James thrive on chaotic creativity. They jam to create songs, gigs have fluid set lists and onstage events. This off-beat approach has been both a help and hindrance to their career-They turned down being the support act for the tour that broke the Smiths in America because two members joined a cult!
Director, Chris Atkins kept the crew very light- often just him and Camera operator Chris Smith. This run and gun approach helped to truly embed themselves with the band and to capture things behind the scenes on the fly. It also made for a tricky dialogue edit where the band were often not wearing individual radio mics. I had to work with cutting edge restoration software to get things as clean as possible, ready for a Dolby Atmos cinema mix where standards needed to be high.
The film premiered in a simulcast to over 140 cinemas in the UK and Ireland, opening with a small live gig from the band. This sold out in about half of the venues. More information in this article from the Manchester Evening News
