This post first appeared on Ren’s Patreon page.
Where does the time go? As I write this, there is less than a week until we start shooting. And can you believe we are still looking for some locations, including the mill which Ash went to reccie an option for way back in January? This is the nature of filmmaking, low-budget or otherwise. It’s very hard to get all your ducks in a row, but when you do, the results make it all worth it.
As well as reccies for the mill, we have been checking out woodlands. Soon after our first Making Weekend, Kate and I headed down to EyeLarp in Berkshire to scout out their beautiful woods. It was also our first chance to meet Olalla Negrete, our assistant director, who has a huge project getting familiar with everything from our script to our schedule, from cast and crew to catering requirements!
Another trip recently was to Surrey, where Nicky de Neumann of Equestrienne Stunt Shows took us around the locations for the horse chase. These had been up in the air for a while because of heavy rainfall waterlogging fields and ruling many of them out. Speaking of ‘up in the air’, Drone pilot Christopher Buckenham came along to figure out what flying he could do beneath the low tree canopy.
Back at the studio, things are now feeling pretty cozy! We managed to fill quite a substantial van – kindly driven by Interaxial’s Dan Sandford – with props and wood early in the month. With a make-up tent, a medieval cart and a whole market in the studio, it’s a far cry from the empty space we started with.
Our Easter Making Weekend was extremely popular. Amongst the many people who came along to help build sets and props was Eva Wörz, a fan of Season One who flew over from Germany! We also saw a lot of familiar faces from behind the scenes of that first season, including Michael Hudson, the Finn family, and James Malpas (Baynon) and his father Paul. Everyone got stuck in painting, sanding, sewing, sawing, drilling and gluing.
Kate and I worked on the final draft of the script the following week, ready for the big cast read-through the next weekend. Most of the Season Two cast came along and sat around huge tables in a stunning medieval barn, reading aloud for the first time the words that we are all going to commit to the screen. Everyone was very excited to meet each other, see the sets, and try on their costumes.
Becca Youngs also conducted make-up tests, including putting the mark on our new Ren, Oriana Charles, for the first time. The positioning had to be adjusted a little to fit her face, but the stencil which Becca and Michelle had prepared made things much easier. You’ve already seen one of the photos that we took of Oriana and Alexander Hackett (Hunter) in costume that day.
A few days later we were back in the studio with a small crew to experiment with a 6x6m blue-screen and Jake the Fake. This is the nickname of the phoney pony which Rose, Ross and Ian constructed to sit the cast on for their close-ups in the horse chase. A smaller, simpler version – Joel the False Foal – has been knocked together too, and we’re expecting yet another one courtesy of Mike Rudin this weekend. (In my mind, I have already named this third ersatz equus Clare the Reality-Impaired Mare.) The spirit of Season One’s Tony the Phoney Pony lives on!
I will try to post at least a brief blog during the shoot, but please forgive me if I’m a little too busy. Rest assured there will be plenty of updates after we wrap!