TV FILMING WORK

 

The crew on set

The last couple of days I have been guiding and organising a film crew who are producing  some content as part of the Car and Country program to be screened later this year. With a tight time schedule and the unpredictable Cairngorms weather conditions we managed to get some good filming done. It was perfect timing on Monday with a fresh dusting of snow and colder temperatures.  The gales that had brought down a big tree onto Aviemore's main street the night before had abated, thankfully.

Freddie Hunt getting kitted out for winter 

Car and Country is a television travel series screened on Amazon Prime TV. A leisurely road trip interspersed with interesting activities along the way. Star of the show for this particular episode is Freddie Hunt, son of legendary Formula 1 driver James Hunt. Helping with me on the first day was Christian and Campbell who did a fantastic job with the porterage and tent erecting.  A total crew of 9 made up the fun group of folk. Because of the strong winds forecasted on Tuesday morning I rearranged the schedule for the two days, filming at lower altitude locations. 

Action

Deepak, presenter. First time on ice

Fresh snow at lower altitudes

TV filming is very time consuming work. Because of tight 40 hour restraints and the high winds up on the tops, I took the crew to some more accessible and less time consuming locations. The two days of shooting also included a wild camp. With the winds increasing on Tuesday morning we decided on camping lower than planned, around 500m. We finished Monday's shooting around 7.30pm.

Tents up and food on the go

Evening filming

It certainly was breezy in the early hours of Tuesday. It did calm down and stayed dry so we finished off in good conditions.

Tuesday morning, snow melted

Take 2

Once again there was a temperature rise. We had set up the tents in some light snow but this had melted away during the evening. The crew were all happy as they got some good footage in winter conditions the day before.

The crew at the campsite

Freddie retrieving a tent

Sheltered spot

Heading out

It was a fun couple of days and a good insight into the filming world. A great bunch of guys and brilliant to work with. I left them for their next sections of filming of the show. Go-karting, paddle boarding on the Spey and a woodland retreat up north are next up filming. This particular episode of Car and Country the 'car scenes' will be an old land Rover Discovery versus a new version as the guys travel around the Highlands. Looking forward to seeing the finished show, it may even have me in there at some point, I was 'the mountain expert'. But blink as you may miss me. Apparently there will only be around 8 minutes of 'The Cairngorms 2 day adventure' bit. So that's why movies cost millions!

The crew

'It's a wrap' - as they say in the industry.

Coffee and boots off at their lodge