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Making Solid Air
"It's one from the heart," says Gary Lewis, recalling his first reading of the script for Solid Air, "You get hit so strongly by the screenplay because of the way it describes this casino economy we live in, where labor's cheap and life's even cheaper. It's so much wider than the issue itself. And the lack of polemic, the focus on characters, real human beings, as they try to square circles, is brilliant." Gary had previously worked with May on her first feature, the multi award-winning One Life Stand, and was so impressed with her talent and commitment that he wanted an opportunity to work with her again. He adds, "You don't often get the chance to be involved in real cinema and it's a privilege for an actor to take part in that." The idea of Solid Air as a film project first appears in May Miles Thomas' journal in 2000. Having completed her first film, she had already turned her attention to a follow-up. "The inspiration for Solid Air came from my father's experience of attempting to win compensation for his own asbestos-related disease," says May. "Here was an issue that impacted on so many people's lives, yet it had never been addressed in the context of a drama."
Following the critical and popular acclaim for One Life Stand May wrote the basis of a story she hoped could describe the experience of a forgotten generation. "There's a hundred ways of coming at this story," says May, "but ultimately the script can only come out of the way characters behave." She adds, "What struck me was the number of people who, when they asked what the script was about, all had their own stories to tell." |
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But in writing the script there were also practical considerations. May continues, "It seemed to me there was a false perception of asbestos in the media, that exposure occurred solely in the shipyards of Glasgow during the greater part of the last Century. The fact is, the stuff was – and is - everywhere – in construction, in manufacturing, in everyday products. I knew we could never raise the budget to recreate the shipyards, so I had to concentrate more on people, rather than locations.”
Another challenge was to attract finance to an issue-based drama. "A psychological drama about gambling and the law that deals with a man with an industrial disease is not an easy pitch when it comes to raising finance," says producer Owen Thomas. "For us, the trick was to create a script that focused more on human relationships than the issue itself." Rather than opt for a hard-hitting message, the filmmakers approached the subject by stealth. "For Solid Air to appeal to the widest possible audience, it was important that the film contained familiar and accessible elements, such as the gambling strand," says May. "That said, I felt that gambling also provided a useful metaphor for the legal process. These cases are about risk and the current system is designed to minimize that risk – the risk of having to pay out large settlements to those who deserve compensation."
With the first draft complete, May took a break from writing to explore new filmmaking techniques that would impact on the production of the film. "I had the great good fortune to become one of the first National Endowment Fellows. The funding helped me try out new methods for digital cinema production." A test shoot took place using SONY's latest HD24P system. "With One Life Stand our company, Elemental, had already pioneered new ways of working," she continues. "The next step was to produce great quality on reasonable budgets but without the trappings of a conventional 35mm film shoot." |
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By now, the script had attracted some interest. Says Owen, "As a producer you have to be open to offers, especially from companies who can access sources of finance that you can't." He cautions, "But striking a development deal can be a perilous business, because too often you're required to give away your only asset – your script." Following one such encounter with a prominent London company, Owen decided to pursue a fiercely independent approach to development.
By the time May had completed a second draft screenplay, Owen had attracted serious interest from a leading UK distribution company. "It was gratifying that within the space of 10 days they had read the script and expressed how impressed they were," says Owen. "But at that stage the proposed budget had risen because of early casting considerations and so they were wary of getting involved in financing." The choice for the filmmakers was a tough one - to drop the budget or to try to attract another source of finance that might never arrive. "It's the dilemma facing any emerging filmmaker," says Owen. "Unless you're established, it can be extremely difficult to attract foreign sales. Besides, we've always maintained that the only way to build a business was to make fiscally sensible films. To sell off the world just to raise what would still be a relatively low budget just didn’t make sense." After a long and dark winter, the filmmakers decided they would rather make Solid Air on a lower budget than not at all. With a revised draft and budget, Owen finally secured an agreement on the UK rights. With industry endorsement secured, the way was open to access public funding from the Scottish Screen agency. "It was important to approach the public investors with industry backing already in place," says Owen, "because it's not enough just to get the film made, it has to be visible." When Scottish Screen agreed to invest in the project further finance from the Glasgow Film Office became available. GFO boss, Lenny Crooks, had been hugely impressed with the screenplay and was now willing to complete the budget. Things were beginning to fall into place. |
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An air of optimism led May to have her first discussions with Director of Photography, Neville Kidd. Neville, a highly experienced cameraman with numerous broadcast and short film credits was enthusiastic from the start. "The High Definition tests led me to conclude that what we needed was someone who really knew video as an acquisition format," says May. "That Neville is also talented, adventurous and very easy to get on with was a big plus. I felt from the get-go he deserved his break into features.”
By coincidence, Owen had been in discussions with Neville's partner, Carolynne Sinclair Kidd. Carolynne, an established producer in her own right, had made numerous award-winning shorts. Again, it was the strength of writing and the originality of the screenplay that impressed her and she agreed to take on the role of Line Producer. Together she and Owen refined the budget and a tentative schedule was put in place to begin pre-production for a six week shoot. Now the filmmakers had to seriously address the cast. Over time, several actors had been approached, but a combination of timing - and other offers - conspired against their involvement. Gary Lewis, who was to play the role of John Doran, was on board right from the start, but he too was getting offers from elsewhere. |
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Starting from scratch, a chance encounter at the Edinburgh International Film Festival led the filmmakers to consider Maurice Roëves for the part of Robert. May recalls, "I had spotted Maurice at a party, but felt too inhibited to approach him." But Owen did. "Originally we offered a smaller part to Maurice and sent a script," she adds. "To his credit, he faxed me the next day to say that although he thought the script was terrific, he didn’t want to play one of the smaller roles. Then I thought, why wouldn’t he be ideal for the role of Robert? The answer was staring me in the face – so I offered him the part."
"I loved the script and when May offered me the role I told her I would be honored to accept it," says Maurice Roëves, "but once I accepted, I immediately began to get nervous about it because I knew it would be an emotional, mental, spiritual and physical drain on everything that I believe an actor's craft is." Up to that point, for the role of Junior, the filmmakers had pretty much drawn blanks. It was during one of the many casting sessions that Brian McCardie emerged. "I knew of Brian because of his more high profile roles, but didn’t even know if he was based in the UK at the time," says May, "but he turned up for an audition and we were delighted." Another plus was that Brian paired with Maurice made the father-son relationship highly credible.
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With three of the four leads on board, the priority was to find an actress to play the role of Nicola Blyth. May had auditioned several actresses, but was having difficulty. "When I write character descriptions, I tend to be very specific because I have the ideal person - physically and behaviorally - in my head," says May, "and sometimes that's unfair to very capable and talented actors." But Kathy Kiera Clarke was at the top of May's list. She adds, "I just had an instinct that Kathy would be perfect for the role." At the time Kathy was playing Lady Macbeth at the Lyric in Belfast, but was intrigued by the script and agreed to meet with the director. "When I read the script what attracted me was its intelligence," says Kathy Kiera Clarke, "which is such a rare thing. That and the fact that Nicola had a heart. So when I met May I knew that she had a heart and soul and would make the film she wanted to make."
As the shoot approached, Maurice faced the challenge of finding the character of Robert Houston. "The best roles are the most difficult to play," says Maurice, "but it's not about acting, it's about being. The more I thought about Robert, gradually I became pregnant with a terrible weight of sadness, which produced a collapse inside. I started to shrink physically and even found a different way of walking." Brian also searched to grasp his character. He says, "Junior's selfish, so in the story he has a bigger journey to make before he can make intelligent choices." May agrees, "Junior is essentially an anti-hero, a psychologically complex guy and because he's a gambler and suffers so many reversals, it makes his quest all the more compelling." The 34 day shoot commenced in late October. As an unbonded production, the producer was able to put together a crew, most of whom had never worked on a feature. "If Solid Air had been an averagely budgeted film shoot with a completion bond, we would never have been able to give our crew their break into features," says Owen Thomas. "Yet the majority already had plenty of experience in broadcast and short films." May adds, "I feel privileged to be making another feature, especially when I know of so many talented people who can’t progress from shorts, so it was great to be able to give people the chance." |
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Key crew were brought in, including Production Designer, Jacqueline Smith, whose previous experience included several TV dramas and commercials. She approached her task with some trepidation. "I knew May had come from a design background herself so I wasn't sure how much input she would want," she says, "but she gave me complete artistic freedom. We spent a couple of invaluable days going through the script and she gave me more guidance than I've had from any other director I've worked with. Before I met her I had heard she was mad, but she's mad in the best possible sense. I think you have to be mad to get films made!"
Another key member of crew was Costume Designer, Carole Millar, who had worked with May on One Life Stand: "The great thing about May is she knows exactly what she wants." "I love Carole", says May, "she's got great taste and intuition and she always comes up with the goods." The schedule and scale of the shoot brought its pressures. Owen continues, "For a low budget UK film, Solid Air is ambitious - a crew of around 50, over 40 speaking parts, over 40 locations and 350 extras." Maurice Roëves adds, "Great crew. Every day we were fighting the clock, but everybody worked their nuts off." But the filmmakers' decision to work on High Definition also helped to meet the schedule. Owen continues, "We could never have made this on film because of the time and expense required to light, the shooting ratio would have been drastically cut and the post production route would have been much more complex and expensive."
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With a rough cut ready, Owen screened it for the financiers. He says, "Obviously there was an issue of length, which is normal for any first cut of a film, but we got very little adverse criticism in terms of what had been shot." May is more candid about the evaluation process. "Everybody hedges their bets, whether they love or hate the movie."
After receiving feedback from the backers, May proceeded to fine cut the picture, losing several scenes and cutting the length. She says, "You can't be precious about altering things that affect the clarity of the storytelling. After all, everyone involved wants to make the best picture they can, but there's a balance to be struck between a film's natural pacing and bringing it in at a reasonable commercial length." With the picture 'locked' in June, the more expensive part of the post production got underway. "The high-end post production for Solid Air had been planned two years previously when we tested the best route to transferring the HD material back to film," Owen explains. "As much as we would have liked to keep the post production in Scotland, there just aren't the facilities, especially for picture post," says Owen. "We already had a good relationship with the Farm Group and Digital Film Lab in London. It's as much about the people as the facilities." In London, May worked with online editor Andrew Mitchell and colorist Perry Gibbs to transform the raw HD material into its finished form. "This is the part of the process I love," says May. "After six months of being locked in a black room on my own, I was at last able to widen the loop and give other people their chance to do magic." Equally as important as picture, the sound post production process got underway. "We were absolutely delighted to be able to take the post sound work to Savalas in Glasgow," says Owen, "and they really relished the chance to do a soundtrack quite unlike anything ever attempted in Scotland before." A large team was assembled to transform the sound, led by Supervising Sound Editor, Douglas MacDougall. |
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Another vital component was the score. Bobby James Henry, who had collaborated with May on One Life Stand, had been drafted in from the start. During the shoot, Bobby began the process of sketching his ideas for a score that would reflect the various atmospheres and story strands, uniting the music into a cohesive whole. May had long talked about the notion of breath as a key to the music and Bobby responded in his choice of instrumentation, including horns and voices to produce a rich ambience and poignant melodies.
In July, the filmmakers traveled to Ireland to complete the final surround mix at Ardmore Studios with John Fitzgerald. "I was astonished to hear how the mix totally transformed the tone of the film," says Owen. "Sound is usually the last part of the process and tends to get neglected but it's so important to get it right because it can affect the entire feel of the film." "I have never trusted a director as much," says Maurice Roëves, "She's terrific," Brian McCardie agrees. "May's the best director I've ever worked with." Gary Lewis adds, "On the shoot a couple of the crew asked me about working with Scorcese on Gangs of New York and it struck me there's similarities with the way May works - she knows what the whole picture is, where lateral time stops, where music comes in - it’s already in her head." At the end of over three years of work, Solid Air is now complete. "It's quite sad to reach this point," admits May. "Gradually, as you close down the stages of the film - the shoot, the edit, the grading, the sound - you have to let go." She continues, "It may sound like bleeding heart rhetoric, but I still feel that to have had the chance to tell this story was worth three years of my life. Obviously I've lost any objectivity about whether the film is a success or not - ultimately that's for others to decide. All I know is I set out to make Solid Air for the right reasons. If the audience can come away feeling a little wiser about the issue, and if they're moved by the characters and the story, then I'll consider my job done." |
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| Going to Court Making Solid Air |
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