The movie
The first interview was so long ago that I almost forgot about it. They were at an SCA event, and pulling people aside that they thought had the right look. I've had the chance to be a movie extra a few times before, so I really didn't think much of it afterward.
Months later they came back to me and asked me to do a screen-test, and I nailed it. I got so into it, and when I watched it back with my assigned handler I really was impressed by my reaction. The gremlin-guy was all done up in his fangs and ratty fur- I really did look like I had been started awake to find it in my bedroom. (There was some disappointment that the color value wasn't good enough to use my scene for anything promotional.)
We started the first shots inside, while we waited for the season to change. There was a lot of green screen to be done (ours was actually blue, but the technology was the same) but doing a part for the middle of the movie felt off, having not established a feel for what was going on. I was assured we could go back and redo stuff later, but that we had so much to do that we should at least start on the indoor stuff. The hardest scene inside was one where I was slogging through bog and marsh with the rest of the group. One of the characters had been turned into a bird, and I had to carry the box she was in above the water 'so she didn't drown' while still appearing to struggle with the weeds and the muck. I almost just gave up on the project right there- finishing several days freezing cold (and wet and sticky), and not having felt I captured the feeling of what was happening in the story well at all.
The thing that convinced me to stay with it was the day they let me into the props rooms. It reminded me of the stuff in the castles back in England, except that all the items were crowded together into two large rooms. Some of the wooden furniture just took my breath away. One of the techs told me that although everything was 'real', everything was also made just for this one movie. I found that thought just totally mind boggling- a small army of craftspeople must have slaved for weeks and weeks just to pump out all this stuff. There so many swords alone that it was its own production department.
Finally, the season turned, and it got nice enough to do the outdoor filming. The second studio was a small maze of portable buildings, camouflaged and not too far from the first on-site location. We started filming scenes starting from the beginning of the movie, when the big bad threatens me for the first time. I didn't spend any time off camera with her, and I think it made her more believable as a villain to me. I never did find out, but I was always curious about how she had been discovered. I was found for my part while playing in the SCA, and was playing a medieval person, outgoing and loyal but also the hesitant-hero type. Her role was the megalomaniac personification of the dark/evil, who had sold her soul for power. As I said- it made me wonder. (The other core cast members seemed to be nice enough people, but they were all rather conservative, and actors by trade. I ended up working alright with them, but didn't really have enough in common to become friends with any of them.)
On the second day of outdoor filming, the producers gave me a small package of stuff to give to Ralph. I was standing there when he opened, so I saw the items for the first time when he did. The first was a swipe-card to get into the secured outdoor set. The second item was a promotional button, about the size of a toonie, that only cast and crew were given. The third item looked like a thumb drive- I assume it had the full script on it, or maybe some of the shots we had already taken- I didn't think to ask. The last item in the package was some sort of swipe-card for a place called the Bluewater bistro and grill. I hadn't heard of the place, so I asked Ralph about it. He said he had worked there for a bit years ago, and that it was the bar that the movies crews always hung out at. Between the two of us, we realized it was a job offer- so he could keep working in food, and spend more time with me while I was in the movie. It really surprised me when he gave his notice at his old job (he was there for about 12 years) but I suppose having a SO in a movie isn't something that happens to just anyone, or every day. His boss seemed happy for him, and us. I promised to bring him some promotional stuff autographed by the cast.
A couple of weeks passed and they started to get into scenes they didn't need me in. A couple of times, there wasn't anything for me to do for hours, and I ended up just bumming around set in costume or my mundane grubs. Often it wasn't really enough time to bother to change out of costume, pester some staff to take me to Bluewater (I *still* don't have my license), come back, and change again. Finally my handler suggested I go to the other site and hang out with the extras there. There was a scrubby dusty tree-lined path that lead to the other site, as well as a longer road around another way. (The scrubby path was also going to be used as a filming location for part of a trek scene.) I asked my handler if she minded me taking the path in my dusty-adventure costume set, and she remarked that if they could find a camera and a lighting tech to spare they might film it. The idea that my hike (to take some time off!) might be useful for the movie or even the trailer was very amusing to me.
I'm not sure how I forgot about the other site, since it was basically a small village over the hill about 2 KM. The second site was set up rather like a live-in ren fair, with about 600 people. There were a few people who were paid to be there 24/7, and to practice 'village work'- baking, cooking, running shops, and cleaning and caring for horses. (I recognized one of the bun styles being baked as something I'd eaten at the first site on break.) There were also lots of folks just playing games, or dancing or hanging out. I think a lot of the non-working villagers were invited as guests of the production crew. Anyways, I asked one of the techs about the set up, and he told me that the village was pretty much always on, and that when the needed to shoot something they just threw in the extra actors.
I saw quite a few people I knew from the SCA, mostly fiber artists spinning. (I knew that lots of my friends do fiber arts, but nothing really drives the point home like seeing enough of them about to populate a village!) That's when I started to realize I was going to have a problem. I know a lot of SCA people who would want to be in the movie, but who don't have the skills to be on camera. No one had come out and asked me personally yet (because I was mostly busy working) but I wasn't looking forward to telling any of my friends "you aren't good enough to be in my movie".
After catching up a bit with some of the spinners, I headed to the site production office, which was inside the village hall building. Walking in, I was greeted by Dante. I was both surprised and not too surprised to see him, as he has many real world skills that would be useful in such a production. He was sorting through a stack of swords, separating the tough metal ones ("the clangs") from the more delicate ones used for close up work ("the shinies"). We ended up making small talk, and I helped him sort out several more categories of props.
After seeing the props rooms, I was amazed at how much other little stuff there was to keep track of. The stuff he was involved with went all the way from decorative swords and armour for people (horse armour was another department) all the way down to belt pouches, cloak pins, and buttons. I was amazed at the detail on the items, and just how specific some of the categories were: there was one style of cloak pin with an arched lion, that was only ever worn by the archers in the castle siege, while the acorn or boar's head was only ever worn by low-level 'average joe' villagers.
Finally we got around to actually talking about our jobs. His name had come up to the production company (from several different people) when they sent out the general call for skilled trades. (He had been hired on for his locksmith skills, but they mostly found other things for him to do. ) We caught up a bit on the other people who were SCA that had gotten hired on as well. I don't know most of them by name, but several of the vikings from Edmonton had been hired on to play the thugs in the big battle and castle seige. He asked me how I'd gotten hired on, and I told him about the event where they interviewed me, and how I'd been very happy with how people had treated me so far. He looked a little confused, as the start up had been a while ago, and as a village extra I probably would have run into him inside the village set before this.
I was a little uncomfortable as I informed him that I'd been at the other set, and in the green screen room for some time already. He waited for me to elaborate, since not that many extras ever go to the green screen for anything. I finally dropped the bomb- "I'm the princess."
We just sort of stood there for a while in silence. I wasn't sure how to explain to him how I'd landed the lead, with no previous acting experience *at all*. I'm not really sure myself how it happened, just that I had 'that something they were looking for". Finally he recovered enough to congratulate me. I told him that we'd be filming some lead-cast stuff in the village shortly, and that I'd come to hang out with him between takes. After some more small talk, I headed back to the other site to get back to work.
The rest of the filming went well. (I thought the shots of me alone on the hill were going to be extra for the commentary on the DVD or something.) We wrapped up the work in the village, as well as all the battle stuff and were heading back to the green screen just before fall hit. I got to see a lot of the stuff I shot before, and I was really disappointed with how badly it actually turned out. Some parts were usable, but we had to re-shoot everything in the swamp, which I was unhappily expecting. Fortunately, going back over the scene after I knew the rest of the story was *much* easier then trying to do it blind the first time. (Knowing what I was in for, Ralph also took some time off work so he could bundle me up and get me home quickly after a day in the cold and the wet.)
When the filming was totally done, it all went into editing. There was a cast party being held in the calgary tower for the main cast and some of the high up crew (directors, the producers, department heads, and so on). I was actually grumpy that I was main cast and expected to be there, because everyone I was actually friends with was at a unofficial cast party at the sports complex hell and gone across town. Ralph told me it wasn't so bad, and that there would be plenty of time to catch up with my real friends in the coming weeks. He helped me zip up my little black dress.
And then I woke up.
I cried for an hour.
Months later they came back to me and asked me to do a screen-test, and I nailed it. I got so into it, and when I watched it back with my assigned handler I really was impressed by my reaction. The gremlin-guy was all done up in his fangs and ratty fur- I really did look like I had been started awake to find it in my bedroom. (There was some disappointment that the color value wasn't good enough to use my scene for anything promotional.)
We started the first shots inside, while we waited for the season to change. There was a lot of green screen to be done (ours was actually blue, but the technology was the same) but doing a part for the middle of the movie felt off, having not established a feel for what was going on. I was assured we could go back and redo stuff later, but that we had so much to do that we should at least start on the indoor stuff. The hardest scene inside was one where I was slogging through bog and marsh with the rest of the group. One of the characters had been turned into a bird, and I had to carry the box she was in above the water 'so she didn't drown' while still appearing to struggle with the weeds and the muck. I almost just gave up on the project right there- finishing several days freezing cold (and wet and sticky), and not having felt I captured the feeling of what was happening in the story well at all.
The thing that convinced me to stay with it was the day they let me into the props rooms. It reminded me of the stuff in the castles back in England, except that all the items were crowded together into two large rooms. Some of the wooden furniture just took my breath away. One of the techs told me that although everything was 'real', everything was also made just for this one movie. I found that thought just totally mind boggling- a small army of craftspeople must have slaved for weeks and weeks just to pump out all this stuff. There so many swords alone that it was its own production department.
Finally, the season turned, and it got nice enough to do the outdoor filming. The second studio was a small maze of portable buildings, camouflaged and not too far from the first on-site location. We started filming scenes starting from the beginning of the movie, when the big bad threatens me for the first time. I didn't spend any time off camera with her, and I think it made her more believable as a villain to me. I never did find out, but I was always curious about how she had been discovered. I was found for my part while playing in the SCA, and was playing a medieval person, outgoing and loyal but also the hesitant-hero type. Her role was the megalomaniac personification of the dark/evil, who had sold her soul for power. As I said- it made me wonder. (The other core cast members seemed to be nice enough people, but they were all rather conservative, and actors by trade. I ended up working alright with them, but didn't really have enough in common to become friends with any of them.)
On the second day of outdoor filming, the producers gave me a small package of stuff to give to Ralph. I was standing there when he opened, so I saw the items for the first time when he did. The first was a swipe-card to get into the secured outdoor set. The second item was a promotional button, about the size of a toonie, that only cast and crew were given. The third item looked like a thumb drive- I assume it had the full script on it, or maybe some of the shots we had already taken- I didn't think to ask. The last item in the package was some sort of swipe-card for a place called the Bluewater bistro and grill. I hadn't heard of the place, so I asked Ralph about it. He said he had worked there for a bit years ago, and that it was the bar that the movies crews always hung out at. Between the two of us, we realized it was a job offer- so he could keep working in food, and spend more time with me while I was in the movie. It really surprised me when he gave his notice at his old job (he was there for about 12 years) but I suppose having a SO in a movie isn't something that happens to just anyone, or every day. His boss seemed happy for him, and us. I promised to bring him some promotional stuff autographed by the cast.
A couple of weeks passed and they started to get into scenes they didn't need me in. A couple of times, there wasn't anything for me to do for hours, and I ended up just bumming around set in costume or my mundane grubs. Often it wasn't really enough time to bother to change out of costume, pester some staff to take me to Bluewater (I *still* don't have my license), come back, and change again. Finally my handler suggested I go to the other site and hang out with the extras there. There was a scrubby dusty tree-lined path that lead to the other site, as well as a longer road around another way. (The scrubby path was also going to be used as a filming location for part of a trek scene.) I asked my handler if she minded me taking the path in my dusty-adventure costume set, and she remarked that if they could find a camera and a lighting tech to spare they might film it. The idea that my hike (to take some time off!) might be useful for the movie or even the trailer was very amusing to me.
I'm not sure how I forgot about the other site, since it was basically a small village over the hill about 2 KM. The second site was set up rather like a live-in ren fair, with about 600 people. There were a few people who were paid to be there 24/7, and to practice 'village work'- baking, cooking, running shops, and cleaning and caring for horses. (I recognized one of the bun styles being baked as something I'd eaten at the first site on break.) There were also lots of folks just playing games, or dancing or hanging out. I think a lot of the non-working villagers were invited as guests of the production crew. Anyways, I asked one of the techs about the set up, and he told me that the village was pretty much always on, and that when the needed to shoot something they just threw in the extra actors.
I saw quite a few people I knew from the SCA, mostly fiber artists spinning. (I knew that lots of my friends do fiber arts, but nothing really drives the point home like seeing enough of them about to populate a village!) That's when I started to realize I was going to have a problem. I know a lot of SCA people who would want to be in the movie, but who don't have the skills to be on camera. No one had come out and asked me personally yet (because I was mostly busy working) but I wasn't looking forward to telling any of my friends "you aren't good enough to be in my movie".
After catching up a bit with some of the spinners, I headed to the site production office, which was inside the village hall building. Walking in, I was greeted by Dante. I was both surprised and not too surprised to see him, as he has many real world skills that would be useful in such a production. He was sorting through a stack of swords, separating the tough metal ones ("the clangs") from the more delicate ones used for close up work ("the shinies"). We ended up making small talk, and I helped him sort out several more categories of props.
After seeing the props rooms, I was amazed at how much other little stuff there was to keep track of. The stuff he was involved with went all the way from decorative swords and armour for people (horse armour was another department) all the way down to belt pouches, cloak pins, and buttons. I was amazed at the detail on the items, and just how specific some of the categories were: there was one style of cloak pin with an arched lion, that was only ever worn by the archers in the castle siege, while the acorn or boar's head was only ever worn by low-level 'average joe' villagers.
Finally we got around to actually talking about our jobs. His name had come up to the production company (from several different people) when they sent out the general call for skilled trades. (He had been hired on for his locksmith skills, but they mostly found other things for him to do. ) We caught up a bit on the other people who were SCA that had gotten hired on as well. I don't know most of them by name, but several of the vikings from Edmonton had been hired on to play the thugs in the big battle and castle seige. He asked me how I'd gotten hired on, and I told him about the event where they interviewed me, and how I'd been very happy with how people had treated me so far. He looked a little confused, as the start up had been a while ago, and as a village extra I probably would have run into him inside the village set before this.
I was a little uncomfortable as I informed him that I'd been at the other set, and in the green screen room for some time already. He waited for me to elaborate, since not that many extras ever go to the green screen for anything. I finally dropped the bomb- "I'm the princess."
We just sort of stood there for a while in silence. I wasn't sure how to explain to him how I'd landed the lead, with no previous acting experience *at all*. I'm not really sure myself how it happened, just that I had 'that something they were looking for". Finally he recovered enough to congratulate me. I told him that we'd be filming some lead-cast stuff in the village shortly, and that I'd come to hang out with him between takes. After some more small talk, I headed back to the other site to get back to work.
The rest of the filming went well. (I thought the shots of me alone on the hill were going to be extra for the commentary on the DVD or something.) We wrapped up the work in the village, as well as all the battle stuff and were heading back to the green screen just before fall hit. I got to see a lot of the stuff I shot before, and I was really disappointed with how badly it actually turned out. Some parts were usable, but we had to re-shoot everything in the swamp, which I was unhappily expecting. Fortunately, going back over the scene after I knew the rest of the story was *much* easier then trying to do it blind the first time. (Knowing what I was in for, Ralph also took some time off work so he could bundle me up and get me home quickly after a day in the cold and the wet.)
When the filming was totally done, it all went into editing. There was a cast party being held in the calgary tower for the main cast and some of the high up crew (directors, the producers, department heads, and so on). I was actually grumpy that I was main cast and expected to be there, because everyone I was actually friends with was at a unofficial cast party at the sports complex hell and gone across town. Ralph told me it wasn't so bad, and that there would be plenty of time to catch up with my real friends in the coming weeks. He helped me zip up my little black dress.
And then I woke up.
I cried for an hour.