Thursday 6th July. 11.30 AM – ‘A’ Stage, Shepperton Studios. Raleigh tempts the queen with tales of the open ocean – a place she knows she will never see but can imagine in the pages of the books and charts that lie scattered on the floor.. For this scene we find Queen, Raleigh and Bess [...]
Mel’s Blog – Life in the Web
5th of July 2006 - Today I watched the rushes and appreciated even more the shots chosen by Shekhar yesterday. In particular I noted the opening and beginning shots and what was common to them both – they were both focused on the Queen. The first shot was of her looking at “something” which was [...]
Mel’s Blog – An Unexpected Turn
4th July 2006 - When I woke up this morning and hurried to set the last thing I would have expected was to be standing right in the middle of the dancing scene with Queen Elizabeth, Bess and Sir Walter – as an extra! Indeed for seven or so hours I was a courtly lady [...]
Mel’s Blog – In the Heart of It
3rd July 2006 - During the short time I’ve worked with Shekhar (I once assisted him on a commercial in 2002), I’ve always been aware of his commitment and connection to his actors. Today, the same commitment was apparent. During the scene in the dungeon today, I watched Shekhar sitting cross-legged on the ground with [...]
Arrivals and Departures
Wednesday 5th July. 11.00 AM – ‘J’ and ‘B’ Stages, Shepperton Studios. Geoffrey Rush’s last day filming with us so a final chance to make sure we have all the coverage we need. Picking up lots of small sequences today and finishing the coverage of scenes that we were unable to complete on location. This [...]
La Volta!
Tuesday 4th July. 9.40 PM – A Stage, Shepperton Studios. A return to the atrium of Elizabeth’s private chambers where Bess Throckmorton and Raleigh dance the volta under Elizabeth’s watchful eye. We couldn't make another movie about Elizabeth without a dance sequence and this is also a chance to reference the ‘volta’ scenes from ‘Elizabeth’. [...]
Lies within lies
Monday 3rd July. 2.30 PM – J Stage, Shepperton Studios. Back in the dank dungeon on J stage where Walsingham returns to interrogate the traitors. A whole weekend off has given everyone a chance to watch the football and get a couple of good night’s sleep. And considering England’s performance in the World Cup it’s [...]
A Moment Alone
Friday 30th June. 12.00 PM – Petworth, West Sussex. More coverage on our riding sequence today, again in perfect weather, as Elizabeth and Raleigh catch a quiet moment together. Of course catching this moment on film means that Cate and Clive are certainly not alone. The assistant directors and locations departments have people all over [...]
A Day in the Country
Thursday 29th June. 2.00 PM – Petworth, West Sussex. The first of two days away from studio down in the park at Petworth House filming a riding sequences with Elizabeth and Raleigh. A rare treat today as we’re off on location and the weather is wonderful, which is all the more important as we are [...]
New Worlds
Wednesday 28th June. 11.00 AM – ‘A’ Stage, Shepperton Studios. Day two on the pivotal ‘immensities’ scene in which Raleigh begins to capture Elizabeth’s imagination. Although the real Raleigh was, at least at the time this movie is set, less used to exotic adventures than our movie version what he was undoubtedly brilliant at was [...]