EYES Feedback: Claire Rowbotham ('Lianne')

FEEDBACK

Claire Rowbotham- Actress

When approached to be a part of this project as an actress, I was thrilled as Pete seemed really keen to have me and this enthusiasm was what made me sure that I wanted to commit to the film. EYES for me was an extra-curricular project during my own very busy third year, and if it wasn’t for his passion and drive for the film I probably would have chosen to not do the film and concentrate on my own studies. So a note for Pete would be to keep this attitude up because it really is the difference between people wanting to be a part of a project in their own time and not.

Saying that, the script was also a huge reason I wanted to be a part of the film. The script intrigued me hugely and I wanted to find out more; both about the storyline and the characters. This is great as obviously if you have the audience hooked and wanting to know more then you are onto a winner. The script went through quite a few drafts throughout rehearsals, but this for me was a good thing rather than a bad thing; Pete was brilliant at watching us in rehearsals and then adapting the script so that both his actors felt happier and so that his script communicated more clearly what he wanted it to. It didn’t mess the process up for myself as an actor because changes made were always beneficial to my character and he didn’t have us learn lines for the shoot until he was sure that he was happy with the script. The only thing I would say he could change about the rehearsal process would be to have a slightly clearer structure for rehearsals. I believe this was Pete’s first time directing and I feel that he could achieve more for himself and actors, as a director, if he knew of more exercises that would could participate in to help make our performances stronger. Pete however, had a naturally lovely way of telling us what he liked us doing in rehearsals and this was encouraging.

As Pete was so full of ideas, which ultimately is a good thing as it led to bigger and better things, it could be a little bit confusing knowing what he wanted. But I believe this was a part of the development process rather than a hindrance. It was also very interesting to see how his ideas developed and blossomed. I must point out that in the end, once he realised what it was he needed portraying, he was very clear in what he needed for us. To make the process quicker in future I would just say maybe he should have the idea slightly more developed in his head before getting other people involved with it.

Throughout the whole experience, Pete kept everyone very well informed via the facebook group page and he was always very communicative. He was always easy to get hold of which was brilliant for when I needed questions and queries answered. Through the facebook page I also got a great insight into the huge amount of research he was doing; I could tell he was looking at lots of different elements of the film and because I saw him doing all of this, I felt more like a part of the production team rather than just an actress. I am not sure if this was his intention? But I feel like this was a good thing. Maybe on larger projects he would need to define the boundaries between production team and cast more, but I felt that for this intimate production it worked and I learnt a lot more than I would have done if I was just sent a call sheet and the lines I needed to learn.  The only downside to the facebook page is that as there were so many posts, sometimes I would lose track of the posts that I actually NEEDED to know about. So maybe a more direct approach to certain individuals about what was need to make things clearer if it only concerned them? 

Pre-production seemed to be organised well as when we turned up for the actual shoot, there were no problems with locations or anything and we could just get on and film. Everyone knew what they were doing and I didn’t feel as if he ever forgot to do anything important that slowed down the shoot. I would say next time however, that he get a slightly larger production crew so that he could concentrate on solely directing.  During actual filming,-on set directions were clear and he knew what he wanted which was great.

During the whole process, Pete was very accommodating to my own needs with regards to what suited me and my studies and this was a necessary trait which he needed to have for me to be a happy member of his team. So big well done for that. 

Pete’s general approach to everything was very passionate and he was clearly determined to create the best film he could which was contagious, but I would say he needed to be careful of his manner at times. Sometimes I was unsure if he was angry/stressed or just concentrated and determined. Overall I think he could have made it slightly more obvious if he was feeling positive about what was happening, but he never spoke to be rudely and so I enjoyed being around him. I was just unclear with how he felt at times, if he was joking or not, which made me unsure of how to react. Pete was great to work with though and it would be a pleasure to work on another film with him again some time soon.

From the entire project I have gained a lot for myself; I have had a lovely on set experience, I have learnt a huge deal about how different people work, I learnt a lot about the script development process and I have obtained fantastic random information from the research facebook page. Being a part of EYES was a great experience and Pete deserves to do well in the future.