Reshooting Blind Panic
What do you do when you’ve made a low-budget movie, but you’ve burnt out and the budget is gone? You grab a camera, rally your cast and crew, and shoot guerrilla-style pick-ups. Because a thriller lacking thrills isn’t an option.
Erroll Shand in a flashback scene – incredible photo by Chris Moss.
Background: Blind Panic is the debut feature film of director Mark Willis and producer Matthew Mawkes. The film came about when Mark and Matthew decided to fulfil a long-held dream of making a quality genre movie in their own backyard. Needing a low-budget idea, Mark came up with a story about a man on home detention, while Matthew hatched a story about a blind woman trapped in suburbia. The ideas merged and Blind Panic was born.
Blind Panic was funded by a Kickstarter campaign and filmed on a shoestring budget in Wellington, New Zealand, over 21 days, in April-May 2017. It then took several years of editing and re-shoots to turn Blind Panic into the crime thriller Mark and Matthew originally envisioned. The project also faced a major set-back with the tragic killing of Mark in May 2023. Fortunately, Mark was able to sign off a cut of the film before his death.
This has been a filmmaking journey with ups and downs like no other. But the final product is a crime thriller Mark would be proud of.
After a gruelling 21-day shoot, Blind Panic was in the can. Mark and I were completely burnt out and stopped talking to each other for a while. Money was long gone. But our good friend Jeff Hurrell started the edit in earnest.
Editing is terrible for directors – especially seeing the first cut – and that was true for Mark, too. I knew we had a genuinely good movie on our hands, especially the performances, but it lacked spark and had a weak ending. This was a crime thriller lacking both crime and thrills! We simply didn’t have enough time during principal photography to do the movie justice. Slowly, I accepted the truth: we needed reshoots.
Mark and I reconnected over op shopping (always a good icebreaker) and started a wish list. It was long. We had intentionally written Blind Panic to feel claustrophobic – two characters trapped in suburbia – but Jeff reminded us: it’s a thriller. We needed to blast open the world of our characters, reveal past crimes, and crank the tension way up.
Dra McKay getting make-up allied while filming at Mark’s little flat.
In March-April 2019, we rallied much of the original cast and crew, plus some new faces, and shot our first pick-ups. Erroll Shand had long hair and a scruffy beard for another role, but never mind: we filmed the heist, flashbacks with Louis and his mates, and brought in Danielle Mason and Dra McKay for some scenes filmed at Mark’s tiny little flat. We had no money – but we made it work.
Then tragedy struck New Zealand: the Christchurch mosque shootings. Suddenly, our gun scene became a minefield. Our armourer pulled out at the last second, and we had to negotiate with police just to keep the film going. Always expect the unexpected in filmmaking.
Using gun props at the worst possible time for New Zealand. Jeff does make a mean thug.
Then came the pandemic. Blind Panic stalled, along with the rest of the world. Mark and I stopped talking again – and this time, months passed in silence. The film had worn us down and out.
Then one day, Mark called out of the blue. “We have to finish the movie. But how can we if we’re not friends? Besides, I miss you. Let’s go to Petone.”
That call changed everything.
So did our new co-producer April Phillips, who went through our list as script consultant, and helped work out kinks in the plot. Fresh eyes made a huge difference – and April saved the film from some major continuity errors.
Armed with a new plan, we shot more pick-ups in 2021 – and did them better than ever. More prep meant better work. We brought back Jodie Hillock for a flashback showing Madeleine sighted for the only time in the movie. We filmed a new BBQ scene, reshot the Mormon visitors, and brought back Ralph Johnson as our baddie, Mr. Prescott, for some chilling moments. Most importantly, we completely reshot the finale – the heartbeat of any thriller.
Reshooting a fight scene at Inverlochy House, an old art school in Wellington.
Each time we filmed, Jeff wove the new material into the cut, making it sharper and more intense. Micro shots added texture: cigarettes, shadows, a ticking clock, and an unappetising sardine-and-relish sandwich.
Mark even makes a cameo as a cleaner, cigarette dangling, scowling – a very ‘Mark’ moment. Jeff appears as one of Prescott’s thugs. April shows up as a rose-pruning neighbour. That’s the Blind Panic maelstrom at work again: stand too close, and you get sucked in.
There was one particularly funny moment featuring Jeff that I’d like to share. We needed to film a scene involving Jeff’s thug watching for any activity on the street. Jeff gaffer taped a camera to the hood of a car and took off – performing and filming himself for material he would later edit! Mark and I just looked at each other and he quipped: “We are now completely superfluous to this movie.”
Pick-ups in Petone. That’s our company co-director Justin far left as a taxi driver – the Blind Panic malestrom affect again.
But we weren’t superfluous just yet. Months – and years – of editing followed as Blind Panic slowly became the crime thriller we had originally envisioned.
Then came the hardest chapter: losing Mark in May 2023. But before he died, we sat in Jeff’s suite and watched a cut close to the final product. Mark was happy. At long last.
After his death, I found a diary entry:
“I’ve been hard on the film in the past, because I believed that I failed as a storyteller and a director. I am easing off on myself a bit to realise that Blind Panic isn’t bad, and if I get the pick-ups I want, I’ll consider it a damn good film.”
We got those pick-ups. And Blind Panic isn’t just a damn good film – it’s a testament to resilience, friendship, and a director’s dream fulfilled.
MATTHEW MAWKES