Janded

I landed in Jand yesterday. On the plane, to my left, a man slept throughout, with the Koran nestled on his lap. He farted in his sleep silently and continuously. To my right, a guy sneezed and wheezed and groaned. I really must get a face mask for these things, or make enough money to buy my own Lear (Jeremy, wake up, wake up...).

After a quick whizz round the shops, it was up to the shires for a weekend of house-sitting while the folks drift round the High Atlas. Last night, I watched this on DVD. Quintessentially British, in the Mike Leigh/Ken Loach visceral-and-violent mode, with a fabulous performance by Georgia Groome playing an 11 year old runaway girl. The out-takes and interviews on the DVD are fascinating to watch - to see how the decision to switch from a linear narrative to flashback strengthened the piece and moved from telling to showing mode. Interesting to hear the budget breakdown too - 80,000 quid on the shoot, 180,000 on post-production. Watching the on-the-set clips and comparing with the actual film, its fascinating to see the difference post-production makes, in terms of colour-balancing, sound and sequencing.