Travelling, filming and Progress

Hi folks,

Not much blog posting recently, though I have made some progress towards the fantasy charity project. I've managed to clean up all the models which I had ordered, and sorted some of the Undead figures into units.

I've decided to go with foot units which consist of four ranks of 7 models. Ranged units will be in two ranks to make them obvious on the table.

So far I have prepped and basecoated a unit of undead spear and two of hand weapons, as well as the catapults and hero models.

My aim is to progress these in order to have some examples done.

In other news, myself, Dave and Martin had a bit of a jaunt off to Paris with a portion of Dave's Sudan collection which was being used to film a documentary. I won't go into the ins and outs of it, but it was a proper studio and a lot more work than we anticipated. Very interesting, if exhausting.

Some pictures I took over the course of the two days:

1st time on the Chunnel. Pleasant expience, much better than the ferry. Arrived in France in no time at all. Course, a random Sunday morning just after Breshit was supposed to happen would have helped. 

A proper sized room - film studio we would be using

Initial setup we used. 4 tables, none of which were the same shape or size. Sand used to conceal bases, mixed with some flock and clump foliage. This is a representation of the battle of Omduman. 

Initial setup, you can see the greeness mixed in with the sand, along with the rive gunboats.

While we were getting setup, the crew were setting up their equipment. 

A lot of equipment. 

However, there were issues with the camera wobbling and the height of the table, as well as the fact it was rather messy looking table (as that was what they provided). We then had to disassemble the setup and rebuild it on a much shorter table. Much aching of knees and backs.  

But the rehersals for the filming started. 

The following morning, we got a chance to do some more work on the setup, and I added in some more clump to try and make the village a little more verdant and realistic. We also received more sand to help cover all the bases. The Director was very keen that all the bases be covered. 

The amount of equipment kept growing.

We were asked quite often to make changes, moving troops about, building up areas of terrain to get better visuals, etc. Much was the further aching of knees. 

More re-jigging. All infantry concentrated in one corner for sweeping shots. This also included us having to build up the rear corner to make it higher. By this point we were searching for suitable materials to use under the cloth. 

It looks hella impressive both on the table and via the camera, which was only a few inches off the table. 

As cool as it looked, using sand during a wargame would NOT be practicle. 

Requests included pairing down the amound of Brit, moving bits around, etc. 

Martin and Daving making yet more changes. These ranged from moving whole units to individual models being tweaked. As well as covering bases which might show up on camera. As the sand dried and settled, it seemed to show the edges again. 

The inside of the main studio building. Very impressive. An old power station, we think. 

All in all it was a interesting experience... but hard work. Definately more involved than we imagined it would be. Definately a good run out for some of Dave collection!