Production Diary...
Pickup Shoot
 A creepingly creepy sensation crept over me as we pulled into St. Enoch’s for the second time in three years. Déjà vu with a side order of trepidation. Ange and the Varangian Guard would also be returning to the killing fields, later on in the evening… but for now I was left to my own devices. My companions on the trip (Alena, Emily, and a kick arse gore-technician in the guise of Dale Bamford) stretched their legs and started relaxing after the two and a half hour trip up from Melbourne while I went and spoke to a couple of random horses.
A lot of time had passed since we originally captured footage for Troll Bridge. In that time I had moved house twice, completed two other movie projects, and grown a beard. Mr. Snuggles (the talking horse in the film), had also passed on. Grimly I looked up from the horse in front of me (who couldn’t understand a single thing I was saying, unlike Snuggles), and looked up at the tree studded hill where combat would soon be reoccurring. In that time, I also like to think that I’ve become a better filmmaker. I had certainly become a less stressed one.
 Our purpose of being there was to capture some footage which we could whack into the current edit of the film. Pickup shoots are traditionally held, when - after viewing the edit – it’s decided that capturing other shots would improve the overall production.
As the guards began to arrive, we started setting up the equipment. Our first goal here was to reshoot some stuff involving the guards and pond, utilising dialogue which had been explicitly written for the production by the man himself: Terry Pratchett. Aiming to grade the footage to appear as night in post production, we moved quickly and effectively as we raced against the setting sun. Working with first time actors is usually a major headache I can do without, but the Varangian Guard brought flare and character to the production, creating humour and sympathy for a band of guards which would shortly meet a bloody end. I love ‘em all!
 As we waited for the sun to set, the lights were setup and tinkered with to get the lighting as close to possible as it had been during the first shoot. Ange had still not rocked up (owing largely to getting lost in the wilds), so we commenced with filming the shots we required from the guards. The focus was on close-ups and facial expressions during the fight scene, as well as upping the violence quota. When we spoke to Terry during his first visit with us, he mentioned that Monty Python was definitely the right direction in which to head… so with the Black Knight scene at the forefront of out minds - we knew that we’d be using up a lot of fake blood by the nights completion
 Working quickly in the darkness we covered the shots that were required, as well as some shots that we thought up on the spot. We continued battling the cold as Ange rocked up, and got made-up and costumed. Pushing into the night we got his stuff done too – sent the guards home – and commenced working on throwing blood around. These shots of blood hitting rocks and trees would serve as important cutaways when hitting snags with the reedit.
We finished up and got home at around 4:30am. Business as usual it seems. Either my body has gotten used to it - or my brain can't be bothered registering it any longer.
Daniel Knight |
