© Erwin Films 2005
Roughen Director's Notes
Well, what a pleasure this has been. Having just wrapped the shooting and started the process of post production, I feel that already it has been a privilege.
Roughen began about a year ago, when my mother was in the grips of a hard battle with cancer. As she slowly sank further down, I watched as my family and myself, travelled through a vast range of emotions around the event.
On a short trip to a local store during this time, I pondered the thought :
“What if I died right now, what would my family tell my mother?”
And here Roughen was born ; the question of how we deal with crisis, rather than the crisis itself.
A first draft was expelled from my brain in an hour, though I knew that if I was to continue with this project, I would need to call on further assistance. A friend, Thalia Kyvernitakis, assisted me through the next 7 drafts, where a final script was settled on and post production could go full swing.
A few hit and misses later, a date was finally set, a cast and crew sourced and filming began. From the outset, the filming was a joy and well organised. Having plotted out rigourously with Jason Stacey, (resident uber D.O.P.) the necessary shots, and having every detail jammed into my brain by Kurt Breitenmoser, we shot the film over two days, on time and with joy.
And to the cast and crew. My God! How wonderful it was to watch people do their thing. Moments, sitting in front of a standby monitor, watching cast and crew exploring their creativity, turning pages of script into reality.
By the end of the shoot, I believe that we have created a short film full of impact and resonance. And now, the process of Post Production has began, which will be highlighted by a music score by David Johnson, a resident of the U.S. whose musical talents in composition will if anything, boost the emotional journey of the characters and story.
So thankyou to all to this point and I look forward to a wonderful occasion of displaying the final product by May.
Justin Batchelor