My main concern was casting a child actor for the part of Josh. Would I be able to find a child actor who was convincing enough to play Josh and who would be comfortable acting in front of the camera?

Fortunately enough, the first actor I saw at the casting session was Kristian Chester, who gave a confident reading and I knew there and then that I had found someone who could pull off the part.

done in the early stages of pre-production, although it did leave me in the lurch a bit, with the threat of having to call the shoot off days beforehand.

The end result worked for the best as it happens, I simply rewrote the rifle out of the script and it worked much better in the film, so thanks John! The shoot itself went quite smoothly. The interesting thing about this shoot was that it was all outdoors, with not one interior in the script. We shot the film in mid August and fortunately the weather was kind to us, apart from one day when the rain came down in buckets.

We were a bit short of crew members as well, but because it was outdoors we didn't need any additional lighting so most of the time the crew consisted of myself, a camera op & a sound op - the bare necessities. I would never do another shoot like that again with so few people to help out, but we managed and it shows

The part of Freddy went to John Ironstone, who I had previously worked with on 'Death by Chocolate'. John was a true professional throughout the shoot but did give me a bit of a scare the week before filming was due to commence. In the original script of 'Blind Man Freddy', Freddy pulls out a rifle before his death at the hands of Mike and Paul. After his death, Josh picks up the rifle and shoots his Dad in the back.

A week before shooting, John informed me that he would have to pull out of the project if I didn't get written permission from the police that we could use a firearm in public. I had no qualms about this from John, it was something I should have

what you can achieve in film making with so few people.

What do I feel about the film today? For a while after I completed the film I was a bit unsure about whether I was pleased with the end result or not, but now I am very proud of the film. The acting in places is a bit ropey and there are some scenes that don't work, but overall I feel the story works well and the sucker punch at the end is effective - or so I have been told.

Ironstone as well. In a demanding role, John makes you feel sympathy and warmth towards a blind tramp of all people. John was an absolute professional throughout the shoot and never complained about climbing up a tree or pretending to be beaten up by the other characters.

So I'd say that 'Blind Man Freddy' was a learning experience for me, I think my direction holds up throughout and there is a bit of handheld use with the camera that I like. There are some deep themes running through the story - the cruelty that people can inflict upon others, friendship, alienation, being an outcast. I think this is a film that will hopefully stand the test of time and will still be appreciated in years to come.