Hello :-)
Okay, so I seem to have let myself get behind again. We've had Cardiff, Nottingham, and two shoots in Norwich, and all have been different, and all have been great!
Cardiff was a short one for me, as I was only needed for one day, but it furthered my education in film-making, as the crew there were incredibly professional, and a pleasure to work with. We had a make-up artist for the first time, and although the two of us managed to get very lost on the way to the location, Kirsty's make-up applying skills were far superior to her navigation ;-) Although I was a little dissappointed, when, having been excited at the prospect of a pro making me look better than I could, she informed me that she would be making me look rough. Dark circles, and a bit of red under the eyes - obviously appropriate, as Emma is in a hotel room on her own, stressed, about to drug the man she loves because she's afraid he going to get the police onto her, probably hasn't had much sleep, and certainly won't have thought to apply mascara. So I forgave Kirsty, and we got on with the shoot - in a VERY hot room, once it was filled with bodies and lit. I was also impressed by the first appearance of someone solely in charge of dressing the set, and repositioning things between takes to ensure continuity - obviously very helpful, but a luxury we'd been missing on previous shoots. And the director and camera man worked well together on a very tricky tracking shot, unpeterbed by the rest of the crew holding glasses to the wall to hear more clearly the sounds of a couple evidently having a rather rampant affair in the room next door!
I had my third round RADA audition on the thursday night before we started filming in Nottingham, and missed the 10 O'clock train, so had to wait over an hour for the next one from London. To add to the joy, the second half of the journey was in fact a replacement bus service, so I arrived in Nottingham after 2am, and then when I finally got hold of a taxi, the driver was a 19 year old who'd only been doing the job for a fortnight, and had no idea where he was going. After numerous telephone calls to the hotel, I eventually directed him there myself! When I arrived, the receptionist was doing something on the computer system which meant that she couldn't assign me a key card, so she let me into my room with her masterkey, but couldn't leave it with me, incase I decided, at 3am, to let myself into the other guests' rooms. Understandable, but that left me in pitch darkness for 10minutes, as the card was required for power. I settled into bed at about 3.30am. A great start.
However the next day was a pleasure, despite everything. At the risk of repeating what Debs said, and sounding unbearably lovey, our scene that day was very rewarding to act. It was the first real piece of extended dialogue, expressing real emotion, and it felt like we managed to create some really tender moments, like those shared by two best friends at difficult times. This was that much easier after a good few weeks working with Debs, developing our characters, and building a friendship of our own, aswell as a good working relationship, which gave us a great foundation on which to work with the script. The intensity was punctuated by more than a few laughs thanks to our celebrity extras, Stuart and Dan, who were a joy to have on set :-)
That evening, after a *delicious* dinner at the stylish Dakota hotel, me and Alex had a less soul-bearing, but a far more physically demanding scene to shoot - Emma wheeling Jamie and his belongings through the car park in a shopping trolley, and dragging him from said trolley into the back of a van! This was great fun to do - I don't know how Alex survived; when I had a go lying upside down in the trolley whilst it was standing still I was terrified, and he did it with his eyes closed, and me hurtling down a slope, very nearly losing control, and bashing into the side of the van, without so much as twitching an eye lid! He also coped very well with me struggling to lift him - all those cobra curries haven't made him any lighter, that's for sure! ;-) The crew had parrallel steering issues, as a result of their genius idea to get a smooth shot by shooting from a wheelchair! We must have been quite a sight to passers-by, spinning around after dark.
The next day, we took over the flat of a friend, using one room as the lock-up, and one as Jamie's new living quarters - the high-rise flat, or crack-den, as it's affectionately known. This was a fun day, not least due to our host beiong The Best Host In The World Ever; he cooked us spicy yummy pasta for lunch, and warm gooey brownies as an afternoon snack! Freshly baked! :-) In between stuffing our faces, and watching whatever apparently-very-important-and-exciting-football-match-was-on, we managed some filming, and we created a nice tender moment in a very basic scene too - when Emma goes in and, as the script says, pokes Jamie, to check that the drugged soup has worked, and he is asleep (and ready for shoving into a supermarket trolley!) It felt natural for me to enjoy a moment of being close to him again, in a way he hadn't allowed me to be for a while - which if it came across, will hopefully add a bit more emotional depth to the interaction. The cobra curry was great that night too - with the resturaunt having decided to just bring us a selection of everything, so that we could truly eat like kings ^_^
Then came the first of two Norwich shoots, and the only one without Debs, who was sadly missed. This team had constructed the set, not to mention a beautifully decorated green room, themselves, in the loft above an unused garage, which Alex seriously considered purchasing to play with cars in. We had a challenging but fun day, with Emma and Jamie talking through the letter box of the crack den to eachother. It was the first time me and Alex had really interacted face to face in a scene, and it was quite moving, although, due to wall issues, my close up was addressed to a letterbox with nothing but bricks the other side of it! With the image of Jamie in my mind though, and his voice behind me telling me he didn't love me anymore, I even shed a tear.
The second Norwich shoot was very different, with lots of locations to move between, and the rather more refined base of a wedding dress shop, conveniently filled with Millie's cookies and muffins! Me and Debs started with a very early morning and a glass of wine, in a lovely bar, and, for the first time, lots of lovely extras. The scene ran smoothly, even with most shots requiring more takes than usual in order to try out an alternative ending that may or may not be created in post-production, where Emma's mind plays tricks on her, and she sees Jamie in the bar. I then had friday afternoon and all of saturday off, and so ran away to Cambridge to see some friends before returning just in time for a very yummy curry and some very enjoyable conversation :-) Sunday started in a rush for me, after the hotel simply did not give me the wake up call I had requested! But I was soon on a quiet street, made up and in costume, and ready to go. We had a good morning, working surprisingly quickly, and I felt very pampered having not one but two make-artists rushing over from time to time to top up my lip gloss or adjust my dress!
Thank you so much to all of the teams - I've had a brilliant time with all of you - now just make sure you make me look good in the edit, okay?!
Photos from Nottingham copyright
Matthew Richardson.
Photos from Norwich copyright Manny Elias.
-Bella Heesom-
he ensuing action.
