Adventure Time

C'mon grab your friends, We'll go to very distant lands (alright, somewhere in Halifax),
With Vern the Dude & Chris the Human, The Fun will never end!

Greetings, Acting Fans, it's Friday update time once again and...I don't quite know how to put this...well, we've only gone and actually done something!

Yes, It's true! Flabber your Gast! Not only did we get the shooting wrapped for the next 'Behind The Acting' as Vern mentioned on Wedneseday we did indeed get up to some Second Unit Shenanigans last night. Fearless of the wind-chill factor, we hung out on the platform of Halifax Station to catch some nice establishing shots.

That, however, is not all. We had hoped to find a sort of elevated vantage point for some shots of the tracks. We didn't find one. What we did find instead was some potentially brilliant locations to shoot. We only had to wander a little off the beaten path to find some spots of Halifax that we had never seen before and it all started here:

Mystery Bridge? Why not? After you...

"Follow me" "Okay."

The Gate

So keep 'em peeled while watching upcoming episodes of H&H, Acting fans, the sharper-eyed among you might be able to spot the locations.
As we got further from the Station and, as it turned out, lower rather than higher, we decided to postpone the elevated shot of the tracks for a trip to a local landmark Wainhouse Tower to take some shots of it in all it's glory by night. Once we shot the tower we took the scenic route back to King Cross to check out the usefulness of Savile Park for some scenes and it's looking promising as long as we can get some additional bodies up there with us. That was it for this week, Acting Fans, apart from the fact that today IS the First of March and we don't want to leave you empty-handed at the start of a new month - so here's the next episode of 'Behind The Acting' to tide you over!

That's All (for now), Folks!

TTFN

Christopher Haigh

Previously on Harcourt & Haigh...

Welcome back, Acting Fans and Fellow Bloggers, and a belated Happy New Year to you all - are you ready for more Harcourt & Haigh shenanigans?

 First of all a, for those of you who came in late (& a reminder for those with poor memory skills), we are H&H Productions the producers of 'Harcourt & Haigh: Actors at Large', a web-based free-to-air comedy show on YouTube. We consist of Vernon Harcourt & Christopher Haigh the West Yorkshire based Actors/Writers/Whatevers and the brains, bodies and other associated limbs behind the series. This is our production blog on the progress of the series thus far. We are also have a fan page on Facebook and a Tumblr page as well.

Chris and I both write, star, film and edit the episodes, we are a Low-to-No budget production. We've managed to recruit a small rotating crew that help us out (Thanks, you guys!) as and when they are able to. So far we have 5 episodes live at this very moment on our YouTube channel. There are also a few trailers we have shot for the series up there (a couple of which are short skits themselves) and a pilot episode (you can see the joins a bit), there is a link on this Blog (just below, in fact) to Series 1 so far so feel free click (and catch up if you're not already exposed to our felonious thespians). I do hope you enjoy the series as much as we have enjoyed making it.
Filming itself is on hiatus right now, that is we're taking a pause to marshal our forces (we need plenty of bodies for the series 1 finale) and also because the winter weather has moved in and has made it a little too inclement to shoot outdoors. Expect regular updates on our behind the scenes progress.



Oh, and as we don’t want to leave the YouTube channel without something new going up during filming hiatus, we have a welcome back present video to post this Weekend - so  tune in to see what it is this Friday!

Until then it’s good bye from him and goodbye from me,

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

We Have A Winnah!

We are back in business!
Hello, Acting Fans, it’s Friday and time, once again, for a new blog/update of the ongoing events at H&H productions HQ.
What’s happened since we last spoke (um, I mean read or is it mebbe wrote)? After much debate, lots of on and offline research, juggling of finances, begging, scraping, scrabbling, scouring the pockets of our spare trousers and looking down the back of the sofa, we have got some additional fundage together and at last decided on the camera that we are getting, and gone and got it!

 
It's the Panasonic Lumix FZ150 and should be on it’s merry way to the H&H offices soon, Amazon be praised. We did some research on it and it seemed the best camera for us (at an affordable price for our Lo-to-No Budget) and it does everything that we want it to and, maybe (fings crossed), a little bit more too. It may not be the Canon 550D we had our hearts set on but with the Lumix we don't have to settle for a reconditioned unit to keep the cost down, we can invest in a spanking new camera with warranty, and it's ours - ALL OURS! MWAH HA HA HA *Ahem* Even though it's not a DSLR like the Canon (it's what you might call a high-end bridge camera) it produces the quality of video image we require and it has an external mic socket (the only camera in it's price range we've found that does) as well as it's own stereo mic. We just had to get a 2.5mm-to-3.5mm jack adapter for the external mic socket so we will be able to connect our own external mic up to it, and it is done! So, Groovy, the series can once again commence onwards.

TTF…..

But, wait, wait, wait - hold on! There's more to come here……We are starting our official count down to SOMETHING BIG as of…oooof…ooooof…ooooooooooof…
NOW! Yes, we do in fact spoil you but this time it really is BIG, and when I say big I mean BIG. Bigger than any mere Promo or Trailer  - So what is it? I hear you cry, well, well, my dear, darling Acting Fans there will be more on that later.


Oooh, I am SUCH a tease.

Until next time keep the home fires burning and we’ll be back!

TTFN

Vernon Harcourt

Guerillas In The Midst

 

After filming on the fly, during the shooting this foggy weekend gone, some simple rules to follow when you’re a Low-Budget/No-Budget feature came to our attention.

Rules of Guerrilla filmmaking according to Harcourt & Haigh:

1. First choose the location or locations (scouting it/them BEFORE the shoot is very handy in case, oh, I don’t know, say when you arrive there they are now out of bounds to the public and/or inaccessible, also see Rule 2) 
2. If big trucks are moving in and out of said location it will not be a good idea to use the location as injury and/or death could and probably will occur.
3. Always remember to get permission (or do it on a Sunday and be quick about it but remember Sunday’s are no longer sacred and most places you think will be closed now run 24/7, hence large trucks moving in and out, see Rule 2.)
4. Always maintain a polite demeanour and leave the location as you find it. (or Sneak in and film it and sneak out.)
5. Props will never behave how you want them to no matter how you train them to.
6. Always try and get hold of stunt doubles if possible.  (Stone steps hurt when rolling down them, if you don't know how to fall properly.)
7. Always have back-up tripods, as they might go walkies. (Always remember the War Of The Worlds, they may be smaller these days but the little buggers are still not to be trusted!)
8. Always make sure to film plenty of close-ups, a good choice to be able to intercut easily with other takes.
9. 3 is the magic number, of course I mean always do at least 3 takes (and two writer-come-stars plus one cameraman equals 3!).
10. If you can wing a location then do so.
11. Improvising can be your friend. (Not at all due to messing up lines, you understand.)
12. And just remember if some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favourite head up against the barroom wall, looks you crooked in the eye and asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Arthur Harcourt always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Art?" "Yes sir, the check is in the mail.”

Follow these simple rule and your shoots shall be successful, until next time.

Keep it classily.

Vernon Harcourt