Connor Clements

James, 2007 to 2009

Archive

The working papers behind James. The film was written, storyboarded and scheduled in June 2007, and shot in five days that July.

Four scenes from script to screen are on the James page

Before the shoot

“I have included storyboards for most shots I intend to use throughout the film, something that I find critical when working with a crew as it helps communicate the style of the film, as well as working out what type of shots I need long before I get to a location.”

From the director’s statement, June 2007

Storyboards

Pencil, June 2007. A selection from the 62 drawn panels.

Storyboard, shot 1.2: Close-up. The door handle moves quickly up and down.
1.2Close-up. The door handle moves quickly up and down.
Storyboard, shot 1.4: Medium. James running downstairs.
1.4Medium. James running downstairs.
Storyboard, shot 4.4: Close-up. James in the foreground, the boys out of focus behind him.
4.4Close-up. James in the foreground, the boys out of focus behind him.
Storyboard, shot 6.2: Wide. James watches his teacher play the piano.
6.2Wide. James watches his teacher play the piano.
Storyboard, shot 7.4: Two shot. The teacher gives James a book.
7.4Two shot. The teacher gives James a book.
Storyboard, shot 13.1: Wide. His parents in the kitchen, James reading in the foreground.
13.1Wide. His parents in the kitchen, James reading in the foreground.
Storyboard, shot 16.1: Wide. His parents fight, seen through the crack of an open door.
16.1Wide. His parents fight, seen through the crack of an open door.
Storyboard, shot 16.2: Medium close-up. James spies on his parents.
16.2Medium close-up. James spies on his parents.
Storyboard, shot 17.1: Wide. James waits for his teacher to arrive.
17.1Wide. James waits for his teacher to arrive.
Storyboard, shot 19.1: Wide. James waiting in an empty corridor.
19.1Wide. James waiting in an empty corridor.

The shoot

Five days, 2 to 6 July 2007, from the original schedule.

  1. Monday 2 July 2007The house and the car. James’s bedroom in the morning and at night, the kitchen, the drive home with his mother.
  2. Tuesday 3 JulyThe school bus; the living room and kitchen; the parents’ row.
  3. Wednesday 4 JulySchool interiors. The car park, the choir and piano, the classroom and store room, the last conversation with the teacher.
  4. Thursday 5 JulySchool exteriors. The playing fields, the football pitch, the bus stop and the phone box.
  5. Friday 6 JulyThe toilet block and the supermarket car park, including the final scene.

Sundance 2009

James, Shorts Program IV

Five men stand side by side in front of a red Sundance Film Festival 2009 backdrop, festival passes on lanyards round their necks. Left to right, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rashaad Ernesto Green, Destin Daniel Cretton, Rob Connolly and Connor Clements.
Sundance Film Festival, January 2009. Left to right, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rashaad Ernesto Green, Destin Daniel Cretton, Rob Connolly and Connor Clements.

In January 2009 James was an Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. It screened in Shorts Program IV, one of eight films in a programme that included Next Floor by Denis Villeneuve, Short Term 12 by Destin Daniel Cretton and Sparks by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

  • The Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5Directed by Chema García Ibarra
  • ChoicesDirected by Rashaad Ernesto Green
  • JamesDirected by Connor Clements
  • Next FloorDirected by Denis Villeneuve
  • Our Neck of the WoodsDirected by Rob Connolly
  • Short Term 12Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
  • SparksDirected by Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Watch JamesThe 2009 Sundance Film Festival catalogue, page 66 (Scribd)

Sundance screenings

The original James postcard from the 2009 festival, and the festival’s own listing for Shorts Program IV.

Postcard for James at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, a close-up of James beside the festival laurel and the five screening times.

As printed on the postcard

  • Friday 16 January, 14:15. Racquet Club, Park City
  • Saturday 17 January, 23:30. Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
  • Sunday 18 January, 21:00. Broadway Centre Cinemas VI, Salt Lake City
  • Wednesday 21 January, 22:30. Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
  • Saturday 24 January, 23:59. Egyptian Theatre, Park City

As listed in the festival catalogue

  • Friday 16 January, 14:15. Racquet Club, Park City
  • Saturday 17 January, 13:30. Broadway Centre Cinemas IV, Salt Lake City
  • Saturday 17 January, 23:30. Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
  • Wednesday 21 January, 20:30. Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
  • Saturday 24 January, midnight. Egyptian Theatre, Park City

2009 Sundance Film Festival catalogue, page 66

Three of the five screenings match. For the Salt Lake City screening and the second Holiday Village screening, the postcard and the catalogue give different details, and which was final isn’t recorded.

At the festivals

Photographs from Connor’s own collection, 2008 and 2009.

Connor Clements speaks at a microphone on stage, holding the award in his left hand, a festival lanyard round his neck.
Collecting the Skillset Best UK Short award for James at the Iris Prize Festival, Cardiff, 2008.
Connor Clements, smiling, beside Russell T Davies at an evening reception.
With Russell T Davies at the Iris Prize Festival, Cardiff, 2008.
Connor Clements in sunglasses and a winter jacket on a mountainside, with snow-covered hills and a frozen reservoir behind him.
Park City, Utah, during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Connor Clements, wearing his festival pass, stands beside Kim Yutani at an indoor festival event.
With Kim Yutani, one of the festival’s shorts programmers, at the Sundance programmers’ breakfast, 2009.