Today, according to the schedule I wrote up, should be the day I travel back to Salisbury with crew and kit, then begin to go over the footage and edit. "The Devil Came Today" should be in the can, a huge burden lifted.
That isn't to be.
Sure, it started well enough. Myself and my skeleton crew of Stephen, Maisie and Brian (Marcos and Harry joining us later on in the week) made our way to the beautiful village of Eardisland on Wednesday morning, where we met Emily and Gabby, who are playing Fris and Dorcas respectively. We even managed to do a fair chunk of filming - two of the three scenes planned for the day were completed without too much incident before the lunch break (though Emily's car battery fell victim to the need for heat).
That was when things started to go a bit pear-shaped. The morning had been marked by scattered snowfall, but it was kind enough to clear up and give us some good filming time for an hour or so before falling again. After lunch, Stephen and I discussed the last scene of the day, and blocked it out amongst ourselves. But no sooner had we got Gabby into position, and no sooner had I begun to explain to her how the last scene was going to work, than the snow fell again. We sent her for shelter, covered up the camera, and waited for it to clear a few minutes later.
But it didn't clear.
When fifteen minutes had passed with no break in the snow, I called the university, trying a couple of the lecturers before I got through. The advice I got was to film as much as I could safely film, but not to worry as I should be able to rearrange if need be. I took the decision to call it for the day there, sending Gabby on her way home and packing up the gear. Naturally, the moment we left Eardisland the sun came out and stayed for long enough to have got that scene, but by then we were gone. And I was hopeful of a more successful rest of the week.
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| Trying to get Emily's car going in the Eardisland snow |
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| Thursday's filming was limited to indoors shots |
Thursday could have started better. The snow was too thick on the ground (and falling too thick as well) to even think about shooting the intended first scene of the day. Instead, we went straight to Location #2 - my nan's house - and I gave the cast and crew a break while Stephen played around with the camera and I made a few late adjustments to the script. We had Mouny on set starting today, which brought something different to the dynamic, and although it took a long time to get going, we did get some good stuff in the end, taking the opportunity to work slowly and be more meticulous about each shot. Even better, both Marcos and Harry made it. They'd been doubtful of finding their way, as snow was leading to all sorts of cancellations on the trains, but whether through luck or judgement they happened upon a route to Hereford, making it in time to join us for the last few shots of the day.
There was time for only minimal shooting on Friday. We were able to make the Bunch of Carrots pub, but without a supporting actor only needed for that scene and who couldn't get through the snow. I was forced, as a result, to film around her portion of the scene, shooting the beginning and the ending and banking on being able to come back again. Even then, we were very much strapped for time. The kindness of the pub's owners cannot be overstated - it's not the first time I've worked on a film shot there - but we did have to be gone by 11am.
The snow, which had been falling pretty much constantly since Wednesday night, was worse than ever as we left the pub. I didn't want to run the risk of battling to our only remaining interior location, Hereford Cathedral, and getting stranded there. So I made the hard decision to call it for the week.
When the snow clears, I'll get back to Salisbury and have a word with the lecturers. Hopefully, we'll be able to come up with a solution to get the film made. Until then, the Devil's been delayed...
