local actress wanted

While most of the filming is finished for Beyond the Haar their is still one element to be filmed for which I require an actress to play the role of Chris Guthrie (from Sunset Song fame) for a few scenes. In the context of this film Chris Guthrie is a ghost from the past looking on as Aberdeen and the North East continues to develop ( no ghost make up though). While the role includes a few lines from Sunset Song the part will mainly involve being filmed in period dress acting out against a variety of local scenic backgrounds. Filming will take a maximum of one weekend, there is a small acting fee and the actress will receive a copy of the final film.

Role requirements

Female 19 - early 30's

Must pass as early twentieth century Scottish woman so natural hair colour and fair skinned preferred

Must have or be able to do a North East accent

slim to medium build

Reliable, experience preferred but not essential

Must be flexible about filming date (May depending on weather)

If you are interested in the role please get in contact at bremner77@hotmail.com or mark@shadesofgreyfilm.co.uk

New film title and website

As the film comes closer to completion a final title needed to be decided upon, the film shall now be known as 'Beyond the Haar'. After much deliberation for a suitable title that reflected the films themes and geography, I played about with numerous titles with the word 'Haar' in it until Steven Porter suggested the variation 'Beyond the Haar' so hats of to Mr Porter for the final title.

While generally it is my own fault that this blog has not been kept up to date I have to say that using Blogger hasn't helped, when I started I felt it had a slight edge on wordpress but I think theses posts are likely to be the last using this increasing clunky blogging platform. As such a new website is under construction for the film, links for which will be posted soon.

Yet another long overdue update

This is no longer really the blog I intended to do as my posts are so infrequent so instead they will just have to be information update 'dumps' to inform everyone who asks 'hows that film going'. Well first things first, its going pretty well, 90% of the footage has been shot, there's a great lyrical narrative in place thanks to the addition of a great writer and a voice over actor.

New Writer Steven Porter

As mentioned in my last post I was looking for a while for a writer to shape a suitable narrative text for the final film. After posting for a writer on a few sites and social media spaces i final came across Steven who seemed to fit the project perfectly. Steven's writing seems to encap

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Countries-World-Steven-Porter/dp/0956078893sulate a lot of themes of the 'Shades of Grey' project - a strong sense of place and the mechanisms which shape that perception as well as the elusive qualities memory plays within that construction. Steven's first novel, 'Countries of the World' which mixes football, memory/nostalgia, history and social geographic politics is heavily recommended even for those that are not that keen on football (he is a Forres Mechanics fan after all ; )

Voice Over - Ralph Riach

One of the challenges of this film was finding the right voice to match the imagery and journey I had

in mind. The film's narrator needed to be someone from the North East, seasoned with a mature warmth to their voice which matched the mix the films themes of melancholy, arched humor and knowing sense of history passing them by. The range of mature Scottish acting talent tends to be dominated by central belt 'Scots' accents so I was delighted after much searching to find the perfect voice for my narrator, Ralph Riach. Ralph is probably know to most people for his role as 'TV John' in the BBC series Hamish Macbeth and has had roles in everything from 'Brave Heart' to the still shooting 'Cloud Atlas'. Ralph's tones brought the text to live and has added a real degree of quality to the project which I look forward to people experiencing. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0722661/

Writer Wanted

While it was always my intention to do much of this film by myself I also decided fairly early on that this would be a narrated piece. I'm now looking for a creative writer to collaborate on the narration for the final voice over based on the presently amassed research material (ranging from text to archive film).

Ideally I'm looking for someone familiar with the North East, its culture, history, memories and people but also some wit and honesty within their writing.

If your a creative writer and would be interested in collaborating please get in touch through this blog or email to mark@shadesofgreyfilm.co.uk.

A long overdue update

Despite good intentions I haven't been near this blog for a while with any updates. The film is progressing well with some filming at Aberdeen harbour, historic site/ landmarks, new developments and several early morning shoots trying to capture the elusive Kincorth Hill deer at 4 am in the morning (not so elusive when you don't have your camera ready off course).

Next stages include some interviews and dramatic interpretations of some well know writers views of the North East. In addition to this i will be using some footage from the Scottish Screen Archive in what I hope will be interesting and unusual ways.

Some recent reading as part of the research ' The Poor Had No Lawyers' by Andy Wightman - an insightful read on the history of Scottish landownership up to present day, The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black, Black Oil by John McGrath - the infamous play first performed in Aberdeen about the Scottish underclass and exploitation of land, "The Gutters" by Jill Hardnie - a frank,honest and humerous look at the harsh lives of the 'fisher wifies' and finally the always interesting 'Other Aberdeen' Blog - Aberdeen's very own Iain Sinclair.

Don't Stand So Close to Me - perils of location shooting

A couple of weeks ago I headed out for a day of filming, with high winds picking up I decided to venture to the harbour. I was richly rewarded with large waves making for some rather dramatic scenes. Aberdeen's proximity and relationship to the North Sea is definitively a unique defining characteristic which I want to convey through the film.

My film was almost cut prematurely short in my enthusiasm to get closer to the waves resulting in a rather damp filmmaker and slightly moist camera courtesy of unexpectedly large crashing wave. The camera dried out and still seems to be working I can only assume no permanent damage has occurred, to the camera or me.

Below is an outtake of the waves hitting the harbour wall plus a bonus shot of my near drowning.

Blairs College - more images