White Admiral - featuring Marysia

A feature length fantasy film noir written and directed by Stephen Southouse shot over September/October 2005. Ariel washes up near Cassie's house with no memory of who she is. Private Detective Ferguson is brought in to find out the truth. I play Cat, a damaged woman who lives with Cassie and has decided being a cat is easier than being a person.

Editing should take 6-12 months. Documentary footage and photos were shot all the way through, so hopefully those will be available much sooner.

FILM STILLS

Marysia as Cat

Ben Adams as Ferguson

Eleanor James as Ariel
Ariel in a dream sequence

Michelle Roberts as Cassie

Shooting Diary

Saturday 24th Sept 2005
Caught the bus to Bristol and rendevous'd with Richard (Valmont/sound) and Michelle (Cassie) who were driving down from Blackpool. We made it to Liskeard with no problems despite the hole in Richard's exhaust pipe, but we had all forgotten the local map and had to phone around till we got Ella (Ariel) who was being driven in by her parents after spending a few days with them in Penzance. We followed them to Merryfield Manor where we would both film and reside for the next two weeks. Stephen (director) and the two Simons (camera 1 and 2) were already there and we got the tour of the house. The manor is actually a new building but looks a few hundred years old with big ceiling beams and slate floors, there are 5 double/twin rooms, just enough to fit us all. There's also a heated indoor pool and a sauna in a seperate building. Stephen approves the dark blue chinese pyjamas I got from Jubilee Market for Cat's costume. Ella and I catch up a bit while Richard cooks us all chicken and rice. Then we watch a video montage Stephen has made to show the camera guys what sort of look he wants for the film and we head for bed before long, all tired from the journey.

Sunday 25th Sept
I have a fairly lazy morning but shooting runs so well I'm on 3 hours earlier than expected for my first scenes. We're shooting in natural light almost all the time with 3 cameras at once so we don't have as long a set up time and we don't have to repeat scenes to get different angles. My first scene is a short one with Michelle playing with a red scarf, I quickly realise that after 2 weeks of this I'm going to be heartily sick of purring. We shoot through the afternoon scenes, even fitting in one we hadn't planned to do that day, and decide to do a shopping run while Ella does some pool scenes. Richard, Michelle and I head off for Tesco's only to discover its 24 hrs every day but Sunday when it's shut. We make do with the little co-op in Liskeard instead and head back. The owner and builder of the house, another Simon, joins us to watch my first scene with Ella and my first scene that involves dialogue that isn't purring or meowing. Afterwards we persuade him to locate us a horse as Michelle is desperate to add in a horse-riding scene. I discover that the hot water is from a tank and can therefore run out, which is not what you want to hear in a house holding 7 soon to be 9 people. My shower will have to wait. Sausages for dinner and then we sit up chatting and waiting for Ben (Ferguson) and Elizabeth (Kay) to arrive.

Monday 26th Sept
I was supposed to shoot some scenes in the morning and evening but things got rejigged so I decided to go out for a walk in the afternoon. Cornwall is not designed for pedestrians. Made it to the edge of the moors, it looks like Moria 200 years after the end of the war with all these ancient disused chimneys and old walls. Pretty and creepy at the same time. Saw a group of wild horses with foals there. Headed back and tried to take an alternate route to get off the busier road and got lost and ended up walking round in a huge loop before I found the manor again. Walked 9 miles all in with only half a pack of opal fruits to sustain me. Spaghetti bolognese for dinner.

Tuesday 27th Sept
Fairly slow day for me again. Roast chicken and mashed potato for dinner. We sit up replacing words in movie titles with the word flange, which everyone has decided is the funniest word ever. Flange Wars, Lord of the Flanges: Fellowship of the Flange, Schindler's Flange, Raiders of the Lost Flange, The Silence of the Flange... this goes on far longer than any of you may think possible.

Wednesday 28th Sept
I film in the pool room for the first time, being a cat I don't spend a whole lot of time near the water. Ben soaks me completely during our several takes of him splashing Cat for laughing at Ferguson. Ella has difficulty persuading her backside to remain underwater with the rest of her when filming the underwater scene. When we get back in we decide to try and light the Aga in the kitchen, I try and dry my pyjamas on it but it never gets hot enough to make much difference. I shot a short scee of Ferguson waking up to find Cat in his room while still somewhat damp. Takeaway tonight; Ben, Simon W and I take the finest Cornish curry while the rest have chinese. Then we spend several hours shooting an important dialogue scene in the lounge finishing with a vase breaking scene which must be right first time as we only have one vase to break, it's very late by the time we finish.

Thursday 29th Sept
Nothing for me to shoot this morning but I go to the beach to hold the boom while we shoot a few scenes with Ella and Ben. We arrive to discover a party of school children on some sort of field trip infesting the small cove we need to use. We shoot a scene of Ariel and Ferguson at the beach then Ben strips off and goes swimming (apparantly he didn't notice the swim at your peril signs on the way down, and I thought he just didn't care!) while we shoot Ariel's opening scene. We head back to the house and then Richard runs me to Plymouth to catch the bus back to London as I have a meeting and my drama course to attend on Friday. Six hours on a bus and then the underground home.

Saturday 1st October
Up at 7am to get the bus back, I arrive in Plymouth at 2.30pm but have to wait till 4pm when Stephen is dropping off Liz as Richard has driven his car into the gatepost. We have pasta and Michelle infamous cheesie poofs for tea and then we shoot Cat returning from Valmont's. Michelle manfully pours tea as if she is blind (Cassie is blind). Then we watch episodes 1-3 of Spaced (I brought DVDs back from London) before bed.

Sunday 2nd October
Off to Golitha Falls for some dream sequence shots. We tie Ella to a tree dressed in Cassie's clothes, shoot around the many dog walkers and then I climb a beech tree. The area is very beautiful, but we come back to a living room full of wasps! I get to wear a different outfit to shoot some of the end scenes (Cat wears the same clothes most of the time). Pasta, cheese and tuna bake for dinner and then we watch A Hard Day's Night and more Spaced.

Michelle gets ready for her riding sequence

Monday 3rd October
I have beans for breakfast and then get heartburn. We go off to Golitha Falls again for for Michelle's horse-riding scene. Stephen has arranged for a well trained pure white horse to be brought out for her. Afterwards Stephen announces we will finish on Wednesday night as we are running so far ahead. Isabel arrives to play Rachael, she is a friend of Stephen's. We shoot Ella floating in pool in the evening, much breath holding. Our new catchphrase becomes "it's not vital".

Tuesday 4th October
As time grows short today we shoots lots of scenes. We start with a long breakfast table scene and finish with a long evening scene. In between we go round several locations to shoot Rachael's scenes (I do the the boom for these) and do some pickups of Cat sitting around the house including one of me sleeping on the Aga. Then we have Lasagna and watch South Park the movie.

Wednesday 5th October
Isabel leaves in the morning. I shoot my last scene with Cassie quite early and then take it easy as the last few things are covered. Simon A. adds in another quick scene for me and we shoot that too, then I am wrapped and before long so is everyone else. We have a barbecue with Simon the builder of Merryfield Manor and his wife Jo and their friend Ben (yes, that makes three Simon's and two Ben's). Much alcohol is drunk, music is quibbled over, massages are given and I go to bed around 2am.

Thursday 6th October
Stephen and Ben leave early before I get up, though Ben phones from London to say goodbye to everyone. At 2pm Richard, Michelle and I leave. They drop me off at the bus station in Plymouth and head off for Blackpool. Ella is going to her parents house for a few days, they live in Cornwall, and Simon and Simon plan to stay until Friday (we have the house booked till Saturday). Now we just wait until it's edited (6-12 months).

Cast Photo
Simon, Richard, Ben, Stephen, Simon, Marysia
Michelle, Eleanor and Elizabeth