DEBLOG FROM NOTTINGHAM

Firstly, Dakota hotels must be highly recommended, very stylish with great rooms but unfortunately no Manny this weekend as he’s housitting for an old, incredibly farty dog. So pics are from my camera phone.


Big scene this weekend with Bella and I (the gallery scene) although
we did laugh that Bella looked like some sort of terrorist in her disguise! It was a joy to film this scene. Every now and again, if you are lucky, you have a little moment between two actors that requires no explanation but is just understood and developed. This happened between Bella and I this weekend. The James’ and all the Notts crew could see this happening and let us develop our roles in the scene, which was great for us. In the end we worked as an ensemble on all aspects of the shot, which was very artistically pleasing.










It was a great pleasure meeting Stuart

(another bloody Leo)
and Dan, our star extras from Emmerdale – eating apples (Stuart became a mobile cider press) and reading papers. They both were very funny, encouraging people, with some cool stories to share and really made the day zip along by bringing a lovely energy into the gallery.

Deblog From.... by Deborah Bouchard.

DEBLOG FROM CARDIFF

The weekend with all the Andy’s, The Cardiff 6 made me very welcome (complete with Kirsty the Makeup lady – that was a pleasant suprise). We were filming the scene where Avril meets Felicity and despite feeling desperate about her friend begins to see the type of people Emma has in her world (and she’s not that impressed). The lovely Marianna, played Felicity, was I’m pleased to say, absolutely nothing like her character but looked exactly how I thought Felicity would – complete with all the grand gestures and fixing blue eyes. We had quite a laugh in the “Gorge At George” Café.

The rain was a bit of an issue for us as it was pouring down! Marianna had to enter the scene from outside and after several takes started looking like a drowned rat! It’s a difficult thing to ignore running water on the nose of your fellow actor in a scene, however I think we pulled it off.



We were also interrupted by some Welsh hoodies who tried to gatecrash the scene during a take. There was much shouting and insistence on their part the café said open on the door, however, Finn waded in and threw them out. The joys of location filming! Location Photos by Manny Elias.

Deblog From.... by Deborah Bouchard.

Hello everyone!

Thanks to Debs for being so good at keeping up with documenting every shoot, I evidently don't share my character's passion for blogging and pouring out my heart to internet friends, as Judy tells us Emma does, but I do enjoy reading what everyone else writes, so I figured it was about time I put my tuppence in.

Photo: copyright Matthew Richardson

Well, I've had an amazing time working on the film so far :-) To begin with, the secret to my character was unlocked for me when I read that Emma is a Scorpio. No, really - my mum and sister are both Scorpios, and they're scheming and manipulative and neurotic and insecure, as well as being wonderful people of course! Armed with this new found understanding, I arrived in Liverpool. With my theatrical background, the Liverpool team's radical approach was the perfect introduction to filming for me - we were essentially in a theatre space, which became incredibly atmospheric and evocative as soon as evening fell. And we got a whole day of rehearsal, exploring the extremes of our characters, playing around with film noir, and of course utilising the now-famed Bumblebee technique. The following day, filming was an exciting process; the feeling of performance heightened by the challenge of capturing all of the scenes in a single shot. There were a lot of laughs to be had too, from Debs teaching me some of her best dance moves in preparation for our night club scene, to me and Tom teaching Alex how to be an emo over some curry and Cobra :-)


















Left photo: copyright Manny Elias
Right photo: copyright Bella Heesom

Next week it was on to Belfast, and I cannot emphasize enough the size of the beds in the hotel. My bed was WIDER THAN I AM LONG. I couldn't reach the edges. This kept me entertained for some time, and then I discovered the free RUBBER DUCK on the bath, and was the happiest bunny of all :-D The shoot was the polar opposite of last time; we were presented with a production pack, which included a shooting schedule that gave the actors at least a day off each! I started with some smug scenes of Emma on her bed enjoying a beer whilst watching Jamie suffering via her laptop, then took a ride in a soft-top to the next location, my hair blowing glamorously in the breeze. Highlights at the cafe were Gerard McSorely's anecdotes, growls, and pervy stares (only in character of course) not to mention the cakes. On Saturday I went shopping whilst Alex crashed around another lock up, and then met up with the guys for a lovely meal accompanied, of course, by Cobra. After a much appreciated lie-in on Sunday, it was just a quick shot of Emma walking down the street, without a care in the world. In the car on the way back, Think by Aretha Franklin came on, and we almost went back to re-shoot the scene with me dancing along to it, so apt were the lyrics -

Yeah, think, think about what you trying to do to me
Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, let your mind go, let yourself be free.

You need me, and I need you
Without each other, ain't nothin' neither can do
Yeah, think about it baby

Oh freedom (freedom)
freedom (freedom) freedom

Oh freedom

Yeah freedom (yeah) freedom!!

Definitely Emma's theme song methinks!

Photo: copyright Manny Elias

Last week took us to some countryside apparently near Southampton. There appears to be a trend developing for putting Jamie in horrible dingy warehouses or, in this case, farm buildings, in spite of the fact that in the script he is definitely in perfectly nice surroundings, with a kitchen, bathroom, and his belongings. I resent this, as I have formed a strong sense of affinity with my character, and I feel everyone is making her seem more mean than she is! Alex, who obviously has the ulterior motive of wanting the audience to sympathise with HIS character, laughed off my concerns, and proceeded to roll around in the dirt and pretend to be a monkey to make Jamie look even more hard-done-by. I had the last laugh though, as I left him the cow dung for the afternoon, in order to swan around the hotel sauna, steam room, and pool in my new bikini ^_^

I believe this is the only episode in which I have no lines at all, but I had a few silent reactions, which are surprisingly tricky! Listening to an answer phone message at home (filmed in the hall of a GLORIOUS and MASSIVE house, with a huge garden, complete with TRAMPOLINE - some good 'making of' shots there, to be sure), and becoming increasingly worried by Jamie's threats whilst watching him via my laptop in a hotel room (we filmed in the hotel we were staying in, but in a posher room).

And, of course we finished with the curry, which was delicious, and made more special by the genie with the magical shoes who welcomed us at the door, although delayed by the crew's 'car trouble', which may have been code for 'an hour-long shower'.

I'm actually missing you this weekend Alex and Debs! I'm looking forward enormously to Cardiff, and all the other shoots, I can't wait to see what all the other teams have in store for us - it's gonna have to be good to match what's gone before :-) I'm getting m ore and more excited about the project as it goes on, I think we could be creating something rather special. I'm definitely having a lot of fun doing it, and learning a lot too, I feel very lucky indeed :-)

Photo: copyright Manny Elias

-Bella Heesom-