The final week of pre-production was set aside for rehearsals. Boyle used the time to take the actors out in the cab in London to go through scenes and to drive the cab. For Gleeson it was one of the highlights of the film. “It’s such a blast. They’re fabulous things. You can imagine how people could get very attached to them having it hanging around for 30 years just to look at it, never mind get into it.”
Boyle assembled a first-rate crew including Director of Photography Anthony Dod Mantle, who shot FESTEN and JULIEN DONKEY-BOY and recently worked with Boyle on STRUMPET, and VACUUMING COMPLETELY NUDE IN PARADISE; production designer Mark Tildesley (24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, THE CLAIM), costume designer Rachael Fleming (TRAINSPOTTING, BRIDGET JONES' DIARY), make up designer Sallie Jaye (THE BEACH, GOSFORD PARK) and editor Chris Gill (STRUMPET, VACUUMING COMPLETELY NUDE IN PARADISE and CRIME & PUNISHMENT).
Boyle had recently worked with Mantle and wanted to work with him again. “I thought Anthony’s operating on FESTEN was out of this world. He is a true collaborator - what happens is that as a director you have to give up some of your role and he gives up some of his. That way you shape scenes together,” says Boyle, who discovered Tildesley when watching THE CLAIM. “I can’t praise Mark enough. When I saw THE CLAIM and I was watching with one eye on the film and the other on his work and I just thought he had done an extraordinary job on it. He is a delight to work with and he is so creative and positive about everything. His technical knowledge is fantastic.”
For 28 DAYS LATER, Boyle was reunited with costume designer Rachael Fleming and make up designer Sallie Jaye. “Rachael is a fantastic designer. She makes really bold confident decisions and there are no half-hearted choices, they are always dynamic. Sallie did us an amazing job in the end, keeping the main actors sustained on a certain level and developing and executing the look of the infected. It was great to work with them again.”
In his quest for an editor for VACUUMING and STRUMPET, Boyle discovered Chris Gill, a television editor, while watching NEVER NEVER. “He compresses time and then repeats it – it’s a kind of technique he has. It is difficult to explain. It has to be done very skilfully and when it works it’s wonderful. It’s like someone is pushing you in the back - like they’re pushing you towards the film. He’s a great addition to the British film community,” concludes Boyle.
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