Monday 30 June 2008

A Cypriot Break

Elworthy Episode 1, Part 2 is now almost complete. I have only one more scene to shoot in order to finish it (which simply involves a UNIT soldier sat at a Radar screen).

I am off to Cyprus this week for my holiday. I had hoped to have Part 2 online before I went, but unfortunately it will now have to wait until my return.

As soon as I am back in the UK I will get this remaining scene shot ASAP, and get Part 2 online for all to see! Of course, I still need to cast the UNIT soldier, so any volunteers would be greatly appreciated!!

I leave you with this promotional photo of Captain Elworthy...


Sunday 29 June 2008

Film Footage

Here are some screenshots from the footage I shot yesterday, which I have now edited.

These are from a scene where Elworthy is walking to his meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Beckett...




And these are from a scene after his meeting, where he is pondering his mission.



Film Footage

Here is a still from footage that I shot last time I was in Lichfield. I have now added the alien Tennis Balls, which are surrounding their victim.


Successful Shoot

Did a little filming yesterday afternoon. Shot a short scene of Elworthy in the grounds of his HQ. The scene is from Episode 1, and will be merged with some shots of Cardiff Castle that I got on my lunch break from work earlier this week (I am using Cardiff Castle to double as Elworthy's HQ - Sandford Castle).

Once again, I roped a reluctant Vicki in to help! This time she portrays a passing soldier. No wig was needed this time as I only shot her from behind. I shall post edited screencaps once they are done.



Thursday 26 June 2008

Making Headlines

In Episode 1, Professor Richards looks at the newspaper and complains that there is news about Wimbledon everywhere! I shot that scene over Christmas, except I didn't get a shot of the newspaper - so yesterday I put a front page together...

I used the name The Examiner after I saw a newspaper graphic from the BBC Doctor Who website. I got the idea of putting a box about Wimbledon above the main headline after a recent copy of The Metro did exactly the same thing. And since Episode 1 is set a year agao, I decided to make the main headline about the wet weather we had.

Below is a rough sketch of the newspaper page that I did in work.




I then realised that I would need a photo of a Tennis Player, so I took a picture of myself holding a Tennis Racket.



I then drew a headband on, and made my hair slightly longer in Photo Paint. It didn’t matter that the hair colour doesn’t match, because I figured it wouldn’t be noticeable on screen. I then put together the page using Coral Draw. The picture of the Unicorn and the people with umbrellas were just random stock photos from the Internet. Finally, I didn’t want to write a report on the soggy summer, so having seen ‘Turn Left’ recently, I just stuck a paragraph of Bad Wolf!

The finished page…




And here is a screenshot of the paper as it appears in the episode…

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Film Footage

I have now edited the footage that I shot on Sunday. Below are some screenshots from the scene, which involves Elworthy enjoying the company of a young lady, before being pulled away to duty.

Obviously, in true Bond fashion, there is more than just chess on Elworthy's mind - but you'll have to wait until the scene is on YouTube to see how it pans out for him!






Monday 23 June 2008

Coincidence?

I was looking through the screenplays for the later episodes of The David Elworthy Series today. As I read through Episode 6, I saw something that made me smile.

Episode 6, which is called ‘The man With The Golden Llama’, is about a lost Incan city that turns out to have extraterrestrial connections. Captain Elworthy, Professor Richards, and a female archaeologist they have met, travel to South America to uncover the secrets of the lost city (bear in mind that I wrote this story over a year and a half ago – before the new Indiana Jones film was released, with a similar storyline!)!

What I smiled at, though, was exactly where in South America Elworthy travelled to – Peru! The reason I smiled, for those of you who don’t remember, was because in the Doctor Who Sontaran two-parter that was on a few weeks ago, Colonel Mace told the Doctor that Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart was stranded in Peru!!!

Now, my story is set a year before the Sontaran story, but it is fun to hypothesise that perhaps Sir Alistair was in Peru because of Elworthy’s lost city. Perhaps there to oversee a clean-up operation, or to give his expert opinion on various alien artefacts that had come to light! Why he would be stranded, though, is beyond me - maybe Elworthy forgot to deactivate an alien trap!!

Sunday 22 June 2008

Successful Shoot

Shot a scene from Episode 1 earlier today with Vicki. It was a scene that involved Elworthy and a girl named Nicole! Vicki, who plays a rather main part in Episode 2, had to put on a wig to play Nicole. The wig is one she wore to a fancy dress party last weekend - she went as Magenta from The Rocky Horror Show!

Here are some photos from the shoot. Will upload stills once it is edited.







Only a couple of small things to shoot now, and part 2 will be complete!

Saturday 21 June 2008

The US Contingent of UNIT

Here is a still from the upcoming finale of Doctor Who series 4. It shows General Sanchez (Lieutenant General to be accurate, given the amount of stars he has on his shoulder!). It would appear that he belongs to the American Contingent of UNIT.


Tuesday 10 June 2008

Coming soon... Hopefully!

For those of you out there looking forward to Part 2 (I know that there are at least 3 of you!), hold on! It is coming, I promise! I have just had a few hectic weekends, and haven’t yet had a chance to shoot the last couple of scenes – other than that it is all ready to go! I shan’t make any promises, but I hope to get it online in the next month (fingers crossed) before I go away to Cyprus for my holiday!

Sunday 1 June 2008

UNIT returns

It would appear that UNIT are due to make a return appearance later in this series of Doctor Who – in Episode 11 (entitled ‘Turn Left’).

Below is a photo of two extras from one of the shoots, and they are quite clearly UNIT soldiers.



Also, if you look closely at the wall behind these Daleks (from the "Coming soon" trailer), you can just about make out the winged globe that is the UNIT logo.



And finally, this photo from Doctor Who Magazine shows a UNIT officer and Rose. What is interesting is the uniform worn by the officer – why is she in a dark one and not the standard khaki green?



In reality, it would appear that she is wearing a uniform that the British Army calls “No. 1 Dress Ceremonial Uniform”, seen below on an Officer Cadet at Sandhurst.



But why this UNIT officer is wearing it (and with a beret not a peaked cap) remains to be seen…