Almost there

Another long day on set, but we've made huge progress. Richie and Dania got all their scenes together done today, so just after Matt announced "that's a wrap for Richie", we all piled outside for a quick break, and a couple of photos with cast still in costume.

From the left: Patrick, Anna, Luke, Gali, Andrew, me, Darren, Dania, Matt, Richie and Joe.

We spent much of the day getting some crucially atmospheric scenes in the chapel, which was slightly hindered by the noise of vehicles going past (we're close to the entrance gates), and the bloke mowing the grass. However, he very kindly agreed to mow the grass furthest away first, and since the site is several acres in size, that gave us the few hours we needed. Better than yesterday, when an ice-cream van decided to do the rounds of the industrial estate next door to the airfield. Lovely sweet line of dialogue, immediately followed by that tinny, echoey "music".

Watching the processes, both of the actors and of the crew in capturing the performances, has been fascinating. I've found it easier as the days have gone by to listen to the actors say their lines - at first I just found it too strange, and didn't want to be in the same room, but I think having heard them over and over again as we've gone for several takes, then the same scene but reverse, followed by same scene but close ups, and so on until Darren has all the coverage he wants, I've become detached from them. They're no longer "my" lines, they're Peter's, or Elizabeth's. The actors have really inhabited their roles - although I wish I'd had my camera handy on Monday, when I could've got a shot of Richie in his 1940's RAF uniform, talking on his mobile phone. Working with Darren has been great - he's been concerned to make sure I'm happy with what's being done, and that it fits with the vision I first had when I wrote the story, but at the same time he's come up with really good ideas and new scenes that I think have enhanced the whole thing.

Now I'm very tired. Even though there are large chunks of time where all you can do is sit around and wait, it's pretty draining. Although we were on set for almost 10 hours today, and working for around 9 of them, with a lunchbreak, so it's not really surprising that we're all tired now. I could do with a good sleep - last night I dreamt about being on set, so I didn't even get a break from it overnight!