Production company, Fulwell 73 did not have long to turn around the filming on location for Ellie Goulding’s River. Here at Farm Locations, the first call from the location manager came through on the Wednesday. The filming was to happen the following Monday. The director was firmly set on Dungeness beach and the Sound Mirrors in Kent but didn’t like the indoor space proposed at the technical recce. It was then a mad scout to find a larger barn to build a workshop set in, close to the coastal locations. The Kent Film Office put the scout in touch with Farm Locations and a few options were presented. Within 24 hours, Manor Farm, near Ashford, was the chosen location. It offered the internal space needed to create a dramatic, tall set, plus when the recce photos came through to the art department, they saw the potato boxes stacked tall in the shed and saw great opportunity in their use.
So Manor Farm was booked, and the art department arrived on the Sunday to build the scene. Van-loads of fabulous props arrived. As well as the barn location, the farmer also was hired with his forklift, to help move the potato boxes into the perfect spot. What resulted from adding lighting behind the boxes was beautiful – the lighting effect through 10 meter tall slatted boxes created a dramatic backdrop for the prop builders to then add to.
On the Monday, the farmer was also hired to help cart the large Christmas tree (made of debris and plastics) to the Sound Mirrors and back. It could not fit in the prop master’s vans. It was too wide and cumbersome. What a mammoth task to transport it very slowly and carefully, from the barn to the Sound Mirrors and back again, with plenty of manual help to “walk it” along paths and shingle.
The “workshop” scene at the barn location was the last location of the day, with filming happening after dark. Over 60 crew were accommodated on site, all in the farm yard and drive. Ellie Goulding based herself in her winnebago (don’t blame her, facilities on site were primitive!), and by 8pm it was a wrap. I’ve huge respect for the art department and location manager who continued to work through to 11pm, stock-checking all props, loading the vans, and clearing the site back to a normal potato shed again.
Finished Film of River
See the beautiful music promo video on Youtube. It’s stunning. Finished music promo for Ellie Goulding’s River