On Monday Directors UK members gathered for a screening of Honey Boy, followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Alma Har’el.
Alma spoke to Edith Bowman about creating the perfect colour palette for the film, working with a full crew for the first time, and directing Shia LaBoeuf in a highly personal role.
Couldn’t make the screening? Catch up with all of our live-tweets below.
We’ve just watching the brilliant @HoneyBoyMovie. Follow us now as we live-tweet our Q&A with the director @Almaharel #DUKhoneyboy pic.twitter.com/YUMbLQiT8f
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Moderating the session is @edibow #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Talking about what drew her to the project, Alma explains how she started with long discussions with writer and star Shia LaBeouf about his past #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Some of his story chimed with her own experiences, and she knew she could draw on that to bring his story to the screen #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Plus his script - it was such a great script that she instantly knew how she could visualise it #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
She could see it not just in terms of dialogue, but also the visual style and purely image-based was she could realise the story #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
It was a very close collaboration. Shia’s original script did have the two time frames - that grew out of their discussions together #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
The original script was also a lot more linear, but they changed that as they worked on it #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Alma doesn’t agree with storyboarding everything before you get on set and then just shooting what you’ve planned out. She comes from a documentary background and so wanted to capture that life you get when you’re able to react to the moment and respond to ideas #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Alma strongly believed that Shia should play the part of his father. That takes it beyond the typical biopic and adds extra layers to what the film is doing #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
The whole film was shot in 19 days. Scenes between the same characters - such as the young Otis and his father, the older Otis and his therapist - were shot all together in concentrating, intense bursts #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Edith and Alma are singing the praises of DoP Natasha Braier, who creating a beautiful palette for the film #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Alma asked her for something that’s incredibly difficult to do: she wanted those dramatic colours, but without strictly blocking every scene and the actors movements within them #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Achieving that without getting a very flat, 360 degree lighting is so difficult. Natasha was essentially DJing the lights #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Talking about rehearsing difficult scenes with Noah Jupe, who played the young Otis, Alma explains that they were very conscious that they were telling the story of a child actor who had been harmed by being a child actor #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
They didn’t want to inadvertently cause that again in real life and accidentally creat Honey Boy 2 #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
So they worked with him and his mum to set out exactly what they’d be doing. He was allowed to have friends on set, and the rest of the cast supported him and became a family #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Shia visited his father for the first time in 7 years to show him the script so they could get his permission. They promised him that Mel Gibson would play him! #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
His father really likes the film. It has brought him and Shia back in contact and they’re talking again #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Alma has previously shot all her films herself - she’s done the lights, the sound, and worked with editors in her own house. This was her first time working with a crew #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
It meant there were certain skills she didn’t have. People would come to her and say the continuity wouldn’t work, but she knew she would be able to cut it together #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Hopefully people will realise she can do it next time! #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
When the story was being told in a more linear fashion, there was originally a whole third act that was more about Otis’s mother #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
When the story was being told in a more linear fashion, there was originally a whole third act that was more about Otis’s mother #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
When the story was being told in a more linear fashion, there was originally a whole third act that was more about Otis’s mother #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
When the story was being told in a more linear fashion, there was originally a whole third act that was more about Otis’s mother #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
But when it came to editing it and cutting between the two timestreams it quickly became clear that wasn’t the ending anymore #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
But when it came to editing it and cutting between the two timestreams it quickly became clear that wasn’t the ending anymore #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
But when it came to editing it and cutting between the two timestreams it quickly became clear that wasn’t the ending anymore #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Scenes moved around to create a whole different, but more natural, ending #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Scenes moved around to create a whole different, but more natural, ending #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Alma talks about how important it was to have Shia on her side. That enabled her to fight for what she wanted, which would have been difficult otherwise as someone who didn’t come from a drama background #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
It was a very independent production, which was great in terms of not having a studio breathing down their necks. But it also meant they had to film it very quickly because there wasn’t the money to do otherwise #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
Alma says that even to get your film into a film festival is a huge achievement, let alone to sell it #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
That’s a wrap! A huge thank you to @Almaharel for sharing her film with us, and to @edibow for moderating #DUKhoneyboy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 9, 2019
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