Case Study: LONG WAY BACK
LONG WAY BACK represented a big step up for us as a team. Having spent the last decade producing feature films with micro-budget restrictions (limited key cast, single locations etc) in mind, we wanted to use the support from Falmouth University’s Sound /Image Cinema Lab to push the boundaries or what was achievable.
The nature of LWB as a road movie with multiple locations and scenes in a moving vehicle meant that we would have to push every element of our process. In fact we were told on more than one occasion that the ambition of the script just wasn’t feasible on our modest budget.
We shot in twenty-three locations over twenty days which meant that like the story itself we were always on the move. With a finite shoot window and a number of significant logistical challenges LONG WAY BACK presented an insanely complicated scheduling task which left little room for manoeuvre or contingency.
We needed to ensure that everything (people, equipment, catering) was packed into as few vehicles as possible (on average one transit and four cars) and had to set up an everchanging mobile Unit/catering/DIT base in locations as varied as a grand lecture theatre to a humble gazebo.
Director Brett Harvey, DOP Adam Laity and the Long Way Back crew on location. Photo by Emily Alden.
After much head scratching, research and experimentation into how to shoot the moving car interiors safely, legally and convincingly, the decision was made for the majority of the film to be shot within Cornwall on the A30 (the main dual carriageway).
We then put our energies into sourcing convincing locations which could be accessed from a single central Cornish unit base eliminating the need for crew accommodation. Script-specific, non-Cornish locations (Wookey Hole, the Severn bridge, The Nearly Home Trees) were captured separately and shot with reduced crews /equipment with travel to and from Cornwall factored into the shoot days. At all times ensuring the crew was properly fed, watered and looked after was a paramount concern as was ensuring that our non-driving student placements (who made up the majority of the crew) could get to and from each location.
L - R producer Simon Harvey, writer director Brett Harvey caterer Daniel Harvey script supervisor Tom Eastwood
What carries you through a shoot like this is the camaraderie, belief and talent cast and crew. Across all of o-region’s creative projects building and maintaining a team is foremost in our thoughts. It is of the utmost importance that everyone involved feels valued. We find that if this atmosphere is fostered from the off and maintained throughout that the investment from the team is such that there is a collective will to problem solve and get the film made come what may. Despite some of the inevitable setbacks (weather, always weather) I am proud to say we got everything shot on time and on budget.
The cast and crew on LONG WAY BACK regardless of levels of experience were exceptionally committed to the project and the set was one of the happiest I have been involved in. The film is a testament to the determination, good humour, drive and talent of all involved.
Special mention should go to our writer/director (and my Brother) Brett Harvey, who a little over six weeks before the shoot was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease. Pre-production is difficult at the best of times, especially on a micro-budget, add in the devastating diagnosis of a life-changing condition to your key crewmember and it feels like the odds are firmly stacked against you. It’s safe to say we wavered for a moment and considered postponement or even cancellation of the project. But it was Brett himself who rallied. The film is his absolute passion and opportunities to make a feature film are few and far between, so we set to work; determined to make this film the best it could be and to have a good time doing it.
Now after a hugely prolonged post-production schedule (due to the small matter of a global pandemic) we are about to finally see how audiences respond to this delicate, tragic, beautiful little human story which takes place on the highways and byways up of the United Kingdom. I can’t wait.
You can see LONG WAY BACK in selected cinemas across Cornwall and the UK from Friday 2nd of September.
See www.o-region.co.uk for full listings.
Simon Harvey
Producer
o-region