This post first appeared on Ren’s Patreon page.
Wednesday May 3rd marked the first time that Ren was directed by someone other than Kate Madison, as fellow series creator Christopher Dane took the reigns to shoot the first scenes from Episode 202.
We began with a special sequence involving a lot of dead bodies on the ground (thank you so much to our very patient extras!) that had to be filmed as a “point of view” or POV shot. Terry, the campsite manager at Burleigh Hill Farm where our studio is, very kindly and skilfully made a special camera platform attached to a helmet, on which we mounted a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. Gaffer Jeremy got the job of wearing this rig, and his hands had a starring role!
Next we worked our way around the fields shooting brief pieces for a travelling montage, before moving to the the other side of the campsite. Rose got a fire going and we recorded a nice little night scene with Oriana and Alex which will open the episode.
After wrapping we then had to load the van ready for our trip to Hampshire the next day. We arrived on Thursday lunchtime at Little Woodham Living History Village, one of the first places we reccied for the season. Now it was Jonnie Howard’s turn to take the helm for a while, as he directed his first scene for Episode 203. It was also the first scene in nine years for Richard Zeman as Commander Othon, who slipped back into the role like he’d never left it.
The cast and crew enjoyed a social evening at the hotel before getting up bright and early for a full day of filming at Little Woodham. Chris Dane was back in command, and the day had a bumpy start when we realised to our horror that we’d left an important costume behind in Cambridgeshire! Fortunately there was plenty we could still do in the morning and Ana, one of our costume team, came to the rescue by making the three-and-a-half-hour drive to deliver the outfit in time for the afternoon. We got through loads of great material that day, in the beautiful sunny and bluebell-filled surroundings of Little Woodham, assisted by the wonderful volunteers from the living history society who played soldiers, villagers and generally helped out. Oriana said it was her favourite day on set so far and I think we’d all agree!
We took Saturday off and resumed work at the farm in St. Ives on Sunday 7th of May. Much like we did on Season One, we used a convenient footpath as the approach to the gates of Ren’s village, Lyngarth. The amazing art team had built a huge slice of wooden palisade which had to be carried across the campsite from the studio by about eight people. Next to it we put up a blue screen into which footage from Season One will be dropped.
In the early afternoon we finished the scene, marking the completion of Episode 201 and a wrap for the one and only Kate Madison. Chris took over in the afternoon to record scenes outside a Kah’Nath tent rustled up by Ash, Kim and others.
The bank holiday Monday found us shooting yet another art department marvel, the Smoke and Ember tavern. Originally slated to be a set built from scratch, the tavern was ultimately a modification of one end of Burleigh Hill Farm’s genuine medieval barn, with Rose adding shuttered windows, a new/old door, timber beams, a hessian ceiling and an entire bar. Once it was dressed and the candles were lit, the effect was magical. A large portion of Episode 202 was recorded in the set.
We were back in there the next day to film the episode’s closing scene, bringing an end to Christopher Dane’s directing stint on the show. Jonnie Howard called the shots for a very moody and cinematic sequence with Richard Zeman. I hoped to sneak in an extra little scene outdoors to put us slightly ahead of schedule, but a stormy downpour put paid to that idea, and frankly I think we were all glad to wrap a little early anyway. Much as we are all enjoying the shoot, we do need to sleep occasionally!