MISSION X

PRODUCTION NOTES

I had just spent three years trying to raise the budget for www.deathmovie.co.uk. I found a small group of investors mid 2007, who commited to funding the USA set film. I was two weeks from shooting, when I lost the £500,000 budget.

This was just before the collapse of the banks. These investors saw the wave coming, so had to back out of the deal on the 11th hour. Not only did I lose my budget, I was completely broke after funding the development from some savings. 1 week later, I was emptying bins at a Paisley Macdonalds bar to get the rent money fast. Blog link here to more about this.

I had lost budgets in the past, so I decided that it was either all over for me, or else I would have to get a story I could shoot with no money. A good enough story that would let me show the industry what I could do today. If you don't have a budget, it can't collapse.

I also reminded myself that top directors like Chris Nolan (Following, The Dark Knight) Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Peter Jackson, and many more, had all self funded their films early in their careers. I read how Chris Nolan had funded Following from his job over 12 months, I decided to do the same.

THE CONCEPT

I came up with the concept for “Mission X” fast. But I also made sure it ticked all the no budget boxes. Put it simple, I wrote a script that would not work if I used “Names”, had to be shot on DV, would look better if it was documentary style with available light etc etc.

It was basically the same ethos as "Blair Witch". If they had shot on better cameras, attracted names, had great lighting etc, it would not have worked. A lot of filmmakers need a budget for names, high end cameras, but then decide to do it no budget, thats why they fail. You have to create the film for a no budget at the script stage. Come up with an original concept.

SHOOTING STYLE

It was shot on high end dv for the main student camera, and a mixture of consumer cameras, phones, flip video. These were used for some of the witnesses video footage, bodycams. I think this is the first time a pocket flip camcorder has been used in a feature film.

If I had a budget, I would still have shot it the same way. The Iraq military style video is the feel I wanted, but right bang in the middle of a city here. George Romero said that he wanted to shoot "Diary of the dead" with students. I think he should have, as it's too polished. I wanted a very real feel, but also very controlled, structured.

CASTING

Again, I wrote the script to suit the budget. I could not afford names, so I wrote the story in a way that if I did have names, it would not work. I cast a mixture of very natural actors, mixed with guys that had never acted before.

Using a lot of non actors on this suits the film perfect, as you can't get away with "acting", in such a naturalistic film. All the cast look as if they have been acting for years. You also think they are those guys, because they don't bring any baggage with them. So using new faces works for it perfect.

BUDGET/FUNDING

There was no budget. I just started shooting with my own burger bar wages every other weekend. I got a tiny amount of money from another worker to help with the action scenes, but even the armourer worked for no money.

If you really are a filmmaker, you have no excuse not to make a film today. So budget should never be a problem to show your talent. It's the same with the distribution across the uk. This will solely be financed by sponsorships. No criteria exists for it within Scottish funding bodies.

LOCATIONS

I wanted an urban feel to the film, as if this could be any city in the world. It is Scotland, but we don't see any greenery, or famous scottish landmarks. Some of it actually has a kind of "Full Metal Jacket" feel.

The gangs hideout base was all shot in a disused office block in Paisley. Thats where grant gets to know the men, gets them to open up on camera. We also shot an ak-47 gun battle on the Glasgow streets, and below a paisley shopping centre. It looks wild, but it was all very tightly controlled, in liason with the police

“Mission X is really about men who have bigger battles going on with themselves they are not winning. Ironically, they survived dangerous missions in Iraq, but since they came back from war, they can't cope with normal life in surburbia. So many of them have become paid mercenaries.

I am not a preachy filmmaker, I believe in making movies for mass audiences, so I don't like to hammer people over the head with “messages”. On a whole the film is a character driven thriller.

ACTION FILM

The concept for the action came to me a couple of years back. I was looking at some reality videos from Iraq on youtube. For some reason these type of reality videos, just like police chase videos, keep us all watching.

I knew I could not make an action movie without any money, but when I saw some of these videos, I thought I might be able to pull it off. I thought it would be exciting if I took the spirit of some Iraq videos and set them in an attack movie right in the centre of a city. Iraq style. That way the action would not look cheap, but would bring an orignal slant.

CHARACTERS

Good characters are the heart and soul of a film. If you take a film like Taxi Driver, or many great films, there is no real plot twists and turns, you simply follow a character through a story. Thats the kind of films I like.

Originally the filmmaker was just a guy who wanted an interview from this mercenary, but when I went to a college to cast the film, Grant Timmins walked in the room dressed the way like he is in the film. He had been in the TA. He was asked to go to Iraq, but went on a filmmaking course instead.

I knew right away that would make the story better. He plays military videos games, has no idea about war, but he then gets the chance to interview this mercenary. He has no idea he is back in the city for an attack, so grant is also going to experience a mission for himself.

FULL REVIEW http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2010/02/mission_x.html

FULL REVIEW http://itsonitsgone.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/dvd-review-mission-x/