BehinD The Scenes
"This is such a lovely story about the importance of staying actively connected to those you love and how difficult that can be. For George, it’s easy to coast and he hopes that everything will just sort itself out without him having to take action. Basically he comes across as an arse but only because he doesn’t know how to get over his own stubbornness. I think that’s a very relatable moment in a relationship.
It’s always a pleasure to work with people who clearly know what they want to achieve but can give you the space to try out different things. It’s been a lot of fun to explore how much of an arse George can be without losing his hapless lovability.
Ben likes to work with people who get on well together and I felt the whole team really bonded. It really makes a difference and it’s especially important on a short shoot when you need to get comfortable with your character and each other. I really enjoyed it!"
TOM ASHLEY, 'GEORGE'
LUCY SCOTT-SMITH, 'FRANKIE'
Jeremy Read, Director of Photography
James Reynolds, Composer
"Lovers Lane has been one of my all time favourite acting experiences. The crew and cast all got on so well and it was a joy to be a part of. The atmosphere on set was so much fun. We laughed from start to finish and I really didn't want it to end.
I loved the challenge of playing Frankie. She's a flawed character, but it was important for me to try to allow the audience to see her vulnerable side which shows that she is not a bad person - just in need of some attention from George."
"I'm a big fan of shorts and always enjoy working with Ben so when he mentioned he had a script - happy days! What I most enjoy about shorts is the level of collaboration, that everyone's commitment is guaranteed just by being on the project - certainly true in this case.
Ben's first note for me was that camera/audience would be the ghost in the room (a benign ghost), handheld but more or less static. So doing everything with a soft touch - lighting, choice of lenses etc. Nothing over-dramatic or self-conscious, hopefully that all worked.
In my ideal world night interiors would be a black frame with maybe the odd smudgy shape, but that's not practical so we faked a glimmer of street lighting and enough ambient to give the colourist a chance.
The exterior scene was interesting for Ray (Sound) and me, the Lewes microclimate had decided to be full-on gale that day. Handheld on an 85mm lens and about to be blown back to Kansas..."
"I wanted to compose unique and poignant themes for Lovers Lane that reflected the two characters' personalities and served to enhance their story.
I took a lot of care in the scoring process to strike a balance between memorable music and a subservience to the drama on screen: especially true for Lovers Lane, which presents a particularly honest, intimate and 'everyday' glimpse into this couple's relationship."
"Grading 'Lovers Lane' was an absolute pleasure. Beautiful soft tones mixed with a sympathetic shooting style allowed me to create the right mood for the film in the grade. Ben and I played with a few different palettes before settling on a lighter tone and feel without heavy contrast. I took great care not to crush the blacks and keep a very natural look to the film. Saturation boost was kept to a minimum, only really enhancing the gorgeous teal blue where it appears on the walls and Lucy's dress. The photographs on the fridge were given a slightly 'milky' tint in the whites and a tint in the blacks to give a slight dream-like feel. The end kitchen scene was the hardest to tackle and we actually ended up starting again on that scene and regraded from scratch after reviewing the following day resulting in a lighter look that suited much better. Ben has a good eye for colour and consistently went with the look I hoped he would choose when giving him options - more clients like that please!. I wish Ben huge success with the film and look forward to him returning to our studio in the future."