The Hump Day Dance

Hello, Acting Fans and the fellow bloggers out there, yep, it's Wednesday and it's blog time!

Sooo...me and Chris did indeed manage to once again get a meet up on Monday and today too to make up for last week. On Monday, the first meet up, I showed him the footage from the filming at the Old Cock (Thanks again, Dee & DJ Nick) and let him have a laugh at it too and we also worked out which shot (or shots) from the shoot we might actually use and where in the summer special they would go.

We also got in contact with the Manor Heath Park in Halifax to ask what days and times they open, Why? You may ask, well, it's to go over and film a sequence, but what sequence? Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Well, not just yet but soon.....well, maybe. We even did a little bit more of script editing by adding a some additional lines that Chris had written so we had to figure out where the best place for them to go was. It turned out that near the beginning of the dialog was best otherwise it wouldn't make any sense. (Even comedy has to make sense some of the time.)

Which then brings us up to today, where after a bit of talking about the shooting timeframe, scheduling and trying to figure out where some of the location would be filmed, Me and Chris decided to go out on a wee bit of location hunting. We found a few good looking locations on our stroll that look like the crappy-looking 60's/70's vibe we are gong for (Yep, we still have buildings looking like this in Halifax) and as a really good bonus they aren't too far for H&H HQ, which is always a bonus. We also got round to doing a footage transfer too, Chris now has both sets of the footage of what we filmed on the previous shoot and so do I, just to be safe.

So, well, erm, I think that's about it for now so as always I will sign off and see you all in the Future!

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

 

Mystery Machine

Hello there, Acting Fans, and welcome to the weekend again for another dose of H&H Blogging. Is it me or are they rolling around at some speed at the moment or what? 

I'm afraid I have to report, between both of us working and me interviewing (trying to improve my financial circumstances, don't ya know), we haven't been able to sort a get-together this week. As such there's little to report on our efforts to get this Summer Special off the ground but we are still beavering away in the background organising everything.

Whilst Vern has been staring fixedly at our calendar to figure out the best shooting date, I've taken a dive into my toy car jar and come up with this:

Now you might be wondering what, if anything, my battered and bruised Corgi Juniors Mercedes-Benz Bus has to do with the production of H&H? Well, I'm afraid telling you would constitute [SPOILERS]. Now we just need a suitable location to go with it. 

That's all for this week, Internet Chums, stay tuned for updates and...


TTFN

Christopher Haigh

On Location, Old Cock

Welcome back, Acting Fans, yep, it's that time again - Wednesday blog post, so lets get down to this. As you know (Well, you should if you read Fridays blog) we went out and did some filming on Friday night.

Yeah, I know - shock! We went out to our super secret location, that I can now reveal as The Old Cock pub in Halifax, to film an opening for the summer special. (Coming your way soon.) And it was a roaring success, yes folks, we braved the hot humid weather, got into our costume and got down to it (the Filming, that is). We got in early to avoid a very busy pub (and the sort of folks who would make it busy on a Friday night). I must say a big to the landlady Dee for allowing the three of us to film and to DJ Nick whose assistance was invaluable.

Location, location, location

And, yes, I did say three of us - it wouldn't have been possible without our DP Simon Shaw who was on hand to set off camera one and man the second hand-held camera. Yep, we used two cameras on this shoot our regular Lumix set up on a tripod, and Chris' Dad's camera because we wanted to get two different shot options and have the choice to either go with an hand-held shaky shot that looked like it's been filmed by a bystander, a static higher quality shot as we usually use or possibly both to intercut between. It's all about choice.

We got the shoot out and I've viewed the footage at home, er, I mean H&H HQ and it does indeed look very good in fact, dare I say it, awesome and in true H&H-style it was done in a single take and then we were out of there! Mainly because we didn't want our equipment around a busy Pub, especially on a Friday night. Chris tried to tempt me and Simon into a full night out but I had work in the morning as did Simon with his demanding day job as proprietor of Legacy Comics! So not much actors' drunken debauchery happened, after all we do still have a Summer Special and Episode 6 to get done!

Well that's your lot for today more on Friday!

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

 

The Call To ACTION!

It's the weekend, folks of the Internet, and time once again for your second weekly update on the goings-on at H&H Productions. Well, I can confirm that my approach to the management of the establishment we need for tonight's shoot (done just before my night at the theatre, dahlings) was a complete success. We got permission to do our filming almost before I'd got the full question out, I'm not complaining that means it's a Go - ACTION STATIONS!

Thanks to some assistance from our friend (and proprietor of local comic book shop, Legacy Comics!) Has lent himself to us for the evening so Vern & I can concentrate on getting our H&H on. Yes, we'll be braving the summer heat in our rather toasty costumes but it's a minor bit of suffering for our Art. All Fings crossed by the end of this evening we'll have the footage we need for the intro to the Summer Special, then all we have to do is film, well, the entirety of the rest of it. At this rate it might even be done THIS Summer ;-) !

That's where I'll be leaving you this week, Acting Fans, we've got to get everybody and the stuff together before we blow this scene. You'll have to find out how it went next week. Until then have a grand weekend yourselves and...

TTFN

Christopher Haigh

How Does Hat Beat Pint?!

Welcome back, Acting Fans to yet another blog post after a very sunshiny day. Well do I have some news to report, me and Chris did indeed get met up this week. Last night in fact, yep, Tuesday - glad somebody's keeping track.

And wholly in character, and for the sake of the Art you understand (well, that and to give my flatmates a break from our conspiratorial cackles coming from the H&H production office as we type up our latest masterpiece) like the drunkard actors that we are it was in a pub (well, a few actually)! Where we have now conceived of an opening for the summer special and we are, Gods willing, going to be filming that on this coming Friday too! Yep, we are once again getting back into filming. We also had a good plan to set in motion another project or two involving something that might just be popping up sometime soon BUT IT IS A SECRET! So, shush. Quiet now.

We even managed to puts some plans in place a character to appear in the 2nd series, yes folks, we are now even starting to put plans in place for a 2nd series so stay tuned for more on that one (and yes, yes we haven't forgotten episode 6 either.

That isn't all that happened, oh no, while we were talking at one of our various open air production offices (yes, yes, okay - pub beer gardens) that evening, Chris took his hat off and put it on the table, where my pint was when suddenly a gust of wind caught his hat. Chris managed to snag his hat but at the cost of my pint, mostly over me. He swears he has no idea how it happened as he didn't feel any contact with the glass, just the brim of his hat. So somehow a hat, light enough to be blown by a gust of wind, knocked over a nearly full pint glass. I can only assume Chris has an Evil hat and I will be keeping my eye on it from now on.

VS.

 

Never mind, though, as Chris coughed up for a replacement and while I'm working away in a hot call centre today he's going to approach the manager of the location we need to hopefully be able to get on doing it on Friday. He'll be popping in to see the manager before he goes to see 'Miss Nightingale - The Burlesque Musical'. Going into work on his week off, what's he like, eh? As Chris is indulging his theatrical side (and he does the final edit and posting) this entry might get posted a tad late but hopefully it'll still be Wednesday - I have to admit, I hold my hands up! I totally forgot about Blog - but I did have a lot on my mind AND I'd had my pint thrown at me! Anyway, things crossed for Friday, Folks.

Well that is about all what I can tell you today, so have fun in, on or under whatever and wherever you do out there!

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

1.0 Weeks Later

Welcome back fellow bloggers to this Friday blog post and what's happened? Well, I was bundled onto a hot train last Friday and shipped off to a quarantined part of Leeds where we (Me & my colleagues in DANGER) were given a map and some quadrants then told to set off out into the infected parts of Leeds. Just my luck. We had to get a place called Asylum and we had to get there fast, as the police were cracking down on illegal entrants in the town.

So it was with nothing but a map and our wits about us we set off in a group of seven to the first check point. Only to find when we got there a very, very harsh woman, who would not let us stay as we didn't have any papers with us. We had to move on to another part of the map but this time is was not going to be so easy, as well reached the checkpoint we were told something disturbing - the homeless people had, well, started to act a little strange and we should not hang around.

As we approached to blue sheet hanging up over the entrance, we ran like men possessed as we got half way down we were greeted by...two raging zombies with blooded faces and screaming at us!
We ran as fast our legs would allows to go. We had to get away from them. They were not going to touch us at all. We got out of there with our limbs bite free and, oh boy, we were knackered though. We had no choice but to push on to the next place on the map with no time to waste as the police could be anywhere and, well, now so could zombies. Yes, folks we were in trouble and in it deep.

Reaching the next point on the map one of our worst fears had been realised, there was a police officer. He was checking and talking to other people that had been put though all the same shenanigans as us. We knew we had to somehow talk our way out of this. We had to find someone to get a hold of false papers so we could get some shelter and food if we needed it but the officer spotted us! We had to get away from him, fast. We started out by being as aloof as we could to questions. We did just about manage to convince him to leave us alone then, as we stepped around the corner, lo and behold - there was the chap we had been looking for. He talked to us about some of the papers that we would need and how to get them but I got the strangest feeling that some thing wasn't quite right here. He was acting rather odd, well, odd even for when there are zombies around and about. Luckily my caution paid off, as I started to move to the other side of the table two more zombies jumped out at us (probably some other poor survivors who this guy had taken in). Once again we were forced to flee for a lives. Oh man, was this night ever going to end?

we finally got to the next check point after we had past a protester demonstrating about the unfair way that people were brought in the city and treated. When we got the next check point we told that we had to remain of the street, as we could get caught at any moment. The only way out of this check point was under the it. We made our way down the steps of the new arcade in Leeds only to once again face a greeting by yet more zombies. This was getting ridiculous now - I'd had enough, so this time I decided I would tackle them head on, and went for it - I ran straight at them. Yep, I ran at them and dodged out of their way so none of them would catch hold of me. The rest of the night was mainly the same but the zombie became more and more and they were getting quicker too.

After a long night of fright and flight, at last we neared the end of our quest and to a van that was supposed to get us out of there. Hope flooded into us but when we got there we found the driver had been badly and, well, mortally wounded. She faintly asked for some pills from the back of the van. It was my turn I was up to be the hero this time. As I cautiously made my way around to the back of the Van I opened it to discover there were two zombies tied up in the van. I had to move quickly to grab the pills and get them to our dying ally. And, like a true hero, I did. Once again an avenue of escape had been cut off, we had to find yet another way out. As we set off down the zombie-infested road the worst happened, I fell, went right over with a thundering clash and smashed down to ground, injuring my hand. Well, that was it I was done for, unfortunately it was Game Over for me.

"Hmm, this might put a crimp in filming the rest of the series. We'll have to changes all Vern's lines to 'Braaains!"

Yep folks, in case you haven't got it by now, I was playing in the live action zombie role play game called 2.8 Hours Later. We did it for a friend's 30th birthday do and I must say it was the upmost fun and at times really quite scary too! In a good way.  None of it was real (you'd probably guessed that as: 1) I'm writing this blog (and haven't mentioned "Braaaaaaiiiins" at all, well, except now) and 2) there are no such things as real Zombies...or ARE there?) It was a great night and I got to exercise the old acting skills a bit too! It also means my zombification won't be a hurdle for the rest of the series of H&H.

Regarding H&H, I'm afraid the week has got on top of us again and we haven't managed a meet-up but I have read through the additional lines Chris thought of on some stairs and I reckon it's definitely worth editing them into the Summer Special script which we hope to get on with shortly. Keep your eyes peeled, Acting Fans, for more stuff from us at H&H productions - and any stray zombies! You don't want your flesh chomped now, do you?

Well, that's all for this week now, folks. Sleep tight - if you can! MWAHhahahaha!!!

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

 

Employment

Happy Humpday, Acting Fans, it's Chris here with your midweek H&H fix. Once again the job, or in truth jobs, have gotten in the way again. My evening shift this Tuesday put the kibosh on our regular meet-up session. The reason I even had an evening shift in the first place was also to do with a job because, you see, I am seeking employment...

Now don't panic, my regular day job hasn't gone south - I'm still gainfully employed, part time. It's the Part Time bit that is getting to me a little, it's come to my attention of late just how limiting my take home from just 16 hours work is and, with annualised hours, the more time I'm losing during busy periods at work without really gaining anything long term. So I've tried to kickstart my looking for longer shift/better paid jobs (that, to be honest, had fallen by the wayside as I've gotten a little too comfortable at work.)
I recently found a couple of jobs that seemed ideal in the 20+ hours sweet spot and in areas of my expertise (or at least experience). I applied for both and made it to interview stage for one of them. Yes, an honest-to-God interview! An interview that was on Tuesday morning. Tuesday morning. One of the only two days I had a shift this week with the theatres shorter opening hours. Typical. Of course it was Tuesday morning. Luckily, I had a colleague willing to swap shifts with me but it still took out our weekly (& handy pre-blog day) meeting.
The kicker is it's looking most likely that I didn't actually get the job either. Bah. Nevermind, if at first one doesn't succeed, etc. Back to the artsjobs listings, oh, and the preparation for H&H!

Stay tuned for more on what we've been up to in Fridays blog and, until then...

TTFN

Christopher Haigh

Spirit Of The Staircase

Welcome to the weekend, Acting Fans, and todays blog post title is a translation of the french phrase 'L'esprit d'escalier'. Like a lot of french phrases it's one of those that doesn't have as succinct a way of saying what it means in any other language, like Déjà vu. 'The feeling that one has been/done something before even if you haven't' just doesn't quite cut it by comparison.
'L'esprit d'escalier' means the clever things you think to say after a conversation has ended, all the 'oh, I should have said that's that hit as you leave or have left, quite often as your feet land on the steps out the front door. I like to think of it as a sort of metaphysical Columbo. (Although the Lieutenant himself usually remembered before he finished leaving.)

"Eh, Just one more thing, sir..."

It was something a little what I felt as I edited Wednesday's blog for posting, something had been nagging me since our meeting on Tuesday night but it wasn't until Wednesday that exactly what it was coalesced in my mind. Now the exact thing would be [SPOILERS] if I wrote it here but suffice to say an element we'd deliberately added to the Summer Special hadn't been utilised to full effect in the first draft so, shortly after posting, I tapped out my additional idea and emailed it to Vern. Who will get back to me about it in due time.

Now we've been unable to get a second meet-up together this week, nevertheless Vern is keeping busy as he's casting his net wide to try get a willing victim kind volunteer to make themselves available to play the third wheel required for the Summer Special.

That's all for this week, Internet Chums, so get out there and enjoy the sunshine but don't forget to tune in next week!

TTFN

Christopher Haigh

It's Draft-ey In Here

Welcome back, fellow bloggers and Acting Fans, yep, it's Wednesday so here I am writing to you direct from H&H HQ in this weeks first blog post. Well, just like last week we have been very productive so far. Me and Chris met up last night and in this meeting we have, well...we've basically written out another entire script, yes, we did.

In fact we stormed through our first draft of the Summer Special, soon to be coming your way, all fings crossed. Yes, once again Chris turned up armed with good ideas for it and in between meet-ups I'd had a great idea for how it would end. We spent the time writing out it all down and laughing at our own gags, we did have a couple of stumbling blocks on a line here and there, but we powered on and did indeed get it finished. Afterwards we had a quick readthrough of the script - just to make sure that it does indeed flow and, well, is actually funny. And, of course, to pick on any lines that didn't sound right aloud and in my case the odd spelling mistake here or there (of which there were some, I blame Simon's old keyboard that I've inherited - it's haunted by a spirit of misspelling, I swear!)

Well, that's all we did - which you have to admit is a pretty good job well done, now it's just a matter of casting the 3rd guy in the piece and sorting out a schedule for filming. While it has changed form a bit from our initial idea (at first we were thinking something of a 'Road Trip' episode) we have the main shape of the Summer Special, we might take a couple more passes at the dialogue but it's pretty much there ready to go. Groovy!

That's all for now, folks, see you on Friday,

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt