Location Managers Guild International

LMGI COMPASS | Summer 2020 • 41 LMGI COMPASS | Summer 2020 • 41 uled for two to three days of fi lming with no slack in the schedule for logistical or weather delay. In Bodnant, the paths where just wide enough for gator vehicles. Circular one-way routes had to be planned and a team of 12 drivers took on the challenge of ferrying crew and tons of equipment into the middle of the garden. A large security team managed blind corners, the vehicle fl ow and keep- ing the public safe. Once fi lming was complete, this support team then travelled to deepest Cornwall to perform the same operation at Trebah Gardens. Water is a major element to The Secret Garden. Marc had seen the water gardens of Ninfa, Italy, within a ruined village. Here in the UK, we did not have anything like that. The solution was to build a set on location, preferably within an ancient ruin. We looked at numerous ruins throughout Yorkshire and set- tled on Fountains Abbey near Ripon. A major tourist destination throughout the year, we needed a three-week period to build the set, fi lm and strike out. Conveniently, the best structure to work in was a smaller part of the site by the river in the monastic complex. The concept was to build a six-inch-deep tank on the fl oor of the building, fl ood it, fl oating lilies in the water and draping red vines down the walls. We did not just pick any old ruin—we selected a 900-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site, perhaps the most impor- tant monastic range of buildings in Europe. Working closely with the National Trust, we came up with a plan and the watch word of this location was … 'Carefully.' Everything was performed with Na- tional Trust curators overseeing placement of every piece of timber, screw and plant. Slowly, a set was constructed, a huge 40-ton crane inched in and once complete, it looked spectacular. From this point, we all started to see how wonderful the fi lm would become. The production designer was keen to fi nd the right gardens each with a strong design element; water, textured leaves, wildfl owers, etc. But weather, climate and nature had the upper hand. The ideal timeframe for the short list of our chosen gardens was May, June or October. Shooting was to begin in Yorkshire during the spring to get the damp and grey climate, then into the studios for interiors, then out to the gardens in July. We hoped for an Indian Summer but our weather is ruled by the Gulf Stream. But who could have predicted "The Beast from the East"? I remember driving back from a meeting in Gloucestershire, a three-hour drive from London, and the snow slowly arriving and getting heavier throughout the drive. A few days later, the country was blanketed in snow with sub-zero temperatures—not a good omen for emerging plants! Grant had been working on designs for the gardens using previ- ous years' images of what would likely be blooming in July. His idea was to supplement with unique elements, adding in specially grown plants to accentuate colours and textures while adding an element of wild. After a couple of weeks, the freezing temperatures fell back, the snow melted. I called the garden locations to see what damage was done with the reply they had been covered in a foot of snow. This event could cause major problems to when plants would bloom and at what time in the year, not what you wanted to hear before setting out to make a fi lm in gardens, we have a schedule to stick to! Next up were the exterior India scenes which had been such a challenge to fi nd. Actually going to India was soon dismissed and the question remained: Where to fi nd the Indian exterior and gar- dens in the UK? Given it had been a British colony for 200 years, I was confi dent something of colonial India must have been refl ected

• Cover
• 02-03 TOC
• 28-35 13 REASONS WHY-V2
• 62-63 MARTINI SHOT