Karen and I have been redoing and redoing and then redoing again the schedule... The logistics of the major scenes is a nightmare... One 3 day shoot has over 80 extras and crew, ten military 4 wheel drive vehicles, a helicopter, a military base camp, a mass grave and it goes on and on...

Being a total control freak, I've been finding it very difficult to let go which has caused a few arguments with the crew... probably made worse by the lack of sleep...

Finally we are all crewed up.

Michael T. Roberts, an old pro, has come aboard as 'Production Designer/Art Director'... a great asset to the team... David Bowles and Paul Flanagan are head of 'Stunts & Special Effects', Steve Tomkow at Firepower is 'Head of Armory & Pyrotechnics' ...All 3 are totally committed to getting away from the 'Hollywood' style of effects and making the film look as real as possible...

Jonathan Urquhart has been aboard as 'Location Finder/Transport Manager' for the last week... He's been rushing around like crazy in this heat trying to find the right locations, which isn't as easy as it sounds... especially with me, because I really need the location to become a 4th character in the film... Echoing the mental state of the characters at that time... It can add a hell of a lot to the emotion...

Last weekend Michelle, Robert, Myra Landsburg, my girlfriend, and I went down to The Hop Farm at Beltring where they have the 'War & Peace Show'... It's a yearly event where over 3,000 ex-military vehicles get together for 5 days... I went there 4 years ago and was knocked out by the friendliness of the people...

Over the 2 days we stayed Michelle managed to pick up about 70% of the mishmash of army uniforms that we needed very cheaply... It's just as well as the budget is what's called a 'Macro-budget'... If you knew the budget you would understand what I meant... Helmet where about 5 UK Pounds each, a bail of 25 jackets 25 UK Pounds each and on...

Myra and I walked around and talked to a lot of the owners and it now looks like we have our mishmash convoy 4 wheel drive military trucks/LandRovers... And hopefully a very beaten up Armored Personnel Carrier (APC)... I really have to thank the owners in advance for there great help...

I also found a really nice man with a Russian T-62 Battle Tank who has agreed to help me... One of the logistic problems of the schedule has been that we can't find the location of the opening urban scene until the tank had been sourced... Tanks weigh a lot, the T-62 is 35 tons without the low-loader weight it needs to be transported on... This means filling out 'Transportation Orders' with the Police and a possible Police escort... The expense of transport becomes chronic if you decide you want it moved 500 miles from where the tank lives... So finally we at least have a rough area to look in now... Thankfully it doesn't appear to be near London, especially since I've just been told that just about all the derelict urban spaces seem to be managed by just a few location companies...

It looks like we've found the major forest location down south... now all we need is to get clearance...

On Tuesday we have the final casting for the character of Mary... 4 girls are turning up in the morning to act a few scenes with Edmund... I'll give you an update as soon as I've chosen... Similar to all the castings we've had the degree of talent is outstanding.

Mercia Steggles, my Mum, who used to be Mercia Watkins and own a very well respected Public Relations company called M.W. Publicity, on par with Lynn Franks in her field, has been working on Product Placement for the Airline, Rental Car and Hotel scenes in Mississippi, U.S.A.

For the last 3 weeks we have been trying to find an approximate date when the cotton is going to be white... There are actually four stages... But this seems to be near impossible to find out, latest reports say anywhere between end of August and mid October... I can't believe it can't be more accurately anticipated... The nightmare scenario would be to get there for 10 days only to find the cotton had been picked already... Another thing to worry about...

Another thing that taking a long time is the insurance... I really hope it's sorted by Tuesday... The problems seem to be the stunts and filming in the U.S., a few people who work for the brokers are trying to be as helpful as possible though...

Basically for the last week everyone has been working their butts off... I'm still amazed at the level of commitment and belief in the film of all concerned...

I've just remembered, and this is turning out to be quite weird, on Tuesday afternoon Edmund AKA Peter and myself are having our faces cast by Jenny Cochrane, 'Head of Prosthetics'. I knew that Edmund didn't have a full driving license when I took him on, he's been having driving lessons for the private off-road sections, which we've checked he's allowed to do... But to drive on the U.S. highways he can't... so who is the closed build to Edmund, amongst the minimal crew that's going to Mississippi?

You guest it... Me... So for the wide shots of the hire car passing I'll have to set up the shot, drive through then view the footage to make sure its OK... I've told Edmund that it also means I can play his part if necessary... Hehehehehe... Johnny will be filming the making of the cast so it should be quite fun to watch...

Nicola Westmore has also had her face cast for her death scene in the dumper truck...