Tuesday 6th November 2007, and the crew are in Palm Beach filming scenes for Block 918 (episodes 4586 to 4590), which go to air the week starting 3rd March 2008 in Australia.
This is the second day of location filming this week, however I didn't join them for Monday's shoot as I was in the city meeting a certain Script Producer.
Monday's filming started off with scenes for #4587 with Cassie and Henk at the beach, Henk apologises for his actions and wants her back, but Cassie has to have time to rethink. Then the crew moves over to Avalon to film scenes for #4588, the first ones at a new location, Aden's House. The first scene involves no cast members and is just a shot of a newspaper (which you will find more about later) on Aden's front lawn. The next scene involves Irene apologising to Aden, followed by a scene on the road where Belle discovers Aden has serious issues regarding his grandfather.
Following the scenes at Aden's, the crew move around the corner to Tony's house where there's some interesting scenes to shoot for 4587, 4588 and 4589, the first of which involves Johnny Cooper being wheeled into an ambulance. The other scenes include Belle, Gavin, Annie, Cara, Colleen, Jack, Sam and Jazz. Once they are finished, that's a wrap for the day.
Now onto Tuesday. The crew spend the morning re-filming scenes for the 2007 Season Finale, which you can see here on BTTB.
First scene for the afternoon is with Charlotte Best for Scene 5 of #4587. Annie is pondering over Aden's words to her, whilst Dan's wreath is still on display.
Following this, Charlotte is finished on location. Next up is Cornelia Frances and Conrad Coleby filming a scene for #4588, where Morag tells Roman that it would unethical for her to represent him against Aden's claims.
During this time, Sharni Vinson arrives on set, and learns her lines for her scene with Damien De Montemas. Palm Beach has had a large infestation of flies for the past couple of weeks, and even constant spraying of Aeroguard isn't keeping them at bay. Sharni and Damien film the scene, where Cassie and Henk declare their love for each other before saying goodbye.
After this, Todd Lasance has a short scene to film where Aden receives a text message "Meet me at the Diner" During this time, the sun disappears and it starts raining heavily. The next scene, for episode #4588, involves Aden and a newspaper showing a picture of him next to his grandfather (Todd in an Army uniform), saying how much alike they are.
For those of you interested in the small details, the Coastal News is in its 135th year of publication, and this particular copy is Volume 1028, No. 487. And if any of you are wondering what the article actually says, then it has been reproduced below:
"Just as Stanley Jeffries fought for freedom on the battle fields of Vietnam, his grandson Aden gave a moving speech and took a brave stand for the rights of his fellow students. As the grief stricken teenagers held a touching memorial for their late school counsellor, Dan Baker, Acting Principal Martin Bartlett ordered distressed students to return to school. Stanley Jeffries fought for freedom on the battle fields of Vietnam, his grandson Aden gave a moving speech and took a brave stand for the rights of his fellow students. As the grief stricken teenagers held a touching memorial for their late school counsellor, Dan Baker, Acting Principal Martin Bartlett ordered distressed students to return to school. On the battle fields of Vietnam, his grandson Aden gave a moving speech and took a brave stand for the rights of his fellow students."
Yes you did read that correctly, all the props department need to do is write a few sentences and they can then copy and paste them to fill the page. Other stories on the page include "Writers Week International Awards" which oddly enough talks about the quality of vegetables in a local restaurant before talking about Summer Bay resident Emma Chapman, who is being commended for her bravery during the 2005 cyclone, where she saved a Mrs Megan Wangmann and her daugher Olive from a car. The final frontpage headline is "Accommodation Award for Newly Renovated Summer Bay Hotel".. However once the page is.turned it is apparent that the Coastal News is in fact a copy of the newspaper 'Manly Daily', with a fake cover added to it.
As it is raining, the scene with Aden has to be relocated to underneath the Surf Club's roof overhang. Aden is evidently upset with the article and so burns the newspaper. The only problem is, the glossy paper is extremely reluctant to catch fire. The scene is very nearly abandoned after the 5th take, but on the final try Todd manages to get the newspaper alight.
During this time, a familar face appears in the Surf Club. Ray Meagher has returned from watching the Rugby in Europe, and today is his first day back on location. He goes to change out of his jeans and into Alf's costume whilst they finish Todd's scene and wait for the rain to settle.
Seeing as it has obviously been raining, it is decided that Alf and Martha are re-opening the Surf Club kiosk after a storm. During the scene, for #4589, Martha is setting up the chairs when she notices Roman walking up from the beach, and slows down in order to gaze at him. Strangely enough it turns out I was standing in the exact position where Conrad would later film his insert shot, so in those scenes Martha is in fact looking at yours truly.
Ray is on top form as usual, and decides on improvising in a couple of takes. "Morag said you weren't into that sort of thing anymore.....she said you were going back to women?" He also has a tendancy to blink whenever I am taking a picture....
Ada Nicodemou and Jon Sivewright arrive on set to film their one scene for #4590 with Jodi. The scene description simply states "Men are from Mars, and it seems so are women from Summer Bay" - so take that as you will!
It's now 7pm and the crew head off for dinner. Once they finish they have a night scene to shoot, a new scene added to the Season Finale where the Stalker drives Rachel back to her house. This goes on until around 9pm when the crew are finally finished for the day.
This is the second day of location filming this week, however I didn't join them for Monday's shoot as I was in the city meeting a certain Script Producer.
Monday's filming started off with scenes for #4587 with Cassie and Henk at the beach, Henk apologises for his actions and wants her back, but Cassie has to have time to rethink. Then the crew moves over to Avalon to film scenes for #4588, the first ones at a new location, Aden's House. The first scene involves no cast members and is just a shot of a newspaper (which you will find more about later) on Aden's front lawn. The next scene involves Irene apologising to Aden, followed by a scene on the road where Belle discovers Aden has serious issues regarding his grandfather.
Following the scenes at Aden's, the crew move around the corner to Tony's house where there's some interesting scenes to shoot for 4587, 4588 and 4589, the first of which involves Johnny Cooper being wheeled into an ambulance. The other scenes include Belle, Gavin, Annie, Cara, Colleen, Jack, Sam and Jazz. Once they are finished, that's a wrap for the day.
Now onto Tuesday. The crew spend the morning re-filming scenes for the 2007 Season Finale, which you can see here on BTTB.
First scene for the afternoon is with Charlotte Best for Scene 5 of #4587. Annie is pondering over Aden's words to her, whilst Dan's wreath is still on display.
Following this, Charlotte is finished on location. Next up is Cornelia Frances and Conrad Coleby filming a scene for #4588, where Morag tells Roman that it would unethical for her to represent him against Aden's claims.
During this time, Sharni Vinson arrives on set, and learns her lines for her scene with Damien De Montemas. Palm Beach has had a large infestation of flies for the past couple of weeks, and even constant spraying of Aeroguard isn't keeping them at bay. Sharni and Damien film the scene, where Cassie and Henk declare their love for each other before saying goodbye.
After this, Todd Lasance has a short scene to film where Aden receives a text message "Meet me at the Diner" During this time, the sun disappears and it starts raining heavily. The next scene, for episode #4588, involves Aden and a newspaper showing a picture of him next to his grandfather (Todd in an Army uniform), saying how much alike they are.
For those of you interested in the small details, the Coastal News is in its 135th year of publication, and this particular copy is Volume 1028, No. 487. And if any of you are wondering what the article actually says, then it has been reproduced below:
"Just as Stanley Jeffries fought for freedom on the battle fields of Vietnam, his grandson Aden gave a moving speech and took a brave stand for the rights of his fellow students. As the grief stricken teenagers held a touching memorial for their late school counsellor, Dan Baker, Acting Principal Martin Bartlett ordered distressed students to return to school. Stanley Jeffries fought for freedom on the battle fields of Vietnam, his grandson Aden gave a moving speech and took a brave stand for the rights of his fellow students. As the grief stricken teenagers held a touching memorial for their late school counsellor, Dan Baker, Acting Principal Martin Bartlett ordered distressed students to return to school. On the battle fields of Vietnam, his grandson Aden gave a moving speech and took a brave stand for the rights of his fellow students."
Yes you did read that correctly, all the props department need to do is write a few sentences and they can then copy and paste them to fill the page. Other stories on the page include "Writers Week International Awards" which oddly enough talks about the quality of vegetables in a local restaurant before talking about Summer Bay resident Emma Chapman, who is being commended for her bravery during the 2005 cyclone, where she saved a Mrs Megan Wangmann and her daugher Olive from a car. The final frontpage headline is "Accommodation Award for Newly Renovated Summer Bay Hotel".. However once the page is.turned it is apparent that the Coastal News is in fact a copy of the newspaper 'Manly Daily', with a fake cover added to it.
As it is raining, the scene with Aden has to be relocated to underneath the Surf Club's roof overhang. Aden is evidently upset with the article and so burns the newspaper. The only problem is, the glossy paper is extremely reluctant to catch fire. The scene is very nearly abandoned after the 5th take, but on the final try Todd manages to get the newspaper alight.
During this time, a familar face appears in the Surf Club. Ray Meagher has returned from watching the Rugby in Europe, and today is his first day back on location. He goes to change out of his jeans and into Alf's costume whilst they finish Todd's scene and wait for the rain to settle.
Seeing as it has obviously been raining, it is decided that Alf and Martha are re-opening the Surf Club kiosk after a storm. During the scene, for #4589, Martha is setting up the chairs when she notices Roman walking up from the beach, and slows down in order to gaze at him. Strangely enough it turns out I was standing in the exact position where Conrad would later film his insert shot, so in those scenes Martha is in fact looking at yours truly.
Ray is on top form as usual, and decides on improvising in a couple of takes. "Morag said you weren't into that sort of thing anymore.....she said you were going back to women?" He also has a tendancy to blink whenever I am taking a picture....
Ada Nicodemou and Jon Sivewright arrive on set to film their one scene for #4590 with Jodi. The scene description simply states "Men are from Mars, and it seems so are women from Summer Bay" - so take that as you will!
It's now 7pm and the crew head off for dinner. Once they finish they have a night scene to shoot, a new scene added to the Season Finale where the Stalker drives Rachel back to her house. This goes on until around 9pm when the crew are finally finished for the day.