The Portastylistic: pop*eye...God Help the Girl

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POP*EYE
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— New Website —

God Help the Girl

Hello one and all,
It has been a long time; how are you?

We have been busy; ‘God Help the Girl’ the album, has been going through its metamorphosis into ‘God Help the Girl’ the feature film – but it is not yet complete. We have a brand new, revamped website brought to you with the help of Channel 4’s Alpha fund to explain all; you can check out the new website here: www.godhelpthegirl.com

The idea behind the new website is to keep you informed how the film is progressing, and also to keep us informed with your thoughts and feelings around it. On the new website you can check out what is currently being done in areas such as casting, locations, and storyboards – We also want you to suggest actors for roles, locations for the film, etc.

And finally, it won’t be all work; there will be a Karaoke section to allow you to sing along with and get to know some of the songs from the film.

We are so excited, and this is just the beginning. So come along and take part.

Thanks.

The Woman
WE L♥VE Series

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About
God Help the Girl

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“God Help The Girl” is a musical feature film, which will be made in 2012. It is written and is to be directed by Stuart Murdoch, the lead singer of the group Belle And Sebastian.

So far, an album of songs has been written and released (in 2009) as a precursor to the film.

The project began in late 2003 when Stuart started writing a few songs that “weren’t for him to sing”, but had a ‘girl group’ sound. The few songs soon became a whole album’s worth. By this time, most of the songs were to be sung by a lead character, a girl called Eve.

At this point, Stuart went back to focus on Belle And Sebastian during 2004-6. The project, however, wouldn’t go away.

As the Belle And Sebastian tour of 2006 came to an end, it became increasingly clear that the ‘girl group’ songs formed a story, and that the story had to be written. The day after the last chord of the tour was struck, Stuart began writing a screenplay called ‘God Help The Girl’, taking its title from the first song that had crept along in the dark days of 2003.

With the screenplay in progress, the decision was taken to record the songs first. Belle and Sebastian were called in to be the studio group. Auditions for singers were at first held on a local level, but then the search was thrown wider, with open auditions over the internet.

More than 500 girls and guys tried out for parts. Dina Bankole and Brittany Stallings won the online competition to come and record with the group, but the lead singing part went to Catherine Ireton, who sang the ‘part’ of Eve.

The album God Help The Girl was recorded and released in 2009. A touring band was formed featuring Catherine, Celia Garcia and Alex Klobouk, and some shows were played including a concert at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, supported by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

In March 2007, producer Barry Mendel got in touch with Belle And Sebastian’s manager (and erstwhile GHTG coordinator) John Williamson, perhaps anticipating that there was some sort of movie project happening. Barry was seized upon, and immediately assumed the mantle of Producer.

During many discussions and some cross continent visits, Barry helped shape and edit the script, the first draft of which Stuart finally finished at the end of 2009…

….just in time for Belle and Sebastian to go to work again. In 2010 they wrote and recorded Write About Love and toured the world for a year, finishing in June 2011.

That brings us to now.

In addition to continuing the work on the script, the other main focus at present is casting, which is being spearheaded by Glasgow’s Kathleen Crawford and her colleague Caroline Stewart. Word is on the street and auditions from all comers are being welcomed, enjoyed, and digested. Candidates are trying out scenes and displaying their musicality. The response has been wonderful.

Barry and Stuart have also strengthened the producing team adding Singer Films’ Carole Sheridan in Glasgow and Zephyr Films’ Chris Curling and Phil Robertson in London who together are spearheading UK fundraising as well as Beth Allan who is managing the physical production.

The site will be steadily evolving as we move forward with the film and we are keen to hear your suggestions and comments. We are currently looking for you to suggest ideas for casting but later we will also be looking for you to help us find locations, ideas for the design of character’s clothes, homes etc. Shortly we will be launching a Karaoke section which will be a bit of fun for you to let us hear you singing along to songs from the soundtrack.

We are very much looking forward to your contributions…

Casting

We are excited to say casting for ‘God Help the Girl’ is currently under way. Find out more by watching interviews about the casting process so far .
But we still need YOU. Whoever you are, where ever you are from, there is no one else in the world like you; the world would be a completely different place without you. In the coming weeks we are opening a casting forum and we need your ideas, suggestions, comments, and passion to be part of making a great film.
So, is there an actor/actress you think would be perfect for the role? Add your comments to the character profiles below and have your say.

— Eve
Eve is aged 19-24. Eve has a British background, i.e., she speaks with an English/Scottish accent. She could, however, look as if she came from anywhere. (Her parents live abroad. At least one of her parents works or worked for the armed forces or a large British company abroad.)

Although Eve has been in bad shape, the majority of the film deals with her finding her feet, her renaissance.

She might speak sparingly at first, but she has presence. She is slightly cat-like in movement; a dancer’s background.

She is still girlish in outlook, though her recent life has been eventful. Music is becoming the very blood in her veins, specifically her own songs, and it’s appropriate that the first words uttered in the film are by her, and are in song.

The person who plays Eve ought to have a strong singing voice. An ability to move well would be an advantage, as there are scenes which might show off her dancing prowess.

She came to the UK to go to University. Great things were expected of her; she was a prodigious child; dancing and singing were in her upbringing.

She learned to be independent at an early age, and became stubbornly so. Being alone in Glasgow, however, in new surroundings, is different from ‘being alone’ in a privileged upbringing. She became ill, lost a lot of weight, and ended up in hospital. (The hospital part of the story is told in flashback, so the actor may have to lose weight for this sequence)

After the revelation of her hospital stay, she decides to let a boy called James, and a girl called Cassie into her life. She learns how to live again.

It might also be pointed out that her romantic side is awakened on leaving hospital, and for a period, she is quite happy to be lead by this side.
— James
James is the one of the main characters in God Help the Girl. He is a Scottish man aged about 26-32, but he has many boyish characteristics.

James spends as much time as he can manage, avoiding responsibilities, and staying in his safety zone (his small bedsit room; a shrine to films, music, and books from the past.)

James isn’t useless though. He’s chosen to live this life separated from meaningful work, money, and friends. When Eve crashes the picture though, he gives into fate somewhat.

James is a keen guitarist. He accompanies Eve’s singing with skill and understanding. It would be an advantage for the actor playing James to have some knowledge of the guitar (though it’s not a deal breaker), and also to have a reasonable singing voice.

Though bookish and rather slim of appearance, he does like to run quite a lot. His family is never mentioned; his background is unexplored, though it’s hinted that he dropped out of the university that now employs him as a lifeguard.

James is an island, a fixture in his own post code area. You couldn’t imagine him to have seen much of the world, but at an early age he made it to London, and came close to making it as a singer songwriter. The business let him down, and this sense of ‘being fooled once’ makes him rather cynical of ambition.

Though boyish, he does rather take to the roll of ‘senior figure’, hesitate to say father figure, to Cass, and to some degree, Eve. He likes the sound of his own voice and likes to appear knowledgeable.

His frail health is sometimes alluded to, but may be imagined. He does genuinely appear to have quite a certain spiritual side behind his ironic, straight-faced demeanour.
— Cass
Cass is like Eve and James’s little sister. Strictly speaking, she should go off and form her own gang but she doesn’t know anyone else, so she ends up hanging out with them most of the time. Tagging along.

She’s tigerish and bouncy, liable to go off on enthusiastic tangents. She has opinions on most things, though most of them are pretty wonky. She is musically adventurous and adaptable, and is amazed by Eve and her songs. It’s one of the very few things that impress her.

She recently moved to Glasgow from America or the far south of England (you decide), her dad being one of these rich and busy dads that move everywhere. She lives in a castle in the posh bit of town, and the only people that visit the house are the posh friends of her mum, and the rugby playing pals of her brother.

It annoys her to no end that they have friends straight away. It annoys her that they seem to like this strange and backward little town. She is surprised that none of the local boys have made any attempt to woo her, though in truth, she has made little effort with her classmates. I mean, what’s the point? School is about to end…

Cass is 16 going on 17, is into dressing up (especially berets), playing scrabble by herself in cafes (right hand against left) home baking, and feminist literature. She has a dog called Captain, and she rides a tandem bike that her parents bought her in the hope she would make a friend.

At the start of the film she is being taught the guitar by James. He still has her on scales. Their relationship is stilted and professional, he being worried by the posh surroundings and her mother, she, simply under whelmed by the Scottish race so far. Why should James be any different?