Location – Why did you shoot Seeing Double in Spain and LA and not somewhere else?- Mugshots – What are the names on the wall when SClub have their mugshots taken? Is there any significance in the licence plate numbers of the cars?
- Music – What’s the deal with Shower Song?
- Music – What’s the music playing over the main menu of the DVD that appears a number of times in the movie?
- Paul – Did you regret not having Paul around while you were shooting the SClub movie?
- S Club – Did you know they were planning to split after the movie was complete?
- S Club – How did the band get their codenames?
Location – Why did you shoot Seeing Double in Spain and LA and not somewhere else?
The last TV series Viva SClub was still being shot in Barcelona when the producers decided to make the movie so they simply decided to pay the crew to stay on for a couple of extra months and shoot the film there too. They kept they exact same crew apart from the director so I was the new guy on the set. (See my SClub diary icon on the left). As the story took place in both Barcelona and LA we shot a couple of days in LA as well to get some of the sights.
Mugshots – What are the names on the wall when SClub have their mugshots taken? Is there any significance in the licence plate numbers of the cars?
In most mugshot scenes (e.g. The Usual Suspects) there are lines painted on the wall to denote height so you can identify how tall the suspect is. We did our own version of this so that the heights had names instead which were: (shortest to tallest): Christina, Britney, Elvis, Puffy, Biggy.
Sadly there is no significance to the licence plate numbers – no Spice Girl references! Usually I try and insert some inside joke or reference but I couldn’t think of anything. The plates were from a prop house in LA and we shipped them to Spain for use in the film. They were made of cardboard.
Music – What’s the deal with Shower Song?
“Shower Song” is a song I wrote especially for the movie for the scene in which Bradley’s taking a shower. The script called for a silly kids song for him to sing and I wrote it on a Sunday afternoon during the shoot and taught Bradley to sing it on the day. He messed up the words a bit but who cares?
Music – What’s the music playing over the main menu of the DVD that appears a number of times in the movie?
When I was looking for a composer for the music for the movie I came across a reel by a guy called Jim Meacock and this was the piece that caught my eye – or to be more exact my ear. I felt it encapsulated everything we were trying to achieve: mischief, excitement and fun. Having hired Jim and put him through the ringer by producing huge chunks of score in no time and with a tiny budget I then persuaded him to tweak the original track that I loved so much and include it in the score.
Paul – Did you regret not having Paul around while you were shooting the SClub movie?
Firstly I must say that I have met Paul a couple of times and he seems like a great guy but I think that the SClub I know would be different from the SClub 7 that must have existed before he left. However from a practical point of view making a movie with SIX lead actors presents all kinds of problems that at times seem insurmountable – not the least finding a car big enough in which to fit them all. It must have been hell when there was 7 of them and they all commented on how much easier it was to sit in the car with only six band members! Of course all these problems were doubled during the scenes when I had all TWELVE of both versions of SClub on set. Let me conclude by saying you don’t miss what you haven’t got.
S Club – Did you know they were planning to split after the movie was complete?
I heard the split was happening about a week before the movie was released, which from my point of view could not have been worse timing, but I sensed it was coming for a while.
While making the movie the band were always professional and completely enthusiastic and the bond between them all was very strong but I noticed they just seemed tired of the whole process. My perspective is that when they first met and got together they were all very excited and eager and ready to do whatever it took to be a success. Then, after the years of endless 5am call-times, photo shoots, recording sessions, gigs etc. it just got very stale for them.
But, you might ask, other bands continue despite all the same feelings why not SClub? I think that as they were a manufactured band (and I don’t use that term in a derisory sense just a descriptive one) they had no personal history before the first casting sessions and, more importantly, they had less control over their career and their music than a band like Blur or Oasis might. I think 19 did an excellent job of creating the band and putting them on the map but over the time of the band’s career all of the guys and girls grew up a lot and I suspect their individual ambitions changed or evolved. What I saw were six great, talented kids who all had dreams they wanted to pursue and it was impossible for those dreams to be realised inside the boundaries of SClub. One day one of them said to me: “I joined SClub because I love music and I love to perform onstage…and it seems I only get to do that about five weeks a year.”
S Club – How did the band get their codenames?
Most of the names were in the script. I think we added “Mr. Black” as a Reservoir Dogs reference and I added “The Shopper” for Rachel when we tweaked some dialogue.