On the 18th December I had the terror pleasure of having all the Gould children (+1 honorary Gould child) over at the same time for a Christmas family shoot as a gift for their daddy, Ronald.
As you can probably imagine, if you have also been fortunate enough to meet them, they were fighting, bouncing off the walls, eating and swinging from the light fixtures.
We had Chinese food from the local take-away to fatten them up a bit before the pictures and then we got to it!
We started with Kiera and Jemma and got some lovely shots initially...
But as usual, Kiera 'let off some steam' and a fight broke out.
(you might see a tear in her eye in the picture above from all the straining)
I know, I know, blow up pool and mud but there honestly wasn't time and Robin would have broken my camera...
So we moved onto Kiera and Bill for a while:
We got one and then as you can see, Bill couldn't behave himself...
... he'll fit right into this family. Don't you think?
So I tried the boys instead.
At this point I just figured it was best to give in...
Though this was a beautiful shot. I love it so much.
Needed more make up though...
Thanks Kiera.
Family shots? Well no, of course I wasn't ready. I was never going to be but they had to be done, didn't they?
Yes Bill. You as well.
We had all their pretty faces up close.
Things were going OK...
We even had one with Matt in, just in case the parents wanted to print one off but were too ashamed of Adam...
... and then Kiera and Bill started kissing...
... things got ugly and another fight broke out...
But then Kiera finished it as usual.
Not by being nails.
Oh no.
Like that.
I decided one at a time would be better...?
Jemma reading:
(PRODUCT PLACEMENT!)
Adam twiddling on the guitar:
But Kiera thought she'd try the vocals so we moved on pretty quick...
Kiera being strong:
...and demonstrating with Bill...
... and carrying off her kill...
Robin with his sword. And muscles.
What was I thinking!?
No!
Sword fighting in the bloody house. Jeez!
How did I not see this coming!?
Did I survive the bloodshed? Stick around to find out...
Bill Thomas (Director) and Jason Emery (Producer) run an amazing team every time they put a piece together and I love to go along and watch them all at work... whilst taking pictures as much as physically possible.
Now of course, any Canon 7D nut is going to know, that this baby can shoot at 8fps (that's a bit fast) and so all of a sudden, action was most definitely my thing. Yeah. *cheeks-are-in-agony-due-to-massive-grin* I could basically cry I am so happy.
(He's running)
"Snapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnap" - That's what it sounds like. :D
Sounds like it's purring at me...
Mmm. Happy noises.
ANYWAY!
So we had actors on set on the days I was there. Unfortunately I missed out on the actress, Eve Pearson which is such a shame as I really wanted to snap some pictures of her!
What's worse is I saw pictures of her later by Rachel Thomas, a fellow 'tog and she really did look as beautiful as ever. Hmph! *sulk*
Moving on to the good bits that I didn't miss however... like the actors I did manage to catch!
There's Matthew Neal:
The devilishly charming actor who once spent a day speaking with a scottish accent for the purpose of an advert and had me totally confused when he went back to speaking normally after filming. I completely forgot that it wasn't his usual accent. Doh!
And yes, these sideburns were grown specially for this part. XD
There was Zachary Street:
Who is, quite frankly, a nutter. :) Always goofing around. Really lovely though and very good in his non-stop, cockney piss-taking, sarcastic accent throughout this piece. His girlfriend Emma also dropped by on one of the day and DEAR SWEET CHRIST is she pretty. Next beauty victim, I think...
There was Jason Marchant:
Who, rather impressively, read rather a lot of Latin to the boys in the prison wagon. Even under duress as the next actor tried to pull him in, mid story-time!
Then there was John Lee Pellett. Or, to our world, Baby John:
Here he is, the brutish 'thespian' holding his lethal weapon. A can of Relentless (product placement). XD
Now, for anyone who knows John, you may find it suprising to know that he lasted a long time through the filming before getting naked and jumping into a canvas tent full of unsuspecting camera crew...
Here's John getting shot though, just for good measure. :)
Yay!
Well done, John. :D
Now then, next, we have to bow down in adoration for the amazing work of Ruth Pease for her makeup skills!
This is Ruth Pease at work on Kiera Gould. Our stuntwoman (and Assistant Director!)
And this is Kiera going through the practise run with the ack-toars:
Just to remind those who aren't aware or haven't twigged, this is Kiera:
Transformation much!
Amazing work from Ruth. A round of applause if you will.
Of course we then have the awesome costume from Julie Elgar! Here she is at work, dressing Baby John, a difficult task for anyone:
Now, really, we were seemingly lucky to get any work out of Julie on this day as she had realised that morning that her hair was long enough to put into, like, pin-up rolls. Not sure of the correct term.
I did manage to catch her doing some in the mirror but I did say I wouldn't put those pictures up... *snigger*...
Kristian Mitchell-Dolby - Behind The Scenes Footage
And finally, just some cool images that I took on the day that I haven't managed to squeeze in up there!
Matt looking out of the wagon.
Kiera amidst the fight in the wagon.
John 'acting'.
For sale: £1m ;)
Naww! Poor zombie! Did no-one want to play with you?
Brains?
Julie Elgar, stitching.
Kristian Mitchell-Dolby filming behind the scenes.
The wagon from the outside. Ooh.
Yuk.
Mark it!
Bill. In a man-catcher.
Ruth Pease. Standing by for more blood!
They should call her RUTHLESS Pease. Ah ha ha.
... I thought it was funny...
Om nom nom!
Zombie Love Scene pt 1
Om... nom... nom?
Zombie Love Scene pt 2
Bucket Carrying and Barrel-Rolling
I don't know why but I actually love these two images.
Sash at work filming Robin
Setting up John's gun wound.
We thought he was brave getting that close to Baby John's trousers too.
Matt looking the exhausted hero.
*GASP!*
Who shot Gavin G Smith!?
And WHAT will happen to Jakob Douglas now!?
And if you don't know what I'm talking about, you really need to go here and purchase his book. It's really, very good.
Kiera. With a bomb. This wasn't a very good idea, now, was it!?
Sound guy (Freddie) on the roof.
Tsk! Get down, Naughty!
Gavin and Robin.
Pesky French!
Zombie?
Although at a film set it's very frustrating to be a photographer (people get in your way a lot) there really are some awsome reasons to be there. You get some incredible shots, get to see fight scenes, explosions and even Baby John getting set on fire!
Also, by the way, thanks to the help of Sashi Kassoon, I filmed this on my 7D. First time ever.
