MADNESS

    It was supposed to be a three minute short film , it was supposed to be shot in one day and it was supposed to be a stress free shoot ! Well it turned into something completely different . 
    After finishing the shoot at the Merlin Cinema in Torquay various cast and crew had  gathered at Torre Abbey for the next part of the shoot . Part of the set up of 'The Runner ' is set on the fictitious film  production  called 'The Importance of Everything '. The film is like one those movies from the mid 80's with Helen Bonan Carter , on where one of the leda characters has to choose between duty to his master and wooing the women he loves .
  Torre Abbey worked perfect for the location and the staff couldn't of been more accommodating / helpful 
in supporting our production . With five set ups in about five hours it was a tall order to get everything filmed in time . Which  while we had been filming at the Merlin Cinema , make up artist Laura Harvey was making actor James Cotter who plays Henry look twenty years older see the results below :-

    

 With Cotter and the rest of the cast  in place we set about filming the first scene in  the ballroom at the front  of the house complete with stunt donuts and marsh  mellows ( you have to see the film to find out why ) . With one of the fun elements of the film  with a film was creating situations for the Director Steven Elliot ( played by Tom Menary )  to have a really bad time making the film .  With the lead actor playing up , effecting the rest of the team ( again your have to see the film :) ) .
  

  We moved the ball room , to the hall way and then on to one of the great locations in the house , the Dinning Room .   Which was great set up for one of the films great comic moments with great performances from Sam Pike  ( playing the rather up himself actor Patrick Haller ) and Evelyn Rei ( playing would be just get on with the scene Florence Wells ) . One of the most weird things was having two crews one acting one not and saying action and then a short time later actress Prudence Catley character Ginny saying action 
just after I said it .   
  The last scene due time concentrates we had to film outside , which in someways benefited the scene , which having people walk by on a Saturday walk or walking there dog adding to humour of the situation / scene .  Plus I one member one of the public ask what the films about , its' a film with in a film etc ..
  We wrapped about 6.30pm which was a massive team effort from everyone involved . Which this being just the start of this film ride , now off to the woods ....  

John Tomkins  Director 

THANKS TO 
Midge Mullin , Rosie Mullin , Jim Elton , Stuart Miller , Christine Sweetman , Laura Harvey , Prudence Catley,
Julian Kemp , Evelyn Rei , Sam Pike , Tom Menary , Christopher Williams , Alex White , Laura Harvey , Cath kemp , Sylvia king , Jimmy The Bee Bennett , 

Photos  
James Cotter by Christopher Williams    
crew Picture by Cath Kemp  

   So you find yourself watching another DVD making of or your watching the end credits to the latest 
summer blockbuster . I don't know about you , but I always find I'm astonished at the amount crew 
envolved in bringing the film to the big screen . Now take that number divide it by one hundred and probably a bit more and welcome to the world of low budget film making .
  So filming began at the Merlin  cinema in Torquay on June 14th 2014  . One of those surreal experiences because less than two years before we premiered our first collaborative film   'They're Coming ' in the same screen .  Jimmy The Bee Bennett is one of the hardest working actors I know and spot on for the role of Harry Wilkins in the film . Harry is the character holds the narrative of the film together with the elements of the runner training camp and phone calls to set of the 'Importance of everything ' .

  We had roughly two hours to complete the scene with DP Christopher Williams , sound Julian kemp and production assistances David Burbury and Cath Kemp .  Action the camera starts rolling and Jimmy turning into Harry , Harry Wilkins please to meet yah . One of those coolest things of making a film is that first day 
and seeing the magic of script suddenly being realised on camera . Suppose one thing we didn't do was having Harry eating Popcorn ! But one thing I was very proud of was the team involved on the scene and also the amount of laughter on set . One occasion being one of my odd socks had found it's way into one of kit bags and had been discovered in one of the cinema rows when we just going for the next set up .
  Finished on time , but the next scenes where the most ambitious scenes to get done in one day. At Torre Abbey the location for the film with a film Steven Elliot's 'The Importance of Everything ' ( which should also be titled the film with the actor with no shoes or socks :)   to be continued 

Cheers John Tomkins  Director 

 One of the most difficult things about making The Runner is how to communicate the concept of the film to an audience , which quite frankly some of my friends got  confused about this . Plus because of the amount of actors in the film it would of been near impossible to get them all in the same trailer.
 One of the most memorable characters in the film is Melvin , where the actor Aaron Turner was great doing a bit of improv with the character and the character getting rather irritated  when he finds out that Jennifer Lawrence is not in the film !!  This formed the basis of trailer one ,  which is a very over top trailer of the search for the runner.
 Trailer two introduces you to Steven Elliot's film 'The Importance if Everything' ( played by Tom Menary ) and how his film is falling apart and hopefully links why Harry (Jimmy The Bee Bennett)  has been recruited to find a Runner. 
For the main trailer this will introduce you to the rest of the cast and the recruitmnet journeys of Ryan Jones ( Ben Gilbert ), Bridgette White   (Karen Murphy )  and Nigel Oscarward ( Tom Hutchings). Roll on the next few days of filming :)  

The teaser trailers were put together by John Tomkins  with advice / help tidying the edits by Christopher Williams