Trying not to give too much away, this weekend I finished my first two days of shooting, both on location at Carnforth aqueduct and in a house in Sandbach. Once we'd got all of the dog-walkers, cyclists, long boats, persistent children and HGV vehicles out of the way (who'd have thought such a beautiful patch of countryside would be busy on a perfectly sunny day?), I shot my first romantic scenes with my 'husband', all the while unwittingly burning my shoulders, chest and back in the midday sun. It's just not fair that the one day in the North West bright enough to actually give me sun burn, I was simultaneously freezing to death in a flimsy nighty-esque garment bought by our director. Tip: don't allow a man to take charge of these things. Another exciting feat of the day was having a blag a toilet break out of 'Jack the rower', seeing as the only buildings besides the rowing club for miles were some sort of factory and a housing estate. This came second to having the entire crew suspend a green screen over a car in order for me to get changed discreetly. For future reference, the above does not equal discretion.
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| Just one of my 'romantic' costumes. This was the main offender when it came to simultaneous sunburn/pneumonia. |
Day two: arguing, Bibles and blood. As I said, I can't give too much away, but once my character - Clare - was 'home', she proceeded to bicker with her husband, Matthew, and cling to her beloved Bible for comfort. This is before she develops a hefty nose-bleed which proves to be the crux of her - and the film's - fate.
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| Applying 'my blood'. |
So, two shoots down; two to go. My showreel is also, to my elation, very much underway. Even if things are looking fairly drab for Clare, they're certainly looking quite good for me. Do keep checking back for all the back-stage gossip (we even have a documentary in the works).
NB: Don't work with skittish cats if you don't want your tragic moments to be disturbed by a distressed 'meow'.
