Albatross is in many respects a writer?s film, not least because writing is at the heart of its coming of age story. Furthermore, the film?s best jokes are verbal; its central metaphor is literary, and related almost entirely in dialogue; its characters are created through what they say and what they do and what flowed out of screenwriter, Tamsin Rafn.

But of course, this doesn?t mean that director Niall MacCormick had nothing to do, or contributed nothing. I spoke to him last week, about what was in the script, what was not, and what his role was in bringing the film to fruition. We talked about changes to the script that came as a result of his involvement, and we also dug into the film?s uniquely cinematic characteristics, such as the bright, summery colour scheme and the performances of the two lead actresses, Felicity Jones and Jessica Brown Findlay.

First of all, I asked about a series of cutaways at the very start of the film which wordlessly, and almost invisibly, establish some key ideas about the leading characters.
Tamsin wrote very clearly and with very clear characters in the script. Whether or not she actually wrote these specific cutaways to post it notes or the feet going up the stairs, I don?t think it really matters. She gave a real clear idea of who those people are. I sat down with the production designer and it may have been that he said ?Well, we?ll put some post-it notes up there with chemical symbols on them.? But they?re all there to try and build character, to set them up from the beginning.

I didn?t have to pitch my take to Tamsin or with Tamsin. The script had been bought by the producers and they were looking for a director to come on board and work with Tamsin to bring it up to a shooting script and execute it. Actually, though, I had met Tamsin independently in her other life as a script development executive, on other projects. But we had never discussed Albatross and I was hired onto the project without meeting her.

I pitched my "vision," if you like, to the producers. It was after they liked what I had to say that they introduced me to Tamsin afterwards. I pitched that we should make it a film about friendship and tone down the comedy. It was an out and out comedy when I came to it, a very good one, I think, but I thought that, if I were to direct it, I?d be interested in building the friendship between Emelia and Beth into something a lot more substantial. And that was the direction we took it when Tamsin and I started working together. She did several more passes. The script stayed in development for five or six months after I came on board, and while we were looking at the cast and things. It was a collective effort.

I watched all of Tamsin?s references, Wish You Were Here and The Door in the Floor was another one. I think it?s a very good way to get inside the head of the writer and understand their inspiration.

For Emelia and Beth?s roles, we went through a fair amount of casting to try and get that right. We brought them in individually, and then when we had a shortlist, we started screen testing them together to see how that would work. I saw a brilliant established actress in Felicity Jones, and I thought she was terrific.

Then I wanted a slightly unhinged quality to Emelia to make her rather cutting and at times unpleasant dialogue forgivable rather than malicious. Jess seemed to have that quirkiness to her. She managed to play the damaged character in a way that was forgivable. It?s not particularly easy to articulate what I saw when I put them together, but they both did brilliantly.

My relationship with [director of photography] Jan Jonaeus goes back more than fifteen years now, to when we traveled the world making documentaries together. We?ve done all sorts of things. When we work on a project, we talk about story, and I talk to him about the feeling I think the film should have. It?s a very relaxed and well-matured relationship, that one. For Albatross, we knew we weren?t really going to try and play realism. We wanted to try and keep the emotions relevant but we also wanted a heightened feeling for it. It needed to be colourful, and it needed to be bright and punchy. There?s a lot of sadness in the story but we wanted to offset that against a colourful context rather than make everything just dark and grim.

The assembly was done while I was shooting, following the script. I encourage the editors I work with to put some attitude and opinion into the cut, to the extent that if they don?t think something is working, they can just take it out. The editing room, for me, is a place for discussion, debate and argument. The more controversial the editor can be the better, and that?s particularly important when you don?t have a long time to cut.

There?s a fair amount that didn?t end up in the final cut. It?s to do with the tone of the piece. It?s not a great, weighty cinematic statement. That?s not what it is, and it was never intended to be that. It?s a light, gentle film about friendship. I wanted it to be under ninety minutes ? that was my target. It was a 120 minute screenplay, so there was a lot that came out, but that?s part of the choices you have to make.

I didn?t ever visualise the albatross metaphor. I never thought it was the kind of film that would have visual metaphors in it. It?s much more straightforward than that, and that?s the way it is intended. Some of the reviewers have groaned that the title is explained verbally in the last scene of the film, but that?s the kind of film this is. A lot of people don?t like that, but some people do.

Unfortunately, I was one of the people who groaned. But the film is better than that misstep. Some of the production and costume design is very smart, and rich in story value, and there are countless little moments of inspiration in the screenplay. And despite MacCormick's comments, there's a lot of comedy in the film too.

Here's an example of Albatross at it's best: When Emelia gets the line "Is this a lesson about subtext?" the film is both very funny, very smart and very honest - and, appropriately enough, a great lesson in writing subtext. It's the moments like this that make the film sparkle, from time to time.

Albatross is out on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK now. It's a small film, and has modest ambitions, but I think it will have its fans.