RIP Michael Jackson

Today showed the death of the King of Pop. The international outpouring of grief and the shear volume of press generated shows that he was still one of most famous men in the whole world.

A troubled man who is living proof that pushy parents and life in the public eye is a most unhealthy thing sometimes. Yet was undoubtedly one the greatest performers ever. I'm conflicted as some of the stories surrounding him are most uncomfortable, yet he wrote Thriller. The hands down greatest music video ever made. He sold a quarter of a billion albums in his albums, and permiated the public conscience in a way few performers ever do. His impact on popular culture cannot be underestimated as can be demonstrated by the below video.

RIP Michael Jackson.

Lincoln

I found myself in Lincoln on Monday as my Dad had an old army friend from USA visiting, and he wanted to go see Lincoln cathedral and castle. So off I went as a dutiful son.

What a beaufiful place! And just ripe for filming in (Ron Howard agrees with me as he filmed part of The Da Vinci Code in it lol).

Got to find me a reason to bring my next film there (or write one thats set there! lol)

An open letter to Nick Griffin, Chairman of the BNP and MEP for North West England

LOL ;)

"09 June 2009

Dear Mr Griffin,

We couldn't help but notice that there was egg on your face (and on your suit jacket) on the day after you were elected MEP for North West England.

Please don't leave egg on ours.

You wore a Poppy lapel badge during your news conference to celebrate your election victory. This was in direct contravention of our polite request that you refrain from politicising one of the nation's most treasured and beloved symbols.

The Poppy is the symbol of sacrifices made by British Armed Forces in conflicts both past and present and it has been paid for with blood and valour. True valour deserves respect regardless of a person's ethnic origin, and everyone who serves or has served their country deserves nothing less.

The Poppy pin, the Poppy logo, and the paper Poppy worn during Remembrance are the property, trademark and emblem of The Royal British Legion.

For nearly 90 years, The Royal British Legion has pursued a policy of being scrupulously above the party political fray. It is vital that everyone - the media, the public and our beneficiaries - know that we will not allow our independence to be undermined or our reputation impaired by being closely associated with any one political party. This is more important now than ever.

On May 27th, 2009, the National Chairman of The Royal British Legion wrote to you privately requesting that you desist from wearing the Poppy or any other emblem that might be associated with the Legion at any of your public appearances during the European Parliamentary election campaign.

He appealed to your sense of honour. But you have responded by continuing to wear the poppy. So now we're no longer asking you privately.

Stop it, Mr Griffin. Just stop it.

Regards,

The Royal British Legion"

Windsor

I've just spent 3 days in Windsor filming with the German crew for the Siemens promo.

I've always wanted to go, but never got round to it. This was a great excuse to see the town.



Its absolutely lovely! lol. The castle dominates the town, and is just stunning, and with the river and all the other history bits like Sir Christopher Wrens house, it was right up my street for a history buffs like me.

That's a wrap!

Finally finished on Rubins yesterday. Principle photography has now moved to South Africa for a week, but I haven't lol

James Callis proved to be an absolute gent by buying the crew champagne and chocolates for the whole crew :)As was Timothy Spall.

And I finally got my cameo as Man in post office queue with Tim lol. Absolute Oscar shoe-in ;)

So onto the next thing, which is a promo for Seimans about a new train and involves taking some Germans around London train stations lol

Now just the wrap party!

Black Snake v Rattle Snake

From an email my Dad got from an old friend in Texas! lol

"I've been told not to kill black snakes because they kill poisonous snakes, but this is the first time I've actually seen proof.


The guy who snapped these photos said the rattler was still rattling all the way down!!! "

The King and I

Finally got the pics from my friends Daves wedding in Thailand. Beautiful!

Site Manager

Seems I have a new job! lol

But of course it is all just smoke and mirrors ;)

The Arcadia

We were filming down in Southampton for a couple of days. One of them was filming on P & O's flagship cruiseliner The Arcadia.

I've never been on a cruise ship before, and the Arcadia is a beauty. I could get used to that! lol

Low Loading

Had a great day the other day on the front of a low loader, which we got in for some driving scenes.

Had to work a route out where the truck could drive in a perpetual loop so the actors could say there dialogue over and over, and the camera could be moved to catch a different point of view without losing continuity in the background. Needless to say, I now know the roads of Hemel Hempstead rather well now lol

Loads of fun! :)

Paris Hall

Miles the DoP, and his step son David whos 3rd AD put me up at their amazing home Paris Hall last night. Apparently the oldest building in Essex, it was a fantastic place to spend the night. Bags of character in the house.

On a convergence of ley lines (which Miles demonstrated by showing me some divining rods going berserk), it was certainly the coolest place I've had the pleasure of spending the night. Fine cognac by a roaring fire. I could get used to that ;)Thanks gents!

Updating the Rubins

Its been another busy week, but loads of fun. I've seen a lot of the rushes, and although I'm biased, we seem to have a very good film on our hands :)

Found myself moving a 1200cc motor bike today, and reversing at speed our Chrysler into the road on camera lol.

Just another day at the office ;)

Liquid Mars and Rainbow Clouds

A (fairly) nice and straight forward week so far. One of the joys of being in the same location for so long is that I dont have to worry about getting the trucks in and out on a morning and evening, so can just have a more caretaker role, which involves sitting and watching, with occasional shouting bursts lol, like the poor grip who just chucked an apple core outside right in front of me. I pointed him towards the bin ;)

When does Mars act like a liquid? Although liquids freeze and evaporate quickly into the thin atmosphere of Mars, persistent winds may make large sand dunes appear to flow and even drip like a liquid. Visible on the above image right are two flat top mesas in southern Mars, where the season is changing from Spring to Summer. A light dome topped hill is also visible on the far left of the image. As winds blow from right to left, flowing sand on and around the hills leaves picturesque streaks. The dark arc-shaped droplets of fine sand are called barchans, and are the interplanetary cousins of similar Earth-based sand forms. Barchans can move intact downwind and can even appear to pass through each other. Over the past few weeks, winds on southern Mars have been kicking up dust and are being watched to see if they escalate into another of Mars' famous planet-scale sand storms.


Why would clouds appear to be different colors? The reason here is that ice crystals in distant cirrus clouds are acting like little floating prisms. Sometimes known as a fire rainbow for its flame-like appearance, a circumhorizon arc lies parallel to the horizon. For a circumhorizontal arc to be visible, the Sun must be at least 58 degrees high in a sky where cirrus clouds are present. Furthermore, the numerous, flat, hexagonal ice-crystals that compose the cirrus cloud must be aligned horizontally to properly refract sunlight in a collectively similar manner. Therefore, circumhorizontal arcs are quite unusual to see. This circumhorizon display was photographed through a polarized lens above Dublin, Ohio last week.

WALTHAM ABBEY: Movie stars in town to shoot film

From Epping Forest News: http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/efnews/4350694.WALTHAM_ABBEY__Movie_stars_in_town_to_shoot_film/

By James Colasanti »


MOVIE stars are in Waltham Abbey to shoot scenes for a new British comedy.

Award-winning Timothy Spall and screen-siren Honor Blackman - who famously played Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger - are among the actors on location at a farm house off Sewardstone Road.

Bridget Jones-star James Callis, Underworld actress Rhona Mitra, and Hugh O'Conor, who appeared in the Oscar-nominated Chocolat, are also cast in the film which is being directed by Bafta-nominated Yoav Factor.

The stars' trailers are parked in the Premier Inn hotel's car park alongside a film crew working on Re-Uniting The Rubins, which will feature the story of a dysfunctional Jewish family.

Lenny Rubin, played by Spall, is about to retire and take a cruise around the world when he is roped in to fulfilling his mother's last wish to heal the rift between her squabbling children who are made up of a megalomaniac businessman, an eco warrior, a rabbi and a Buddhist.

"The atmosphere is very good on set and we are hoping this movie will join the ranks of some of the other fantastic Brit flicks we have seen in recent times, said publicist Nicole Gregory.

Six weeks of scheduled filming started on Sunday (May 3) and other scenes will be shot at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire and in South Africa.

Families

We're now in one location for the next 10 days (which makes my life easier lol). Got a lovely big carpark to shove my now huge (for me) unit in. Had a few days with loads of extras, so costume and make-up got super big trucks each to do everyone in a conveyor style. Plus an extra dining bus too ;)

Filming has been great, with Timothy and Honor Blackman doing some fantastic stuff together, and Sunday was James' last day for a few days. He was on form again, even though he became a dad again a few days go! Congrats to him and his family!

Got the whole cast plus loads of extras in the next few days. Should be interesting....... lol

But seen some of the rushes. Absolutely brilliant. There is something good shaping up here. Swings from hilarious to heartbreaking and back again. Can't wait to see the whole thing. Stay tuned!