Exquisite Corpse

Yesterday we were back at the old folks home to pick up some scenes and reshoot others for Mariana's film for Exquisite Corpse.

                                                        A quick check of old footage.....

.....and a recap of the lines

Then straight into it.

I can't believe it was so long ago when we were last there. Great to see Ginny and Mariana acting together again.

That's the end of Mariana's shoot, until the others start filming.

Last Sunday saw us filming 'Morris dancers' the 2nd episode of  'Gert's Bucket' (2nd series).

The shoot went well (apart from the entire contents of a small airfield passing overhead for about an hour)

and was completed in under 4 hours (with a food break as well) which is what we try and aim for with these shoots.

We couldn't have asked for a better day regarding the weather, and the location was beautiful.

 

We needed 13 people for this shoot and that's a big ask for the group. Six of these were needed to work the shed, which was extremely hard work in the heat.

Another sufferer was Ray, who had to endure running around with a vase on his head.

So, another enjoyable shoot with some good footage in the can!  Many thanks to:

HRH Gertrutbucket (host)

Ray Turner

Rachel McGladdery

Liam Treacy (camera)

John Hamlett (sound)

Janette Lund  (producer)

Horris, Pete Sowerby, Phillip Cowles, Carl Aldridge, Mark Harris, Dave Fellows (shed dancers)

Jennifer Schofield (photographer)

 

Oh, that's how yer do it......


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyG2Ufakf_E

Due to the recession, the 'Arts' are in decline, so this series sees HRH meeting different artists in their respective fields, to see why 'their' talent, will save the day.
First to come under the Royal spotlight was the young painting maestro 'Thomas Tittier'  who has made some bold statements regarding the state of the industry.
Joining HRH for the series is the world renowned Art expert,  Agnes Ballgrip.

This first episode of the new series of 'Gert's Bucket' was filmed last Sunday with for once, a nice warm indoor location. Filming took approx 3 1/2 hours.

Big thanks to the crew:  Ray Turner, Liam Treacey, Lucie Carrington and Janette Lund.

This Sunday just gone saw Ray filming some short scenes with Ben and Adam for his part of Exquisite Corpse.

We had to travel to Accrington to get the right 'look' for the outside of the house.

The make up ladies had made the journey as well to give Ben his scars. Big thanks to Hanna and Anna for putting up with the conditions!

The day was a short one, which was merciful with no heating in the house, but everything went ok.

Exquisite Corpse

The Pier hotel was the location last Friday for Anne's first scenes to be shot for her section of Exquisite Corpse.
Apparently there was a witch, some sexy dancing........and Steve,  who I presume is still alive.
Liam shot the action using Ray's camera.  Big thanks to Debbie & Lee at The Pier for letting the Co-op film there.

Exquisite Corpse

Last weekend was Ray's turn to start filming his part in 'Exquisite corpse'. The location of the shoot was a local house which was faked as two in the film. Once the furniture and some of the fittings were moved, we were ready to go. Saturday saw us working from 10 'til 6pm with Sunday requiring an earlier start and later finish.

Two new actors, Adam Weldrick and Philip Cowles, joined Ben Clegg and Horris in the cast for the weekend, with me and Mark Harris crewing and Ray on camera (Thanks to Workshop Media for the loan of the reflector boards) Hanna and Anna came to apply the make up and did a good job on Ben.

Once Ray had finished his scenes it was time for me to piggy back the shoot and film one of my death scenes.
Apart from a smokey set and the cat meowing, everything seemed to go ok.

Exquisite Corpse

Last Saturday and Sunday saw the Co-op shooting Mariana's section of Exquisite Corpse in Garstang.  The path by the river was the first location and we were blessed with a very beautiful but nippy setting.
After a few technical gremlins (good job we doubled up on some equipment) we soon got into our stride, and we were able to watch two good actresses at work (Mariana and Ginny).

After freezing our nuts off by the river, we moved to the old peoples home for the next location.
The warmth inside the room came as a relief, and we quickly set things up for the scene to come and got cracking with the filming.

Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that several people in a small room with the heating on, is not a good thing at all, and it quickly became rather stifling.
Sunday's weather was completely different with rain all day. Luckily we were filming inside the old people's home again, so they only thing we had to worry about was trying not to film the rain on the window too much (continuity wise, my outdoor scene overlooking Morecambe had blue sky on one side and a big black cloud and rain on the other, so we're covered all ways!)
We finished filming soon after 5pm and dashed off home for a well earned rest.
A big thanks to the staff of the old people's home, who put themselves out to help us.

'Last Post'

Ray's short film 'Last Post' which was shot last May, was shown at the 'Keswick Film Festival' this February,  a Mr John Hurt was present.

This film as well as some of the other Co-op members films are on the Film Makers Co-op site on You tube.

The POW

'The POW'  a film written and directed by Co-op member John Hamlett was shown at the X1V international detective film festival in Moscow. John flew over there himself to experience the event and came home with the 'Viewers choice' award. The film has also been shown at several festivals over here, picking up 'Best narrative short' at the Pennine Film Festival.
This is a brilliant achievement for John and a very proud moment for the Co-op.

Queen's legs

On Friday 21st September, the TV pilot hopeful 'The Queen's legs' had it's premier at The Storey in Lancaster.
Most of the cast and crew were there but unfortunately a filming clash meant some couldn't make it.
The pilot was written and produced by Cecilly Holland a long time member of the co-op.
We wish Cec good luck in getting this on the telly.

Exquisite corpse

The Exquisite corpse group is now down to 6 people and 6 scripts. After what seems like an eternity, filming has finally begun.
Most of the locations have been found but the biggest problem seems to be acquiring actors/actresses. More links need to be made with actor groups for future projects.

Mime shoot

Finally the shoot for 'Gert's Bucket' went ahead on Feb 5th.
Apart from an early disaster with an actor pulling out and a member of the crew gallantly stepping in at the last minute, everything went ok.
The ground was covered in snow and yes, it was cold. Everyone mucked in brilliantly to get the job done and we all enjoyed the catering put on by Jan again.

The trailer for the series is almost ready to go, with the first episode following a few weeks later.
There is a possibility of a delay though, so no promises.

Mime

The Mime shoot on the 15th Jan has been cancelled, the best we can do is February at the moment.

Mime

The Gert's bucket mime shoot is scheduled for Sunday 15th January.
All positions have been filled so weather permitting, we're good to go.

Big tree productions is on Facebook.   www.facebook.com/pages/Big-tree-productions/148708141860216

HRH Gertrutbucket himself, is now on Facebook.
www.facebook.com/pages/HRH-Gertrutbucket/147881451942348

.....and also, apparently, on twitter.     @Gertrutbucket

Have a good Christmas and a happy new year!

Mime

The next episode of Gert's Bucket will be called 'Mime'.
A couple come back from holiday, to find a mime in their back garden.
Needless to say, we have to investigate it.

'Gert's Bucket' Poltergeist

The shoot got cancelled again on the 1st Oct so we rescheduled for today. With the weather not looking so good, we took advantage of a break in the rain to film the outside 'introduction shot'. We then shot 2 scenes inside the caravan as it peed it down outside. After lunch the weather wasn't any better but we made a decision to soldier on and finish the shoot. The caravan eventually went up in the end (after a bit of persuasion to get it going) and overall we were pleased with the days work.
Big thanks to Liam, John, Trevor, Tom and Horris all from the Co-op, Alan and Darren who acted in the film (even though they're not actors)  and a very big thanks to the owners of the farm who helped in the production and put on a very welcome spread.
Time to relax now and think about the 4th episode and then L&S 2.

'Gert's Bucket' Poltergeist

Due to late work commitments we could only shoot certain scenes and thankfully they were all in the caravan as it peed it down all morning. The rest of the shoot will take place on the 1st October with the end scene being the burning of the caravan. Bit worried about this, as there is some acting when it's on fire and we can't retake!
Liam was filming with his new SLR camera and it seemed to work ok. I'm interested to see what it looks like.
Thanks to Liam, David Dale and Alan for helping.
Big thanks to John Hamlett and 'Workshop media' for lending us some equipment.

Gert's Bucket Bassenthwaite killer fish

Despite the bad weather at the start with the wind and rain causing problems the shoot went well. Big thanks to Trevor, Horris, Ray, Louise and Josh for making it happen, and a big thanks to Bob Christie who turned up to help even though he'd never met any of us before! The film along with the first is now in post production.

The next episode of Gert's Bucket will hopefully be shot on the 17th and 18th of September and sees us investigating a haunted caravan in Bolton.

Nearly finished

Nearly finished editing and sound mixing my film. I feel really good about this. I got an e-mail on the 18th April asking if there was any films being made because the actor just wanted to do something. It started a chain of events that got us to make a film that is about to be finished this weekend. I had a rough draft of a script on my computer that I'd more or less forgotten about and dragged it out and dusted it off but apart from that the whole thing has gone from not even existing as an idea to being a finished short (9 minutes) in just over a month. We actually filmed it at the start of this month. Its a bit rough round the edges but basically its a film and it has a lot that I'm pleased with and and because it was such a nice experience to make, it may be leading to a writing collaboration between me and the two actors. We are thinking of trying to do a science fiction film next but one that's a bit low key and takes place on Earth in the recognisable (and therefore easy and cheap to film) present.