Film locations for The Silver Stopper

The first draft of the script for the short film about Colette is finished! It wrote itself really; it’s been amazingly quick and easy. I’m not too sure about the title of the short film, though: I like my title The Silver Stopper for the Colette short story, but I wonder if it’s not exciting enough for a film. It needs something more thrilling, something that says: Parisian love triangle circa 1905! In the classiest way possible, of course.

The director, Toni, and I went to see the Katherine Mansfield house in Thorndon, recreated as it would have been when Katherine was growing up there in the 1890s. It’s beautiful, and would be perfect as a film location. We haven’t yet asked them if we can film in the house — I will be surprised if they say yes, to be honest (I had to hand over my bag in case it scratched the wallpaper, so I can’t imagine they’ll want actors lounging around in corsets on the white, lacy bedcovers or sitting on the embroidered chairs), but it won’t hurt to ask.

The hunt for locations begins! We need a 1900s kitchen, two bedrooms, two salons, and a hallway with stairs. This last requirement will seem odd if you live in Europe, where most hallways have stairs. But the only stairs in our home, and in most people’s homes here, are for going up or down (steep hills) to the front door. Stairs are almost exotic! We also need a horse — you’d think the horse would be the most difficult character to find, but in the weird, wonderful and surprising place that is New Zealand, we already have a few potential horsey actors.

The script is different from the story in that I’ve taken out all scenes of Parisian exteriors — it’s impossible to make Wellington look like Paris, so we’re not going to waste our time trying. There are three exterior scenes, but these are in gardens and woods, which can easily stand in for Paris. Never mind, descriptions of beautiful grey brick walls, pale blue shutters, and wrought iron balconies bursting with red geraniums, I haven’t abandoned you, I’m still keeping you in Nights in Paris!

J’ai fini le premier brouillon de mon scénario pour un film sur Colette! C’est épatant! Maintenant il faut trouver une ancienne maison pour filmer… pas façile en Nouvelle Zélande!