Gavin Scott |
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07 Apr

Absolutely Anything Production diary Day 4

It’s great to see a gag we thought of just last week becoming reality. In the original script when Neil, in trouble, wishes himself “back home having dinner, with Dennis” his amazing powers whisk him back to his apartment where he finds himself eating out of the same dog bowl as his beloved terrier. But Mojo’s handlers point out that even the best trained dogs don’t take well to people taking their food from them, especially from the actual bowl. So we come up with the idea of there being...

02 Apr

Absolutely pizza

Ad libs: we got ‘em. During Eddie Izzard’s Absolutely Anything scene with Simon Pegg (sinister headmaster berates slacker teacher) some unfortunate crew member left his walkie talkie on and loud voices broke into the take. Without missing a beat Mr Izzard announced “That’ll be my pizza delivery” so sincerely we almost expected a delivery guy to burst onto the set. He also improvised a joke about Kumbaya which has never been made before. Leading Simon P to improvise another joke about washing his dog. Terry and I are beginning to...

01 Apr

Denials of Absolutely Anything

Producers and publicists for the Terry Jones movie Absolutely Anything, about a schoolteacher granted miraculous powers, are denying reports that a real miracle occurred on set today. “Neil (Simon’s character) is supposed to be able to make anything happen when he waves his hand, with a blue flash which put on in post,” said a member of the crew who asked his name to be withheld. “But we definitely saw an actual blue flash near Simon’s hand as he passed a sickly bush in the school grounds.” (The movie...

31 Mar

Absolutely Anything Bicuits

We’re now shooting the scene in which Neil comes up with the idea of giving his dog Dennis not just the power of speech but the capacity for rational thought. Robin Williams has already recorded the voice but we have …. to provide the voice during the shoot. The way it works is that Mojo, our actor dog, sits at Simon/Neil’s feet looking up at him as Simon delivers his lines, and when it’s Dennis’ turns to speak, the dog handlers shout “Speak!” and the well-trained Mojo barks. Later his mouth...

31 Mar

Absolutely Anything Breakfast chat

Sitting down in the canteen this morning eating bacon and eggs with producers Ben Timlett and Bill Jones, Terry and I realise we are in very exalted company. Last night Bill and Ben accompanied our star Kate Beckinsale who was presenting an award at the Jameson Empire Film jamboree (our other star Simon Pegg got two, of course) and they (B & B) sat in the company of stars like Hugh Jackman, Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwartzeneggar. Hugh, Tom and Arnold may have restrained themselves, but according to Bill and...

24 Mar

Absolutely Anything First Day’s Shoot

Absolutely Anything: First Day of Principal Photography Gavin Scott’s Production Diary The shoot gets off to a flying start when Simon Pegg, as Neil, goes into our bathroom set and sees his wish come true that the mess made by his dog Dennis cleans itself up. This scene did not take Terry and me long to write, but like famously expensive script line  “the two armies met”, actually getting two items of dog poo to leap into the toilet requires a LOT of great British film making expertise. First … the dog...