Gary J. Hewitt and Susan Sims talk about making
Dig
Dig
 Gary J. Hewitt and Susan Sims
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Dig was awarded Best in Festival, Best British Entry, and a Diamond at BIAFF 2023 Gary is the director and scriptwriter. Susan plays the main character. They co-produced the film. |
Gary:
The short film Dig basically came from trying to do something topical. There's a lot of hate crime in the world and we thought we should try to tackle that. I knew I wanted to film on a beach, and I had an idea for a drone shot looking down on all these holes.
That was an image I had in my head, and I tried to work that into this this hate crime idea that I was going for. Then I just started writing. I tried to do it without dialogue or with very little dialogue.
Susan, the lead, had a part in another film. It was just a small part that I'd seen but I thought she had something. So I asked if she would come and work on the film. She agreed. Susan also does a lot of theatre acting and produces a lot of theatre. So, I asked if she wanted to produce this short film with me and she agreed to that as well.
The short film Dig basically came from trying to do something topical. There's a lot of hate crime in the world and we thought we should try to tackle that. I knew I wanted to film on a beach, and I had an idea for a drone shot looking down on all these holes.
That was an image I had in my head, and I tried to work that into this this hate crime idea that I was going for. Then I just started writing. I tried to do it without dialogue or with very little dialogue.
Susan, the lead, had a part in another film. It was just a small part that I'd seen but I thought she had something. So I asked if she would come and work on the film. She agreed. Susan also does a lot of theatre acting and produces a lot of theatre. So, I asked if she wanted to produce this short film with me and she agreed to that as well.
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Susan:
I'm gonna say the rain made me look absolutely miserable, but it was a great day. I laughed the whole day. Didn't matter how late we were and how miserable it was, we had a right giggle, including the whole crew. It was a fantastic team. When Gary asked me to do the film, he said ‘Susan, I’ve got a wee film, would you be in it?’. I said yes straight away and never even hesitated. He said ‘Let me pitch it to you.’. I didn’t need a pitch. I know how good a director and film maker he is. He pitched it anyway and I thought it sounded absolutely amazing. Normally I do comedy and this was probably one of my first serious roles. I might now start doing the serious stuff. I loved it. I loved doing that character.
By the way, I dug every single one of those holes. Gary dug two and I'd done about 10.
Gary:
That's a lie.
Susan:
We had help.
Gary:
We storyboarded it and decided to shoot in chronological order. I'm glad we did that because the rain came on and it wouldn’t have worked otherwise. When Dave our DOP was setting up for the next shot, one of us would go and dig the next hole and we kind of took turns with that. To tell the truth, filling the holes back in was the hardest part because of the rain. The sand soaked up all the rain, so it was heavier to put back in.
We were a skeleton crew. There were only seven or eight of us and we really worked as a team. It was a tough day, so we just banded together and tried to make it as easy as possible. For example Sharon, who did the makeup, stood with two umbrellas over the camera and she brought her camper van with her because it was an outdoor location. It was somewhere to hide on a break. She ended up getting an assistant producer credit as well because she did so much more than was asked of her
I'm gonna say the rain made me look absolutely miserable, but it was a great day. I laughed the whole day. Didn't matter how late we were and how miserable it was, we had a right giggle, including the whole crew. It was a fantastic team. When Gary asked me to do the film, he said ‘Susan, I’ve got a wee film, would you be in it?’. I said yes straight away and never even hesitated. He said ‘Let me pitch it to you.’. I didn’t need a pitch. I know how good a director and film maker he is. He pitched it anyway and I thought it sounded absolutely amazing. Normally I do comedy and this was probably one of my first serious roles. I might now start doing the serious stuff. I loved it. I loved doing that character.
By the way, I dug every single one of those holes. Gary dug two and I'd done about 10.
Gary:
That's a lie.
Susan:
We had help.
Gary:
We storyboarded it and decided to shoot in chronological order. I'm glad we did that because the rain came on and it wouldn’t have worked otherwise. When Dave our DOP was setting up for the next shot, one of us would go and dig the next hole and we kind of took turns with that. To tell the truth, filling the holes back in was the hardest part because of the rain. The sand soaked up all the rain, so it was heavier to put back in.
We were a skeleton crew. There were only seven or eight of us and we really worked as a team. It was a tough day, so we just banded together and tried to make it as easy as possible. For example Sharon, who did the makeup, stood with two umbrellas over the camera and she brought her camper van with her because it was an outdoor location. It was somewhere to hide on a break. She ended up getting an assistant producer credit as well because she did so much more than was asked of her
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Susan:
Sophie Clifton, who played the daughter is an absolutely beautiful girl. She was lovely to work with. When we were together behind the grass waiting for the technical setup we started the three-step. I thought we should do something together because there wasn’t any dialogue. I expected that we’d improvise but she kept me on my toes. It was Sophie starting this and that. And it worked. She was shy at the beginning but I've got an act with the kids, pulling faces at them, so I normally get them round. I wish I could give her a hug right now. Her Mum's gonna be so proud.
Gary:
Totally. I let Sophie pick her outfit and bring a prop with her that she wanted to carry. I really let her make the character her own. And as Susan said, Sophie picked her own dialogue for that scene. Originally it was going to have no dialogue, but we knew having them talking on set would bring her out her shell. And what was said on the day just worked for the story. There was no reason to take it out. I had wanted to do a non-dialogue film to put into non-dialogue film festivals and stuff like that. But I would rather take the hit and not submit to them and keep that dialogue in because it's a really nice heart-warming moment.
With the photos, the man in the photo is another filmmaker, Chris Martin, who allowed us to use his face. It’s about how I couldn't do it without the people around me.
Susan:
There’s my grandkid in one of the photos.
Gary:
With the memorial as well. There's a photo of Sophie's character when she was older. That's another actress who we've worked with previously. Who basically said take whatever head shot you want to use.
Sophie Clifton, who played the daughter is an absolutely beautiful girl. She was lovely to work with. When we were together behind the grass waiting for the technical setup we started the three-step. I thought we should do something together because there wasn’t any dialogue. I expected that we’d improvise but she kept me on my toes. It was Sophie starting this and that. And it worked. She was shy at the beginning but I've got an act with the kids, pulling faces at them, so I normally get them round. I wish I could give her a hug right now. Her Mum's gonna be so proud.
Gary:
Totally. I let Sophie pick her outfit and bring a prop with her that she wanted to carry. I really let her make the character her own. And as Susan said, Sophie picked her own dialogue for that scene. Originally it was going to have no dialogue, but we knew having them talking on set would bring her out her shell. And what was said on the day just worked for the story. There was no reason to take it out. I had wanted to do a non-dialogue film to put into non-dialogue film festivals and stuff like that. But I would rather take the hit and not submit to them and keep that dialogue in because it's a really nice heart-warming moment.
With the photos, the man in the photo is another filmmaker, Chris Martin, who allowed us to use his face. It’s about how I couldn't do it without the people around me.
Susan:
There’s my grandkid in one of the photos.
Gary:
With the memorial as well. There's a photo of Sophie's character when she was older. That's another actress who we've worked with previously. Who basically said take whatever head shot you want to use.
Gary:
When I first started making films, I quickly learned never to use the title ‘A Film by Gary Hewitt’ because it's not a film by me. It's a film by us. That's one thing I'll always stick to now. I couldn't do it without the people around me. So it's us making the film not Gary.
The music was by Liam Maclean. That's the first time I've worked with him. I run a film event as part of my work and he attends it. So it's just through networking. I'm all about giving people chances and working with new people. I hadn't really heard much that Liam had composed. I just asked if he wanted to do it. I picked some temp music to show this kind of vibe I was going for. But told him to do his own thing with it and it was great. The music has been complimented a lot.
I'm working on a feature film just now, so that might be the next thing that I put into BIAFF. It's currently in post-production and it should be done next month, so maybe an early submission for BIAFF when it re-opens. I’m taking a chance trying to do a feature. It is a vigilante film. Something a bit different.
When I first started making films, I quickly learned never to use the title ‘A Film by Gary Hewitt’ because it's not a film by me. It's a film by us. That's one thing I'll always stick to now. I couldn't do it without the people around me. So it's us making the film not Gary.
The music was by Liam Maclean. That's the first time I've worked with him. I run a film event as part of my work and he attends it. So it's just through networking. I'm all about giving people chances and working with new people. I hadn't really heard much that Liam had composed. I just asked if he wanted to do it. I picked some temp music to show this kind of vibe I was going for. But told him to do his own thing with it and it was great. The music has been complimented a lot.
I'm working on a feature film just now, so that might be the next thing that I put into BIAFF. It's currently in post-production and it should be done next month, so maybe an early submission for BIAFF when it re-opens. I’m taking a chance trying to do a feature. It is a vigilante film. Something a bit different.
Gary J. Hewitt and Susan Sims, May 2023
