Director Conor Horgan recalls his experience of filming One Hundred Mornings

My abiding memories of making One Hundred Mornings are of how much fun it was. Although it’s a film which deals with some serious topics, the atmosphere on set was great- everyone remained good-humoured, even when it was difficult. And shooting an indie movie in the mountains in November in only four weeks will always have its difficulties.

It was tough enough physically – the location was at the bottom of a breathtakingly steep, unpaved hill, which became known as the Hill of Death after it tore out the transmission of a pickup we were using to transport equipment. After that the camera had to be walked up and down the hill every day, and the energy needed to struggle up that slope in the dark after another long day may well have contributed to me giving up eight years of vegetarianism halfway through the shoot. That, and the fresh venison stew which was on the lunch menu twice that week.

The last day of the shoot was the best day I’ve ever had on any set, anywhere. We worked late, and were flying through it, getting one great moment after another, filling in some of the gaps that we needed to tell the story. We’d had to drop some scenes with two of our actors, and they took me aside to show me an improvised scene between them that might replace some of the lost material . It had only three lines, and after seeing it I immediately called for the camera. Ten minutes, one set-up and three takes later we were done, and I knew it would end up in the film – in fact, it’s one of my favourite scenes.

Overall, I have to say that making this film was one of the best experiences of my life- it felt as though I was doing the right thing, in the right place and with the right people. I know these things don’t come together too often, and I’m really glad they did on One Hundred Mornings.

by Conor Horgan