A Human Vice

Welcome to the production blog of A Human Vice - A University of Westminster graduation film. It tells the story of Alan, a misfit Angel who develops a rare admiration of Humans and life on earth. Produced by Simon Waldock, directed by Steven Chamberlain and written by Julia Brown.

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A Human Vice was the winner of the Audience Award at the 32nd VGIK International Film Festival in Moscow!

Here's to more award wins in the upcoming months!

Many thanks to all who supported us during production.

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VGIK

For ardent fans of A Human Vice who still follow this blog, good news! The film has been selected as part of Moscow International Film Festival, taking place 19-24 November. The director and producer will be in attendance, as well the crew of '47 Orchard Street', another 2012 graduation film that has also been selected.

Congratulations to both crews!

As a sign of gratitude for keeping with this blog, here's a picture from behind-the-scenes of the director looking stressed.

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Trailer for 'A Human Vice'

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Premiering at BAFTA on 22 June.

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The final day of the shoot was again in the Film Studio of the University of Westminster's Harrow campus, with the film finishing up with one of the earliest chronological scenes: Saffon gives Alan his mission that sets off the plot of the film. Actors today were Stephanie Briggs (Saffron) and Alex Britton (Alan) who helped round off a fun and enjoyable shoot for what will be a funny and fantastic short!

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Day 7 of the shoot took us to the studio at the University of Westminster Harrow Campus, where a set was constructed as a back corridor of Heaven. Along the corridor is a large window that looks down to Earth, which the protagonist Alan gazes out of, during a conversation with his boss, Saffron. A greenscreen was put up to act as the view down to Earth, which will be added with CGI during post production.

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Day 6 of 'A Human Vice' was in the former air force wind experimentation base in Bedford on Twinwoods Buisness Park, RAE Bedford. It was the location used for Heaven, and there were two scenes shot here including one between Alan and Sebastian in which several Steadicam shots were used to introduce the audience to the location, and Sebastian and Saffron in which the two discuss Alan while looking at the Department of Matchmaking's failing figures.

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Day 5 continued the shoot in Taylor St., with all of the main cast being present to film the dramatic finale of the film - Alex Britton (Alan), Michael Byers (Edgar), Caitlin-Anne Sullivan (Danielle), Stephanie Briggs (Saffron) and Doron Davidson (Sebastian).

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Day 4 of 'A Human Vice' was the first at Mayfair's Taylor St. Baristas, a cafe near Bond Street where a vast amount of the action takes place.

In the scenes shot today, Edgar finds Alan in the cafe and approaches him, Alan explains that he is a cupid to Edgar, and the final shot of the film was also shot in  which Alan finally enjoys a sip of coffee.

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Day 3 of 'A Human Vice' took place in a flat in Kenton, with scenes in which Alan (Alex Britton) and Edgar (Michael Byers) first meet, in which Alan meets Danielle (Caitlin-Anne Sullivan), and the later scene when Alan makes a decision to go ahead with his job, despite his new found friendship.

It was a busy day with four scenes to film and many set ups, but the persistance of a hard-working crew and dedicated and talented actors made for some amazing shots that the whole crew is very excited to look over.

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Day 2 of filming 'A Human Vice' went down well on a street in Harrow on the Hill, before moving to a nearby field to cover Edgar and Alan's moment together in the park. With Michael Byers (Edgar) and Alex Britton (Alan) as the human and cupid protagonists.

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The shoot has begun! We had a very successful first day on Regent Street, where a couple are shot in the opening scene of the film. We then moved to the rooftop of a University of Westminster campus building on Little Titchfield Street and had a short scene in which Alan interacts with the Cupid who did the shooting; a job intended for Alan himself. Here are a few photos from earlier, thanks for checking in!

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A successful casting session went ahead today, when myself (Producer Simon Waldock), Director Steven Chamberlain and Casting Director Nathan Long met several actors for the parts of Alan, Edgar, Danielle and Sebastian in the Regent Street campus of the University of Westminster. We were excited by some of the applicants, and are looking forward to the next session on Monday.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group took another trip to Bedford, where painting and blocking out light began.

Two weeks from today, the first scene will have been filmed. It's getting very close - and we still need your help! If you haven't got around to donating yet, now is the time! It will make or break the film if you decide to donate, so please just give what you can! A link to donate can be found at the top of this page.

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Interviews with Sarah-Jane Harrison (DOP), Charlotte Daniel (1st AD) and Steven Chamberlain (Director) after yesterday's tech recce at RAE Bedford.

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Today a selection of the crew headed back to Twinwoods Business Park in Bedford to have a detailed technical recce of the location for the film's Heaven scenes. Attending was myself (Simon Waldock - producer), Steven Chamberlain (director), Callum Henderson (production designer), Sarah-Jane Harrison (director of photography), Charlotte Daniel (1st assistant director), and Max Francis and Mike Chapman (sound department.

The crew blocked the entire two scenes out that will be shot in the location, and spent a long time planning how to fill the large space in terms of the production design, and how to light the gigantic space. Meanwhile Mike and Max did extensive sound tests to check on how to handle the echo of the space, as well as other potential technical problems.

The day was a success and secured our knowledge that RAE Bedford was the perfect place to shoot for Heaven. Now we just have to sort out the cafe in which Alan, the cupid protagonist, has his revelation about life and coffee that helps to set the film's plot in motion...

Until next time, all is well in the Kingdom.

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An exciting test shoot took place on Monday to explore a different part of Heaven: a corridor in which the cupids can look down to Earth. Producer Simon Waldock and Production Designer Callum Henderson stepped in as the protagonist Alan and his supervisor Saffron to test how the visual effects would work.

In the scene, Alan is questioning his life as a cupid, and Saffron appears to remind him of the gravity of the situation: if he does not complete this task, he will be 'demoted' to Hell.

The visual effects were complied by Chris Hetherington, who will complete all the effects shots for the film. The test shoot consisted of using a flat in the University of Westminster film studio that the actors will look out of to a greenscreen, which can be replaced with visual effects during post-production.

Check back soon for a video clip of the scene, which will show to a greater extent how impressive the scene can look.

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For the Heaven-set scenes of ‘A Human Vice,’ an industrial and oppressive location was required to create a strong contrast between this and the more warm and homely aspects of Earth. After many searches through abandoned buildings, steel mills, steam museums and empty industrial warehouses, the former aircraft experimental development site RAE Bedford was chosen.

The airfield was closed in 1997 and has been used for various filming sites since, including the BBC science show, ‘Bang Goes the Theory.’ The location perfectly suited the ideas of the producer, director, DOP and production designer, and has been secured as a location for filming, several weeks before the shoot is due to start.

Above are some images of the location; the sense of industry and scale that exists in the base can be appreciated from the photographs, which is something that the crew hope to accentuate for the filming.

Check back for pictures of more locations soon.