Sound and Vision

Yesterday Donnacha and I got up at 6.15am! Gah! It wasn't very nice, especially since I couldn't get to sleep for ages the previous night. It honestly felt like the middle of the night when my alarm went off! Having said that, there is something exciting about being up so early and getting ready for your day when everyone else is fast asleep. We were collected at 7.15 and driven out to our location in Rathmichael, near Shankhill. The house we were using as a location was absolutely beautiful, but even better were the surroundings which were just stunning! The lady who lives there was generous enough to let us use her entire house for the weekend to film inside and on the grounds.

I was there just to generally help out but I ended up doing clapperboard and camera assistant. It was really great to be back working on a film again. After 4 years of college, that was the one thing that I really did enjoy for the mostpart. The camaraderie of working together as a team to make something you can be proud of. It was also nice to work with people I've worked with before (and some I haven't). The actors were lovely too. The guy who wrote the script was acting in it and the main female character was played by an actress who worked on the Irish soap Fair City for years. She was so nice and I had a great chat with her once she had wrapped for the day.

The film is a twenty minute short about a middle aged man who is being emotionally and sometimes physically and verbally abused by his wife. It was quite difficult to watch some of the scenes because the actors were so convincing it was as if we were voyeurs in the couple's house. Donnacha was Director of Photography on the film and he was very happy with how it looked, so I'm very excited to see the final piece. They are filming tomorrow and next weekend too, so hopefully I'll get to help out one of the days next week. I managed to take some photographs on our down time of the location, the garden and of some of the scenes. Let me know what you think!

The view from the patio at 8am yesterday morning. That's actually the sea just above the line of the trees!




A statue that was in the garden




I don't know what these flowers are called but the bees just love them!




I thought this was really unusual, I quite like it!




There was some strange art around the house




The beautiful and bright living room




You could see some seals out in the sea through the telescope in the living room




All of the boys were very impressed with the billiard room/library/study. (I was too!)




I love unusual chess boards








The pieces were made from hand-carved wood!




Donnacha making a cowboy hat out of the reflector (and a silly face)




An old map of Dublin city from the 1800s




A huge mirror in the entrance hallway of the house




The lighting set up




Heehee!




A chandelier in the hallway








Note the paw prints from the house kitten on the side of this doll's house




Inside the doll's house. I would have loved this when I was a kid (I kinda still would)




It started to rain heavily. Check out the pool! It's very rare that people have pools in Ireland



How adorable is this billiard room in the doll's house!




Is it a mini chest of dresser or giant Roald Dahl book?




I got to write with chalk all day. It was like being back at school








There was even a tennis/basketball court!




This cloud looked amazing, it was so fluffy!




The front of the house including the hot tub!




What do you think of the special effects make-up?




Blood!




The two main actors Gerry and Úna




Most of the crew; clockwise from left- Donnacha, Lorraine, Neasa, Brendan, Anthony and Cathal




What I wore, a big ring and a leopard print scarf!




My trusty New Balance runners that I've had for years. A necessity when you're on your feet on film set all day

Sorry for all the photos, I just wanted to show you the kinds of things I did in college. It's always a different experience because obviously all the films are different, but I have to say I really enjoyed yesterday's shoot. It was one of the better ones I've been on!

How is your weekend going so far? I'm almost finished my holidays so I'm going to try to enjoy every last minute of it! It's been such a fun week! I'm going to collect my birthday hat tomorrow, I'm so excited!

Here's some Bowie!

Love Emma xxx