.
Shoot 29 Tony Leaving

Characters

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 31
Location
Footage genre
Observational B roll and actuality.

Anthony is packing his luggage and photography kit in his bedroom for one of his trips
abroad. He then goes down stairs and has an emotional goodbye with his family.

This scene could be used before introducing either the Venice or Paris scenes in the film.
We can look at which city is best served with a goodbye scene beforehand after we’ve done
all of our rough cutting and are starting to assemble the scenes in an preliminary order.
It’s also worth looking for any sync in both Anthony and Diana’s interview about him going
away to work all of the time. I’d be particularly looking out for sync describing the emotional
side of him leaving his family as this will match up nicely to the sad goodbye. We could
weave that under the actuality to great effect.
Tessie’s tears at the end when she says goodbye to her Daddy will melt the audience’s heart!
Technical issues
None.
Observations
We’d really want to string out the emotion of this scene as much as possible and so a
perfectly selected music track is a must.
Shoot 30 Di IV Funding Progress

Characters
Diana.
Location
In the bedroom of Anthony and Diana’s home, west London.
Footage genre
Sit down interview with accompanying B roll.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 32

Diana is sitting at her computer at home and working on the crowd funding campaign.
They have five days to go and Diana is telling us how difficult and nerve wracking the whole
process has been.

Will definitely work as a stand alone scene. There’s some great jeopardy here as they
really don’t know whether the campaign will work. If it doesn’t, catastrophe beckons. But
Diana’s explanation of how she’s dealing with the stress is also very good. There’s a lot of
unnecessary detail that we don’t really need to be concerned with and so stripping a lot of
that out is a must. We need to concentrate on the most emotional parts of this roller coaster
ride.
Diana’s explanation of where Anthony’s mind is at the moment is also really nice. It might
be worth trying to look through the rushes in any of the office based scenes with just
Anthony in them and look for shots of him looking worried, stressed or anxious. This could
be a good ending for the scene and definitely worth pulling a rough cut together for.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
It will also be worth stripping out any of the positivity from Diana. Positivity in this scene
will mean no jeopardy. We really need to string out the tension here. The audience needs to
be tense at the end.
A slightly tense music track selection here would do very well to highlight and really
emphasise what’s at stake.
Shoot 31 Di IV Funding End

Characters
Diana.
Location
In the garden of Anthony and Diana’s home, west London.
Footage genre
Sit down interview.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 33

Diana sits in the garden and breaks the news that the crowd funding campaign has been a
success.

This is a big and happy moment and has to reflect the journey so far. They’ve achieved an
enormous amount by raising all of this money and so we want to pause temporarily and
give the audience a reason to breath a sigh of relief.
What could be quite interesting though is ending the sync by illustrating in some way the
fact that there are actually a whole load of other things to do and therefore other things that
can go wrong before the whole project is finished. We’d be starting the scene with a sense of
relief but slowly crafting it back to jeopardy at the end.
Diana has a great possible end line “Apart from being terrified, I’m really excited”. Very nice.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
What we’re really interested in here is the drama of what actually happened during those last
few days and hours. It was touch and go right up to the deadline as to whether they’d raise
the money or not and these seem to be the most interesting parts to me initially.
Also, there’s quite a lot of repetition in the sync subjects from Shoot 31 to do with crowd
funding and how it works and how cool it is. We must be careful that we don’t repeat any
themes or subjects in close proximity within the main structure of the film.
Shoot 32 Tony Wake Up

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Footage genre
Observational B roll only, mostly static shots on a tripod but a few hand held towards the end
of the rushes.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 34

Anthony has slept on the couch at his office. His alarm goes off and he gets up, gets dressed
and puts the coffee on. He then drinks it, packs up his camera bag and leaves the office.

Very useful scene that we can put before any of the London based dawn shoots. It’s a pretty
easy scene to cut as it’s only a short set of sequential B Roll and can be cut to any length
based on what sync we find and how long it is.
Would like to try several different speeds of this sequence and see what works best. A
compressed and fast version of it. And a longer and spaced out version.
There are several meanings we could put into this scene dependant on the type of sync we
choose to lay under these pictures but the two main ones are exhaustion and persistence.
I love all of the yawns and the stretches and the exhaustion from Anthony in these rushes.
They really show how dedicated he is to his craft and we must convey that to the audience.
All of the close ups of his bloodshot eyes are also great and will also show another side to
Anthony.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
We can thread many different sync themes under this and it’s worth trying out several
variations. What sync we lay underneath these pictures has a lot to do with where we
position this scene in the film but my initial thoughts are that this should go quite early on
in the running order.
Possible thoughts on sync subjects from Anthony to go underneath this B roll is, how hard it
is to get up this early, how often he does it, how it very often comes to nothing etc…
Shoot 33 St Pancras Dawn

Characters
Anthony and Sam.
Location
St Pancras Station, central London.
Footage genre
Actuality and one on one location interview.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 35

Anthony has his big exhibition coming up at St Pancras, Britain’s most prestigious railway
station and the home to Eurostar. Sam is the official photographer and she gives Anthony a
guided tour around the location culminating in the actual spot where his exhibition will be
held. Anthony then gives a short interview outside the station.

Will work great as a longer actuality scene. The shots are great, the sync is great and the
location is really beautiful. There’s a great rapport between Anthony and Sam and it won’t be
hard to pull a really fun actuality scene from the rushes.
This is essentially a build up scene to the main exhibition. Having an exhibition at Britain’s
coolest station is a big deal and we really need to emphasise that when we pull the best sync
out of the rushes. Any reference to this needs to be highlighted.
Also we need to build in the fact that this is the station that links London to Paris by train
and as Anthony’s two new books are called London At Dawn and Paris At Dawn the link
with the exhibition is perfect. Definitely need to highlight this when we begin to pull this
scene together.
The rushes on the main walkway where Anthony’s exhibition are particularly good. Sam
tells Anthony how many thousands of people will be walking past and seeing his huge
photography prints every day. It’s a great culmination to the scene and could give us an
exciting build up for the upcoming exhibition if cut right.
Technical issues
There’s quite a big white balance change towards the end of Roll 2 which would need to be
addressed by an on-line editor.
Observations
We could try intercutting various parts of Anthony’s interview from the end into the main
body of the actuality. I also think the speed and tone of the scene should be quite fast and
light hearted, this is not a slow and more cerebral cinematic scene. More of a faster moving
entertainment scene.
Shoot 34 Books Arrive

Characters
Anthony, Oz and Oren.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 36
Location
Inside and outside of Anthony’s office in Waterloo, central London.
Footage genre
Actuality, one on one interview and observational B roll.

It’s the day that Anthony’s 2000 books arrive from the printers. As he has a bad back he
enlists the help of his two friends Oz and Oren to carry them down the stairs and stack them
in his office.
Anthony gives a short interview at the start outlining the plans for the day. Oz and Oren
arrive and he feeds them food and beer. However the delivery truck gets stuck in traffic and
is delayed for several hours. Oren has to go home and come back later. The truck arrives but
the books are left outside the office until Oren comes back. As day turns into night Anthony
buys his friends pizza and then they start the job.

This is quite a multi faceted scene with lots of stops and starts. We must be careful to watch
through and break this down in detail and pay strict attention to every single element and
possible storyline. My worry is that too many things happen in this scene over the course of
the day and that we just have to keep it simple.
There’s definitely a fun way to cut this and that revolves around the fact that Anthony does
non of the hard work. He sits at his desk and plays his guitar while his friends do all the
heavy lifting.
There are several longer B Roll sequences in the rushes shot from multiple angles of Oz and
Oren lifting the boxes and taking them down to the office. Could definitely be a stylised
music montage with any of the interesting or funny sync that they say during it used for
intercutting.
Technical issues
The audio is quite low on the external mic for Oz and Oren and will need to be boosted.
Observations
Quite a funny possible out line from Oz at the end when he tells Anthony that they’ve
finished. “Thanks boss’.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 37
Shoot 35 Family Scene

Characters
Location
Anthony and Diana’s house in west London.
Footage genre
Actuality.

An afternoon with the Epes family at their house. Theo and Tessie play in the garden. The
whole family then have lunch around the table.

Probably won’t make a stand alone actuality scene as it was never filmed with that intention.
It’s purpose was purely for wallpaper actuality shots to be intercut around sync from
Anthony and Diana’s Master Interviews explaining their family life, their relationship
history or subjects around that theme.
Would definitely try pulling all of the sync out of the Master Interviews from them both and
then finding good jump off points from this actuality.
There are some lovely moments of the kids playing outside and eating. And some fun
cheeky moment of Theo and Anthony interacting around the dinner table.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
This will make a really sweet scene and show the loving side of Anthony and Diana’s family
life. We’ll need a cute but subtle music track to place underneath this.
Shoot 36 First Look At Book

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Anthony and Diana’s house in west London.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 38
Footage genre
Sit down interview and tripod based B roll to illustrate what Anthony is talking about.

Anthony sits down in his front room and looks through the two books for the first time
while being interviewed.

This was filmed as a pickup scene from Shoot 27 when Diana saw the finished books for the
first time. Anthony was away shooting at the time so I thought a scene of him looking at the
product of all his hard work would be nice.
Will definitely work as a stand alone interview scene. We’ll get an interesting sync pull out of
the interview and then paint the relevant cutaways of him looking through the book over it.
Should be a nice scene as it’s great sync and good accompanying B roll.
Even though it was filmed as a reaction based scene for Anthony seeing his book for the
first time it actually grew into something else while we were filming. He actually describes
the whole journey of the last few years and talks about how many mornings he got up, how
many miles he walked, how many photographs he took etc… which is all really interesting
sync.
Technical issues
There’s a few wobbly camera shots that need covering up with cutaways but not loads. Will
be a pretty easy job to do.
Observations
This could act as a kind of slower bridging scene at the end of the long journey through
the photography, the designing and the crowd funding campaign. We could try slowing
the pace of the film down with this scene before the big rush of the upcoming exhibition
preparation scenes.
Would like to try using a slower and more emotive piece of classical music underneath this
scene.
Shoot 37 The Printers

Characters
Anthony, Roy and a few of the staff.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 39
Location
Enigma Printing in Buckinghamshire, England.
Footage genre
Mostly actuality with a couple of one on one location interviews. Also quite a lot of really
nice B Roll of the various printing machinery.

Anthony has come to the printers to see one of his huge exhibition prints being made. He
gives a short interview outside, walks in and meets a few of the team and then is given a
guided tour through the process from Roy, Enigma’s Head of Printing. At the end, we see a
finished exhibition print.

Really nice preparation scene before the two exhibitions. Roy is great in front of the camera
and him and Anthony have some nice chats about photographic printing and how they
both came to do what they do.
There’s lots of great B Roll of machinery and techie printing stuff moving around so this will
look very rich visually when cut together.
There’s a great interview with Anthony in the middle of the scene where he tells us how
impressed he is with the team at Enigma. He also says a really funny line about how if all his
plans go wrong then maybe they could give him a job. Definite candidate for an end line.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
As we’re nearing the exhibitions it would have been great to have seen some tension from
Anthony but he just wasn’t nervous on the day. So, this can just be a nice, light hearted
actuality scene with the great culmination at the end of seeing a finished print.
Shoot 38 The Night Before

Characters
Anthony.
Location

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 40
Footage genre
Sit down Interview and tripod based B Roll.

It’s the day before the big St Pancras exhibition and Anthony is reflecting what will happen
the next day. He lies on his sofa bed and gives an interview.

This will definitely work as a short stand alone interview based scene. What we really want
to emphasise and highlight is any nerves or stress related feelings he has. It’s just ten hours
before the biggest exhibition of his career and so we need to feel tense and have some
jeopardy embedded in this scene.
The problem we’ll have when cutting is his demeanour, he was actually so exhausted with
all the preparation work leading up to this point that he comes across as tired as opposed to
tense which is something we’ll have to address.
There’s also lots of nice B roll of him to use as cutaways at the end of the interview.
He keeps on saying he’s not nervous throughout throughout the interview which sounds
like he is. There’s definitely something in that and we could try a slight reorder of the sync to
emphasise this.
I’d like to experiment with placing these bits of sync at the start and the end of the scene,
this could give us a nice structure and will tell the audience that he certainly is nervous but
won’t admit it.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
My feeling is that we’ll have to try out some pace and timing techniques with this scene
otherwise he’ll look like he doesn’t really care too much. Adding in some extra thoughtful
looks and long pauses in between answers and throughout the scene could help us out on
this.
Shoot 39 St Pancras Exhibition

Characters
Anthony, Sam, Robert Elms and Diana.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 41
Location
Various locations throughout the day including Anthony’s office, a ride to St Pancras in a
taxi, St Pancras Station and the BBC Radio building.
Footage genre
A mixture of observational B roll, one on one observational interview and actuality.

Anthony wakes up at the office, makes coffee and then gets in a cab to St Pancras. He sees
his exhibition at the station and gives a short interview. He meets Sam and they talk through
the exhibition. Anthony goes over to see his book display in the window of Foyles bookshop
in the station. Diana and Anthony end the day by giving another interview to the BBC Radio
DJ Robert Elms.

This is obviously a big days shooting with lots of different elements. We should subdivide
everything out and see what are the most interesting parts. The starting couple of
sequences of Anthony getting up, making his coffee and driving to the exhibition are all
pretty much non sync based observational B Roll so we could lay some really compelling
sync underneath it. It might even be worth trying to lay some of the sync from Anthony’s
interview in Shoot 38.
In terms of the actual exhibition we really need to inject a sense of excitement into the
occasion as the rushes didn’t come out in the way that I planned. The press launch got
delayed and so we couldn’t film it. This was supposed to be a big crescendo and so we are
going to have to be quite inventive in how we cut this scene.
We could experiment with putting the best parts of the audio from the BBC interview at the
end of the day underneath some of the images of the exhibition. The right music track is
also essential. We must choose a score that is energetic and full of excitement.
I really like the shots of Anthony in the taxi at dawn. It’s quite wobbly in places but there is
definitely enough steady shots in there to get a lovely looking mini sequence.
Technical issues
Some of the camerawork in the Robert Elms show didn’t turn out great and will need to be
tidied up.
Observations
Again, Anthony was exhausted and so his excitement doesn’t come across as much as we’d
like in the rushes. High speed cutting and pulling the very best out of the sync and pictures
that illustrate, excitement, tension, sense of occasion etc… is a must. It’s definitely a workable
scene but we’ll have to work hard to make it good.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 42
Shoot 40 Setting Up At Foyles

Characters
Anthony and Sam
Location
Anthony’s office in Waterloo and the gallery at Foyles bookshop in Soho, central London.
Footage genre
Actuality.

Anthony and his assistant Sam load up all of the prints for the Foyles exhibition in a van and
drive over to the famous bookshop in Soho. They then hang all of the prints on the wall of
the gallery. Anthony then gives a short interview at the end.

It was unfortunate that Anthony’s radio mic was not working on this shoot. this means that
it’s unlikely we can use this scene for anything other than a B roll only scene.
The rushes are quite long and there’s lots of great pictorial progress throughout the shoot
so we could definitely use this as a music based montage scene while possibly underlaying
some sync from Anthony about Foyles and the upcoming final exhibition.
We could also try and inject a bit of tension into the scene by looking for some sync from
Anthony or Diana saying how much there is still left to do before the big day or that it’s a
rush to the end etc…
Over the course of the shoot there’s lots of great observational B roll of action going on.
From the office to the van to the Foyles gallery. So whatever we cut can be a nice change in
pace from the previous and next scenes in the film.
Technical issues
There was a problem with the audio and so Anthony’s radio mic did not record. Only the
camera mic recorded audio.
Observations
With the right energetic score this could be a fast paced montage scene showing Anthony
hanging all the prints for his exhibition. A neutral bridging scene before the final day.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 43
Shoot 41 Wrapping Prints

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Footage genre

Anthony is packing up the final prints for the Foyles exhibition. He also gives us an
interview about his printing process.

This will be a great stand alone scene. We’ve got really nice B Roll of Anthony methodically
packing everything up and he also gives a really nice interview describing the exhibition
and his printing process. I would be tempted to use this scene as a slower sequence before
the faster paced Shoot 40 montage. It would make a nice pace change.
Definitely one to create the spine of the sync first from the interview and then spread the
accompanying B Roll around it. There’s a strong pictorial story arc in the B Roll and lots of
variations on shots so this one should be fun to cut.
I really like Anthony’s interview, he talks about his process of his fine art printing for the first
time and how, apart from all the mornings he got up early, he justifies the prices he charges.
He also talks about how Foyles have been amazing supporters of his and Diana’s project and
that they could not have had a better partner. I’d definitely like to keep this in as it’s a good
intro into Foyles. They’re the biggest independent bookshop in the UK and really champion
the self publishers.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
Again, Anthony isn’t that nervous even though it’s only a few days before the big exhibition.
He’s more tired and so this would not be a scene to look at trying to create jeopardy.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 44
Shoot 42 Foyles Exhibition

Characters
Anthony, Diana, Theo, John and everyone who comes to the exhibition.
Location
Foyles gallery, Soho, central London.
Footage genre
One on one location interview and actuality.

It’s the big day and Anthony, Diana and several of their friends set up the final parts of the
exhibition. They both give short interviews before everyone starts arriving about how
they’re feeling and what they want out of the night.
The guests start arriving, everyone is drinking, talking, socialising etc… John, Diana’s father
gives a speech about Cities At Dawn followed by Anthony. Some great moments as he get’s
very emotional and nearly cries when thanking Diana for all her help. Diana cries tears of
joy as well and they hug. Great moment.
Anthony then spends the rest of the evening signing books from all his supporters before
the evening ends. There is also some exterior, night time establishing shots of the Foyles
building at the end of the rushes.

This is an exciting evening. The culmination of all their hard work and there are some lovely
moments within the rushes. Both Anthony and Diana give great interviews beforehand
which could be used with all of the preparation B roll of the drinks being poured and the
tables being set up.
I feel like once all the guests start arriving we’ll need to move into a music based actuality
montage of Anthony and Diana greeting everyone. We really want to see them having
a great time, people looking at the books and the prints etc… The big moment and
culmination of the scene is the speeches and we want to make this as emotional as possible.
The place where Anthony and Diana start shedding a tear and then hug is a big contender
for the out shot.
We could therefore try experimenting with moving all of the book signing at the end earlier,
before the speeches so that the emotion is all stacked at the end of the scene giving it a
powerful out. We should also look through all the sync from their Master Interviews relating
to the Foyles exhibition and try weaving it into all of the book signing actuality. It might
make a very nice intercut.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 45
There’s a short and funny little interview with Theo who has got his own private exhibition
going on in the corner of the gallery and is trying to make some money. Would be great to
use this as a short interlude in the middle of the scene.
Technical issues
None.
Observations
All in all, this is the big culmination scene and so we want to make it as fun, exciting and
emotional as possible. It’s the end of a three year journey for our two characters and the
scene’s tone and tempo really does have to reflect that. A high octane music track at the start
of the scene is a must.
We really want to get the audience in an excitable mood. Another must is an emotional score
at the end with the speeches. This our big crescendo, we want to squeeze every possible bit
of emotion out of those few seconds when Anthony and Diana start choking up and getting
teary.
Shoot 43 Diana IV Park

Characters
Diana.
Location
A park bench in west London.
Footage genre
Sit down interview.

Diana sits on a park bench and answers questions.

This was a pickup interview to cover several subjects that I thought we might need. These
can be weaved around several different sets of pictures as the subjects that she is talking
about vary wildly.
Lots. A definite set of rushes to methodically breakdown and subdivide into themes and
story lines. Would definitely recommend reading the whole transcript for this interview as
well to add that extra layer of memory.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 46
Technical issues
None.
Observations
Non to speak of. Just a really great interview from Diana. She’s very comfortable with the
camera and talks about some really interesting subjects. Much of this can be weaved in
throughout the film and into numerous scenes when needed.
Shoot 44 Tony Master IV

Characters
Anthony.
Location
Footage genre
Sit down interview.

Anthony sits and answers a couple of hours worth of questions for his Master Interview.

Lots. As this is his Master Interview there was a huge amount of subjects and themes
covered. Some are directly related to things that were shot, some are biographical and
some are more reflective. He covers all of his motivations for his art, his love, his history,
everything. It’s a great interview.
So many of these separate interview subjects can be made into mini scenes by themselves.
We have so much great B roll throughout the whole film that it would not be a problem
constructing numerous mini scenes that were not shot deliberately for that purpose.
Another one to go through and methodically break down into subjects, story lines and
themes. So many of our scenes will be constructed from sync beds taken from this
interview.
Anthony is confident, happy, eloquent. Compare this interview with his first one in Venice a
year before and you can see how much more comfortable he is in front of the camera.
Technical issues
None.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 47
Observations
We really need to think about the end of the film after the final exhibition in Foyles. Both
him and Diana give some great sync in these Master Interviews when they talk about their
plans for the future and where they see themselves in five years.
Shoot 45 Di Master IV
Characters
Diana.
Location
Footage genre
Sit down interview.

Diana sits and answers a couple of hours worth of questions for her Master Interview.

Same as Anthony’s, lots. As this is her Master Interview there was a huge amount of subjects
and themes covered. There are numerous possibilities for intercutting into scenes and with
Anthony’s sync.
Again, so many of these separate interview subjects can be made into mini scenes by
themselves. Definitely another interview to go through and methodically break down into
subjects, story lines and themes. So many of our scenes will be constructed from sync beds
taken from this interview.
There are obviously too many great subjects to list here but two jumped out at me while
I was filming. Firstly, she talks about how Anthony has made her look at the world in a
different way. I thought that was a really beautiful sentiment. Hugely emotional and really
tells us how much love she has for her husband as a man but also an artist. Definitely worth
putting somewhere near the end as a big emotional out.
Secondly, her plans for the future and how she wants to progress with Cities At Dawn is also
really nice. As we need to construct an ending after the final scene of the Foyles exhibition
Diana’s rushes here will be invaluable.
Technical issues
None.

DIRECTORS NOTES
Page 48
Observations
Diana has always been much more relaxed in front of the camera than Anthony as she has
done quite a lot of media work before. She talks cleanly, eloquently and has a easy talking
style to edit. She also has a great sense of humour, especially when talking about Anthony,
while at the same time lots of her sync can be emotional and inspirational which is a gift to
have under many of the more beautiful sets of B roll rushes.

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DIRECTORS NOTES

Inside The Edit — The Creative Editing Course insidetheedit.com

Shoot 1 City of London

Action within the scene

Possible meanings or usage

Inside The Edit — The Creative Editing Course insidetheedit.com

Action within the scene

Possible meanings or usage

Inside The Edit — The Creative Editing Course insidetheedit.com

Shoot 3 Tower Bridge

Action within the scene

Possible meanings or usage

Inside The Edit — The Creative Editing Course insidetheedit.com

Shoot 4 Trafalgar Square

Action within the scene

Possible meanings or usage

Inside The Edit — The Creative Editing Course insidetheedit.com

Action within the scene

Possible meanings or usage

Inside The Edit — The Creative Editing Course insidetheedit.com

Shoot 6 London GVs

Action within the scene

Possible meanings or usage

Inside The Edit — The Creative Editing Course insidetheedit.com

of when Anthony is working.

Shoot 7 Tower of London

Action within the scene

Possible meanings or usage

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Shoot 8 Buckingham Palace

Action within the scene

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Shoot 9 Prepping The Negs

Action within the scene

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Shoot 10 Paris Negs

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Action within the scene

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Shoot 11 Venice Day 1

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Action within the scene

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Shoot 12 Venice Day 2

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Action within the scene

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Shoot 13 Venice Day 3

Action within the scene

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Action within the scene

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Shoot 15 BBC Radio IV

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Action within the scene

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Shoot 16 Paris Day 1

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Action within the scene

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Director's Notes

Director's Notes