Christmas Wrapping

Welcome Acting Fans, fellow bloggers and People of the Worlds Internet - it's once again Friday and time for a catch up on what's been happing at ol' H&H HQ.

Well once again the Wednesday Blog entry was conspicuous in it's absence BUT with a good reason. Not only was it Chris's works do with his Box Office ladies BUT we finally managed to get out and film the Christmas Vlog, yep, once again we got behind and in front of the camera. Not only outdoors neither. After I did some scouting out on Manor Heath park we had realised we had to recoded our voices on my phone (of which I have to buy so we can getting off my phone) because of bad winds. As we were heading out there though we got talking of somewhere else we could try. A place where it would be easier to get more of the white sky we needed in shot without it looking like too much of a staged angle. Which got me thinking to a previous place we once used. It was in fact a place we used waaaay back when we did Series One. Yep, H&H were once more on the rocks, the rocks at Albert promenade, that is.

So, so windy. ARGH! MY HANDS!!!

When we got there it was just right, much better than our first idea in fact. The only problem was it was just as windy as Manor Heath, if not more, and BLOOMIN' FREEEEEZIN' ,and I hadn't got any gloves with me as I couldn't find a matching pair (which I later realised would have had some added comedy value - D'OH!). Something I would come to regret as my hands were like Ice blocks after the shoot. After a few runthroughs of the lines and marking out were we where going to stand, we were off to filming. Of course, with it being windy I had to hold on to my hat for dear life especially as it had already flown off for me to chase down the road a few times during the line run (lucky the road was quiet) and, in true H&H style, it did take us a few goes and with extra lines added into the flow of the scene. Some by necessity as myself and Chris had missed a massive geographical error in our original script, can you guess what it was, folks? (Probably not yet as you haven't seen the Xmas Vlog yet but when you do try to spot the the lampshaded excuse!)

When we started to use the my phone we needed to sync up the sound to so we could edit it easier. The best way is just a loud noise on camera but don't try and clap with freezing cold hands like I did. OUCH. Yep, I was an fool. And a sore-handed one too. After that we went on and got it done but, just as we were about to pack up, we remembered to do the end scene too that also had to be outside. Yep, we almost forgot the end, but as we were doing the recording my phone cut off, yep, the battery died, piggin' iPhones! So we had to go with what we had. Then it was to film the Interiors which, once again, led to a quick run down the Y.M.C.A ,well, after showbiz lunch, of course.

The Y.M.C.A was very kind in letting us once again assisting in our crimes against the internet and use the their building for the shoot, which was lucky as the decor was just the look we needed for it (I can't say any more, [SPOILERS]) so, after setting up and line runthroughs, it was a go and, well, I at first just couldn't get the flow right of one of lines I kept on falling over them. Despite having done some rehearsing of these scenes and blocking them out so we knew where we were to move and stand, it just wouldn't flow, so between us we worked out a streamlined version that made the scenes a bit pacier and also were more natural for speech (a lesson to do more reading out loud of what we have written to check the flow of our dialogue). This by our usual Actor's Log Vlog standards was very smooth and, once again, we got a lot done in one day. We are getting better at these. I mean we should be by now we've being doing the vlogs for just over a year!

The Xmas Vlog shall be beaming to your eyes soon, so please look out for it.
And see you in the FUTURE!

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

Cut Approved

Good Day, Acting Fans, fellow blogger's and people of Internet!!! It is Friday and the H&H update is on me! As Chris mentioned on Wednesday's blog we - well, he (I've been on a training course) - has done a cut of the Halloween Special and it was then sent to me by the almighty power of the Internet to cast my eye over it and see if (anything) could or might need to cut from it.

Well, I am very pleased to say Chris did an excellent job of the Halloween Special it is all well and very good, and funny, special. Everything that we envisioned has worked this time, with only a few lines cut as they would have not gone with the flow of it, putting off the pace. Now this brings me on to the special ending that we had planned out for it. I still really would like to get in done but as I have been on that course I mentioned all of this week (ending today in fact) we haven't had time to film this ending. Unless we have some free time this weekend we might not be able to squeeze it in. If not, it might have to go up as an Extra Hextra Bite as I would really like for you all to see the ending we have in mind and it does play a vital part in the next Halloween special. I know, it sounds very interesting, and so it should!

Hopefully either way this years Halloween Hextra Bite should be beaming to your eyeballs very soooon!

So long for now folks and see you in the future.

TTFN

The First Cut Is The Quickest

Welcome back, Acting Fans, fellow bloggers and people of the world's Internets. Yes, it's Friday once again and my turn to bring you up to date on what has been happing down (and then up) at H&H HQ.

Well after a very successfully and fun shoot on Wednesday, having got everything that we needed too (even going back and shooting a bit of extra coverage after we had initially done for the day, we are getting better at this filming lark, honest) and as Chris said in the last blog, I can confirm it was the last shoot of this location, and soon it shall be on to the next place for H&H, the keys are nearly in different hands as I write. We also have some more vlog drafts written and nearly ready to go as well as some more wild and wacky idea's for the future don't you folks worry about that .

Anyway, back to the latest shoot, so with all of the footage in hand and having picked out of the footage which shots we wanted to use it was then off back to the Editing Suite it all went with Chris on his handy stick drive (which he'd actually remembered this time). The edit was started the following day, it began by Chris locking himself in his Editing Suite at 11o'clock, then cutting and pasting away. Mid-afternoon Thursday, I was surprised by a text message from Chris that he had a first cut that was already ready and waiting for my eyes to look over it. So it was brought on down to H&H HQ for me to look over, after being warned that he had been pretty brutal with the cutting to try keep the runtime down, I stuck it on my PC to give it a long hard good look...... and it was all good! I do believe this has been one of the fastest turnarounds on any video we have ever done for H&H.

From it's writing to filming to edit to me saying "Yes, it's good to go", it was done and dusted without any additional cuts or notes from me required. (See, I told you we were getting better at this filming lark!) And that was without any simplifying of the script or cutting corners, well, apart from a cheeky bit of prop flubbery which some keen-eyed Acting Fans may be able to spot! So when can you all see this next Actor's Log? And perhaps do some flubbery spotting? Well, I can tell you it shall be live this very coming Monday (the 12th) for all to see! Oh, and please do post it anywhere and everywhere. Please. Pretty Please. We need those hits!

Well, thats all for now folks!

TTFN

Life Finds A Way...To Get In The Way

Happy Humpday, Acting Fans, welcome to your mid-weekly update of what's what at H&H HQ. I have to admit that's not a lot so far this week, we haven't even managed to have our regular meet-up yet. Yep, It's the time of year where I'm called up in work near-enough full time, as I'm covering other colleagues annual leave which hasn't left any time for Acting at Large.
All I can do is apologise and assure you that I'm poring over Vern's script with an eye to the odd tweak or two and a bit of word wrangling. Hopefully we'll have more to report Friday but that's all for now.
What you could do though (if you've already gotten through our episodes and blogs and need some new humour injecting into your life) is check out the iPlayer as Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle has sputttered back onto our telly screens and can be viewed right there. A brief warning, though, some of the language is definitely NSFW! 

Enjoy! And until next Time...

TTFN

Christopher Haigh

 

Checking It Twice

Welcome once again, fellow bloggers, Acting Fans and people of the internet, yep, it's Wednesday once again and this is our blog.

Once again we have been a bit busy, we have put up another Vlog video on YouTube, Number 3. WHAT?! You've not seen it yet? Hmm...ok, I'll be nice and it is under this text of which are reading for you to watch and enjoy.

Watched it? gGood. Now what else have we been doing, well, we have been putting together a Christmas list, no, no, not for Santa (though we have been exceptionally good this year) but for our next vlog. You see we have a few things in which we need to do this next vlog. In fact I think it has the most props we have every used in one go, more than most episodes. No, really it has we have about [SPOILERS] many [SPOILERS] including a [SPOILERS], [SPOILERS] [SPOILERS] [SPOILERS], [SPOILERS] and [SPOILERS] *teehee* we are so mean to you!

Well I'd best get back to the list and find some footage clips of things I need for it. 'What footage and what things?' I hear you cry out at once, then suddenly silence. Well you will just have to wait and see, we won't keep you waiting too long for it.

That's all for now folks we'll be seeing you on Friday.

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

 

Vloggerheads

Welcome to the midweek, fellow bloggers, people of the internets and Acting Fans, yes, it's Wednesday so you know what it's time for - let's get down to it. We have been busy this once again week down here at H&H HQ, yes, I know it's only Wednesday so how busy could we have been in just two days of a new week?

Well, we put up the 2nd H&H Vlog you the world of the internet to see, if you have not seen it, well WHY? Ok, just for you it's here just below this text. We are good to you lot aren't we?

So what, you say, that's just a bit of uploading what else have we been doing other than putting up a 2nd Vlog? We me and Chris have only once again been filming and now filmed have the 3rd blog vlog, yes, that's right - a THIRD vlog (these might even be come a regular thing at this rate)! Yes, we got the idea for this from something that has been mentioned in the media lately, all the news about a somewhat well-known film franchise doing some UK-based open auditions. And it got us thinking, especially about what H&H just might do about that.

COMING SOON!

As I said it was filming Yesterday(Tuesday 19th November) at H&H HQ to go with footage of a familiar-looking sequence (pre-edited by Chris over the weekend) and once it was shot it was rushed back the Editing Suite and edited (at the sacrifice of Chris not going food shopping, now that's dedication - don't worry though he had some fish fingers in). So it's now ready to go but when will it go up, I hear you ask, jeez, you do ask a lot of us don't you? Well it will be very soon, my pretties, soon.

That's it for now we will see you on Friday or read you it you like.

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

 

Return To the End Of The Beginning

Welcome to the weekend, Acting Fans and other peoples of the Internets, and this weekend it's a most special time of year - yes, tomorrow it's time for the Vernniversary. To celebrate the most auspicious arrival of your favourite Colossal Acting Talent on our humble planet we will be assembling the H&H Productions News Team to anchor rolling coverage of what should really be a national holiday! In lieu of a day off please join me in once again wishing the Vernster a very Happy Birthday and many happy returns!
Anyway as it's his Birthday we've decided a little treat (for you lot) to celebrate the fact is in order before this Monday, that you should already be #SAVETHEDAYing remember, so we dug back into the H&H archives and sifted out this little bit of H&H History. Yes, we're spoiling you again. As a little 'Thank you' to everyone who helped us get this thing off the ground and get the pilot filmed we shot this short on my Dad's camcorder (for effect, yes, yes, okay AND because we are a Low-to-No Budget production) and, after a dust off with a quick once-over, we thought we'd stick it out there for you lot as a 'thank you' for tuning in to the felonious acting of our two struggling thespians.

So there you go a quick look through the wayback machine to the very beginning, we hope you enjoyed it! Oh, and there might be a bit of a connection with the upcoming #SAVETHEDAY event this very Monday, yes, we can be a bit sneaky like that seeding things to come. You really should keep your eyes peeled when watching Harcourt & Haigh, y'know. That's it for this week, Internet Chums & Blogonauts, but of course you still need to #SAVETHEDAY - MONDAY 11TH NOVEMBER to be precise for the Next Phase of 'Harcourt & Haigh:Actors at Large' stay tuned.

TTFN

Christopher Haigh

So We Begin...

Welcome, people of the internets and fellow bloggers and, yes, all you Acting Fans you lot too. Once again it's Wednesday so here is our blog on what's been happening down here at our HQ/Production Office/My Flat.

Well, as it turns out we have actually been filming once again, yep, yes we have! "Just what is it we have been filming", I hear you wonder (you really wonder quite loud, you lot). Now just sit back down there and I will tell you, geez, you're such an impatient bunch! You may remember (if you've been paying attention like good little Acting Fans) that we said that we were going to be starting something 'big' over here at H&H Productions. Well, we have indeed started the next BIG thing for H&H and paradoxically it's actually quite short, for a Big Move that is. Anyway, that was what we were filming for yesterday (Tuesday the 5th November) taking the advantage of a gap in Chris's shifts to get it done and even by our stands it was a very quick shoot and edit. A short cut, if you will. Yes, folks it was done in the same day this time but you will find out exactly how and why it was able to be done so quick soon.

"What is it", I hear you ask and, "When we will be able to view it?" Well, what it is I cannot say just yet because, well, you see it'd be [SPOILERS] so, no, I mustn't. I simply I canno..... HOLD ON! I CAN tell you WHEN you will see it, HA HA, of course! So pin your ears back and listen closely folks, in a move we have totally nicked from the Doctor Who Marketing Team, we here at H&H Productions as you to SAVE THE DAY!
We want you to SAVE THE DAY of the 11th NOVEMBER to be precise!
Yes, the next BIG but SHORT thing goes live on THIS COMING MONDAY! So please be there to witness a new phase of H&H, a bold NEW Era in ACTING!

Well that's all for now folks so stay tuned and...

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

 

Let There Be Light(ing)!

Welcome back, bloggers and Acting Fans, yep, it's Wednesday again and this is our blog!

So what exactly's has been going on down here at the H&H HQ, well, nothing! What we've been up to didn't happen at H&H HQ! We have once again ventured out on Sunday to get the exterior shots of the Halloween Special done, with the kind help of one Jake Broadhurst and another, Hardy Boococks,
as our camera people we got it done.

We braved the night (okay, early evening) to do this but, alas, the first place we were going to use, was unviable, down to closed and locked entrance gates. We had to troop back down to our second choice. Then on to the depths of Dean Clough to get one final bit shot (including some awesome stuntwork from yours truly) and we were done for the night (by our usual standards it was a short shoot) and a good job too, that dark sure is coming in quick now!

That brings us up to today were we have been dressing the second set (above and beyond Legacy Comics) ready for the this Saturday shoot, we tested out some additional lighting as that is very important and we had a minor costume test too (no, not our costumes, some other peoples') We've also got all of our props that will be needed for the shoot now in one place, on set, which should hopefully prevent any forgetting of important stuff.

Mystery Costume Test

ACTING! But more importantly LIGHTING!

 And a head of time we even managed to get some close up shot coverage done too that doesn't need any one else in shot other than......well, that would be telling now, teehee!

Well I think that's your lots' lot for now, see you in the Future!

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

 

Interiors

Welcome to this weekend update post, Acting Fans, I'm here today to let you know the two of us at H&H Productions have been at it again. Yes, this morning Vern & I met up once more to take a look at the location for the interior shots of the upcoming Halloween Special, above (and beyond!) the new shop location of our old chum/sometimes guest star/occasional location manager, Simon Shaw, Proprietor X of Legacy Comics.
After getting Simon's kind permission, we ducked past the Counter and up the two flights of stairs to the room at the top. With a bit of tidying up (man-style tidying up, so really just shoving stuff out of the way) and some amateur Feng Shui we got the room set up and, well, it turned out even better than we thought. Then it was time to break out the old Lumix and plan out the shots.

The Cardboard represents [SPOILERS]

Swarthy!

Thinking Time

Are we done yet?

Staring at Nothing

So with Vern having sorted out the 180° we took a few pics, including the ones you see above, as a quick storyboard, experimenting with varying angles and working out how best to capture some of the action. To post them all would potentially be [SPOILERS] so that's your lot for this week!
The site is prepped, now we have our fingers crossed that the weather holds so we can get the exteriors done sharpish, wish us Luck!
Before we go though, one last massive shout out to Simon - a big 'Thank You!' Without his generosity we'd be lucky to even have a trailer filmed. We don't know anyone else who'd put up with our filmic messings-about on their patch (apart from vern's flatmates, cheers to you guys too! Yes, you too, Muta)! As for the rest of you lot, see you on the other side of the Weekend! Keep watching!

TTFN

Christopher Haigh

Games Afoot!

Well here we are once again, Acting Fans, halfway into the week and there hasn't been a meet up so far but there have been things going on. First of all this weekend, whilst I was stuck behind a desk selling tickets for 'Room On The Broom', Vern was lending a hand to our old chum and sometimes Location Manager.
That's right, Weapon HX himself proprietor of Legacy Comics, Simon Shaw. Not wanting to get too much into the ins-and-outs but circumstances (mainly the up-and-coming re-development of his previous shop location) have led to our old chum having to find a new location. After hunting high and low and hither and also thither Simon has actually managed to get himself re-located to the high street. It was to this new location, handily just up the road, that my co-star and some other local reprobates helped Simon get moved to.

Sheldon is watching you. Always.

Best Wishes and warm regards from all (alright, both) of us at H&H Productions, Simon. May the re-boot to Legacy Comics 1.2 be a rollocking success!
As for the Halloween Special, though we haven't met up this week, the preparation continues. I've been on the hunt for some additional props  and it just so happens that fortunately they were right here at home. At the risk of blowing [SPOILERS] we needed to get our hands on some board games. Some of you more astute Internet Chums might get an idea from it but I'm going to say no more, except they were easier to find than I thought. I'd been thinking of where we used to keep them though, d'oh!

"When you play the Game of Chess you lose and then cry!"

Yep, as a Low-to-No budget production it sure does help to use what you already have. It's as cheap as free! Anyhow with a morning shift, another day off and a free weekend this week we hope to get a bit closer to filming so stay tuned to find out how it goes on, we hope your route to the weekend holds straight and true and we'll see you here again on Friday!

TTFN

Christopher Haigh

The Horror...the Horror...

Hello, fellow bloggers, it's Wednesday again, so let's get you dosed with your regular shot of Vitamin H²! Now, after a looong week last week and after me & Chris met up to sort out some plans for the future of H&H, I thought it would be best to get on with writing some of these up. Especially the upcoming Halloween Special!

An unfilmed script, like a pumpkin ripe for the carving!

Armed with my trusty-if-slow PC and ready with the notes we made for it in hand, I did indeed do just that. It wasn't easy though, no sir! I wrote down the ideas we had thrashed out and tried to make what we had come up with into some sort of a workable script for us to film as we have just under two months in which to get it done. At first it really wasn't going too well, I didn't like too much of how it was working. I wasn't even sure if it was funny at all!
Despite my notes I had forgotten some of what we had said and trying to get the story into a working order was difficult too. I hadn't managed to get it finished when we met up at H&H HQ this Tuesday when me and Chris got together again. We talked about the Special and how lately we both realised that we'd managed to get a lot more done by this time last year and that maybe we'd let the difficulty of getting Episode 6 done get in the way of us doing more H&H stuff.
Chris encouraged me to finish off the script, even if I didn't like how it turned out, so that once we had it in hand we could give it a real going over until it did work. With that in mind I got it finished that Tuesday night and sent it off to Chris for some split & polish and, well, to add some things that I might have forgotten, misremembered and so forth.

Today Chris sent back his re-gigged and re-worked version (complete with the title we came up with on Tuesday and, no, I'm not telling you it - that would be [SPOILERS]! Tee hee!) to me. I gave it the once-over and it is looking a bit better now, definitely workable. After a readthrough, and maybe a tweak here & there, it should be ready to go, all we need to do then is find a place to film it!

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

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

It WAS A Very Good Year...

Ladies & Gentlemen of the Internets, Acting Fans of all stripes, it's Humpday once again and time to blog what's what at H&H HQ. As the Summer Special 'This One Time...at Buntings Camp' steadily accrues views to an impressive 19 so far, Vern and I have not been resting on our laurels. It's the end of Summer (BOOOOOOO!) and that means it's time for that seasonal shift I always get this time of year, which means this week we only get to meet up today. And meet we did, to Moot.
Yes, we got together at H&H HQ and realised all the work that lies ahead of us to keep H&H ticking over. Yes, yes, there is STILL Episode 6 to get sorted but never mind that! 2 more important things spring to mind. The first being that in the rush to get our regular Seasonal Special out in the correct season (just) one of the previous points of order got pushed aside.
Namely our Youtube Channel Welcome video got pushed back down the production schedule. Which is what we started with today. That is the reason we were immersing ourselves in History, via the relevant Wikipedia page. What has 1984 got to do with our channel intro? Well, it was a very good year for many reasons (unless you're George Orwell) but the REAL reason we've chosen to look into that year is [SPOILERS]! Let me just assure all of you out there that us two 70s babies aren't trying to re-date ourselves to stay down with the kids. Nope. All will be revealed.
After our impromptu History lesson we came to our second point of order of H&H business but that I'll leave to m'colleague Vernon Harcourt, who'll fill you in on Friday, so stay tuned, Internet Chums!

TTFN

Christopher Haigh

Loading Screen

Hello there, Acting Fans, a belated blog as we careen into the Bank Holiday Weekend! Though we haven't had a H&H Pow-wow since our midweek final Summer Special shoot there's still been activity at H&H HQ II - The Editing Suite, conveniently located rather close to my bed, ladies! (For when I get TIRED from all the EDITING, my dears, REALLY, how naughty of you!) Anyway since we got the footage shot it's up to yours truly to get the lot of it uploaded and ready to edit, so I've seen quite a bit of this:

Yep, the familiar site of the iMovie loading bar and, fortunately this time, not a lot of the spinny Beach Ball O' Doom:

I HATE that guy!

I'm happy to report that, after my memory kicked in and I grabbed a little bit of extra footage that I had to dive into the ol' H&H Footage Archive to load up with the rest, this screen is loaded to bear and ready for the H&H Cutting Crew (Myself and the irrepressible Vern, of course) to get on and wrangle it into an episode-y sort of shape. There may be a little additional prep for edit to do over the Bank Holiday but that's pretty much it for this week. Have a Grand Bank Holiday Weekend yourselves, Internet Chums and...

TTFN

Christopher Haigh

Men of "ACTION!"

One more shoot down.
Yes, Welcome back Acting Fans and fellow bloggers, yep, it’s Friday and this is our blog post on what we've been up to since Chris's night trip to Bradford for some footage.

Well we have indeed been doing something productive, we have been filming again. Yep, you have indeed read that at the top right, FILMING - and this time not just stock footage or opening shots! We have been filming in character as Harcourt & Haigh for the first time in 2013!

ACTING!

But what exactly have we been filming? Don't we kept saying that we have a lot of preparation still to do before we film Episode 6? What about the Warm bodies we needed? Well, you know that TOP SECRET thing that I couldn’t tell you about? You know, that I also didn’t mention in any of the previous blogs *Wink*. Yeah, you remember. Right? Well, DO you?
Alright! Good you do - finally! You lot are hard work sometimes, you know. Well THAT’s what we have been filming and I'm pleased to say the shoot went well. We got all of what we needed for it, in the can ready to be edited. When will it go up? Well, quite soon, actually.

So what is this TOP SECRET Thing I hear you all cry? Well all I'm going to say is it for something that is coming up very soon and that’s it a….well, it's a treat. Yes a treat, you might even say a treat of a certain shape but any more would be [SPOILERS]

And that is for ANOTHER Friday post, folks. MWAH HAHAHA!

So it’s goodnight from him and it’s goodnight from me.

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

The Kindness Of Strangers

It's Friday blog time once again, Acting Fans. Today we'd like to take a moment to celebrate the milk of human kindness. We've been very lucky so far with the help of friends, family and others assisting us in the making of Harcourt & Haigh and we are grateful to them all but it's a very special thing to get help from complete strangers. Folk like the staff at Halifax Kitchens and Th'Cat I'th Well didn't have to let us use their space but they did and they did it for nothing, so thank you all so very much.
This week I got a reminder of how lucky we've been so far in the form of even more help from a new set of strangers. I'm currently trying to source materials for the puppet that I need to construct and realised I could do with some foam. I wasn't sure where to start to be honest, so I asked my sister if she had any ideas. Beka and my parents pointed me in the direction of local upholsterers. Genius.
The first call I made went a little like this:

"Hello, My name is Chris Haigh. I'm involved in a low to no budget creative project where I need to make a puppet and I was wondering if you might have any offcuts of foam I could get my hands on?"

"Well, You'd have to look in the waste bin and sort any foam from the fabric we also put in there."

"That would be fine. It'll probably be next week when I'm able to get there, when is the best time to turn up?"

"Just give us a call to make sure we're not out on a delivery."

Yes, Acting Fans, it's looking like I may have gotten exactly what we need with only ONE PHONE CALL?! All thanks to the lovely folks at Windsor Beds & Upholstery. Sometimes, just sometimes, people are AWESOME!

That's it for this week everyone, remember to ask nicely and you just might get!

Be Excellent to each other!

TTFN

 Christopher Haigh

Can The Can

Welcome back, Acting Fans and fellow bloggers, once again to the Friday blog post! While I catch my breath after this weeks whistle-stop schedule let me tell you what’s happened down here at the H&H HQ productions. Well, nothing much, really, only that we have...WRAPPED ON FILMING FOR 2012!
While it feels kind of sad to talk about it, yes, we have finished filming everything for the fifth episode of Series 1, and just in time too as the weather is starting to turn.

Ready to be cut to the bone - TO THE BONE!

We spent the past two days, this Wednesday & Thursday, filming all the remaining scenes back-to-back and, believe me, there were LOADS of shots - we filmed, well, I think it was about 8 scenes in total which, trust me, is a lot to film in two days (AND a couple of Exterior shot pickups that we forgot too). All of them were not without quite a few problems, never mind the costume changes too! Yes, folks, it was indeed a busy two-day shoot but, in true H&H-style, we got it all in the can, even making a few changes last minute on set to some of the scenes due to restrictions on the people availability front (good, and more importantly FREE, Extras are hard to find it turns out). We got it to work though because we are that good at working around the little problems that pop up with filming for a Low-to-No budget series.

So, I bet your wondering when you can see this looong overdue Episode Five of 'H&H:AaL'. Well, me and Chris are going to lock ourselves in the editing room next week and we are not going to be coming out until we have the episode done, or one or both of us have died in the attempt (Well, maybe for a cuppa and some food - nobody's dying on an empty stomach, not on my watch!). Two men enter, one fully edited episode leaves!

The episode will be done and up from a week today (Fings Crossed). Well, that’s it for now I’ve told you everything that needed to be told so, until the next time, keep the home fires burning and...

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

 

Movin'

Welcome back, fellow bloggers and Acting Fans alike. This. Is.  FRIDAY!
And, yup, it’s BLOG time - let’s do this!

So what's been happening this week? Well, Erm, actually, as said in Wednesdays blog I was helping my lovely ladyfriend (in the interest of personal safety & privacy I won't even tell them your name, Jo - Oops!) to move to a new location in [CLASSIFIED] and what a busy day it was!
Everything went well with only a few bumps 'n' scrapes and everything got moved, well just about everything, Erm,  everything that is except the few boxes of towels and blankets in that one cupboard I forgot to check *Ahem*. Anyway as always it helps when have such an EPIC TASK to get a professional or two in (I do prefer to pay someone to help you move, especially as they can then do most of the hard work and lift all of the heavy stuff, I see myself as more in supervisory role, after all I AM a Director). All we had to do was move the boxes down for them to take and load up.
On a side note it was the opposite of The Cookies Bar shoot, where we didn't have even a single box, there were loads of boxes, so many in fact not all were used to put stuff in, heck we could have made a box fort out of what was left (but sadly we didn't have the time - I'll miss you, Fort Neverwas *Sniff*. It's just Jo really wanted to get to her new place).

Ok, Time to get back on track to H&H what is happing next with the episode and I bet you're all wondering where it is and is it done yet? Well, erm, the answer is not here and no, it’s not finished yet. We did warn you that episode 5 would be delayed. though even we didn't realise by exactly how much, but we are going to be filming the remainder of the scenes over the course of next week and it should be done, in the can and ready to go into the editing suit for the long editing day ahead of us. We will lock ourselves in the room and get it all down (Well, we hope) and up for all of you to watch as soon as possible. Wish us Luck!

Well that’s all for now so keep the home fire’s burning and...

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

 

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together

Two more down.

Welcome back, fellow bloggers and Acting Fans, we're back for the Wednesday blog and we have had a busy week (and weekend) since last we spoke that's why we're coming in a little late, so let’s get right to it!

We have done it, yes, it has been completed MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, erm, yeah. Hi, sorry. Teehee. I might be a bit giddy but, as I said at the top, we have two more episodes in the can (technically a third of Series 1). We made out our shooting schedule and, by Golly, we have stuck to it!

The doors were not blown off

After last Fridays shoot, we were once again busy shooting on the Saturday. First we went back down to Fridays location to pick up some lines, then we had the main scenes of Episode 3 to do. This was made possible by the kind help of an old friend of mine, Andy “Ironman” Thomas, and the loan of his Motor. He was kind enough to let us use his car to sit and film in making us able to get episode 3 in the can and done. Well, after a quick re-shoot yesterday of one line, yes that’s right, Acting Fans, ONE LINE! All because, once again, we were defeated by our arch nemesis - the wind. Damn you wind for being, well, erm...so windy.

That brings us up today where we have been down at the YMCA to film interior scenes for Episode 4, with some extra cast and crew who have been so helpful over these past two shoots and, yes, both of them appear in episode 4 too, so watch out for them! I am so pleased that we managed to stick to the shooting schedule mapped out for episode 3 and 4 and it has worked too!

It's the New Rock Steady Crew making a break and a move...

Yes folks, as of now both the 3rd and 4th episodes are now complete and ready to edit which we will be on with next week. And with that I think that is all for today…I think. I don’t think I’ve left anything out, hmmm…I'm sure there is something else I should be telling you…but I can’t remember what though…
Oh, yes! Of course! NOW I remember - it’s about Friday and what's happening then!
'What is it?' I hear you all cry out at once, then suddenly fall silent…
Well, guess what you’ll just have to read all about it on Fridays post. BWAH HAHAHA!

Keep the home fires burning!

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

 

Back At The Cat I' Th' Well

Hello, fellow bloggers and acting fans, welcome back to the blog. I'm back from my trip to our great city of London with my lovely Girlfriend, we had a great time down there, thanks very much.
Now, what have we been up to since I’ve been back? Well, we have jumped straight into it this week (feet and camera-first) and we have been filming up (and down) at The Cat I' Th' Well pub.

We've shot the end of the 3rd episode today, after we decided to take a risk with the weather and ran with it (& for it) and, well, it paid off. We did need some additional help this time and managed to rope in one Mr. Ross G from the Actor’s Workshop as cameraman/soundman/brolly holder/every other sort of crew member.

Vern & his Unwitting Victims, erm , I mean Willing Participants, obviously.

Ross was very kind in helping us out and we couldn't have gotten all our shots without him on board. We also had the spontaneous surprise cameo of one James England, the chef at The Cat I' Th' Well. He was more willing to help us out, but how? You’ll just have to watch the episode when it’s done to find out. We did get most of what we wanted for episode 3, we were also hoping to do some shooting for the end to the fourth episode though but too late as we have a tight schedule to keep to and had to let Ross get back to his other creative duties.

And speaking of episodes and schedules there is big in fact MASSIVE news for us to let you about from the H&H HQ. Yep, In case you haven’t guessed it, or not read last week blog post - the first episode of the series will in fact be going, going, going LIVE this very Friday! So please watch it, I'm sure you will like it.

Well, that’s the end of Wednesday's blog so, until Friday, keep all of them home fire’s a-burning...

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt