Lights, Camera, ACTION!

No, I don't welcome Christmas in October.
My premature greetings are all in the name of art!

Two vans outside, a couple of cars and a pick up truck all waiting to come into our house and transform is into a Christmas scene, I am beginning to doubt the sanity of my decision to allow a film crew to take over our house to shoot an advertisement for one of the top UK retailers.

Ding Dong!  No turning back now, they have arrived.  It only takes a couple of hours for two young chaps to cover all the carpets in the house with sticky backed plastic and protect the hard floors with boarding.  There is intense activity in all areas and treasured pieces of my furniture disappear into a white van destined for a lock-up garage somewhere, allowing the art department to work their magic with new sofas and tables. Will I ever see it again?   Luckily I remember to grab Mini Darling's passport as the desk disappears out of the door, she is off for a holiday tomorrow and this furniture removal wasn't planned.

My cupboards full of fabric have come in very useful, the Art Director didn't like my drape above the front door and I have managed to whistle up a perfect piece of fabric for him to work a miracle with, I might leave it there!  Mr. Security is a little darling, offering to go back and get me something tasty from base unit when he discovered no one had offered to get me some lunch.  They are all a bunch of very friendly and considerate people, with such great attention to detail and impeccable timing.

By the end of the day the film set has been prepared, my lounge is a dining room and dining room is a lounge.  What a transformation, by positioning the sofa across the room it looks so much wider.  Even the cat seems to like the change!  

Even though we are all exhausted by the time I have prepared a tasty delight for supper there is so much to talk about, so we light the candles and sit at the dining table to enjoy a relaxing supper in what is normally the lounge.

A very early alarm call is not welcome after a night disturbed by wild winds and torrential rain.  As dawn rises, the lighting crew unload vast quantities of cases, equipment and poles, luckily Mini Darling's taxi arrives early to transport her to the airport, before the sudden noisy arrival of over 40 crew and I find myself marooned upstairs to the only room in the house which has been left for me.   I decide to keep out of the way until everyone settles down, then I am called upon to try and help with an electrical query, then we have more changes to the filming ideas and another room needs to be 'dressed'.  As I dash to sort out another query I notice two guys are very kindly cleaning my windows (so embarrassing!).  Cupboards are emptied, doors removed and more equipment is squeezed into an already crowded room.

These total strangers now know all about my life, the food we eat, the books we read, the amount of dust behind sofas, the look of  family and friends from the photos, and anecdotes of my life from the long chats I have exchanged with various crew members with time to spare. By the end of the week they will be out of my life, never to be seen again!  Have just given approval for them to use a close up shot of a family photo of ours, perhaps should ask for some royalties!

Lunch time arrives and the mini buses turn up to whisk everyone back to the base for lunch.  The house suddenly falls eerily quiet, the scene is utterly chaotic to my eyes, difficult to believe this is where we live. 

Even the utility room has been taken over with sound equipment (I discreetly removed the cat litter tray for him!), the office was originally earmarked for storage but the digital man has his computer and monitor set up in the tiniest  space left clear and a gazebo on the patio has a mini catering stall with drinks and snacks ready for everyone.  

I have a very tasty Thai curry lunch delivered back to me by a polite Runner and an even tastier hot chocolate pudding, the film crews certainly do very well when it comes to food.

The poor young guys hang on to the massive light deflector screens in the front garden, despite the torrential rain and stormy winds, it certainly requires dedication to work up through the ranks in this business. Such a contrast to the Green Room reserved for the client and agency, which has been made very comfortable and supplied with plenty of reading matter to keep them occupied during the very long day.

Surprisingly filming finished on time, as darkness fell I could sense a feeling of pressure to make sure the day did not drag on for too long.  I had been warned that it could go into up to four hours overtime, so was very pleased when I heard the clapping to the words 'it's a wrap'.

I was persuaded by the family to agree to a pizza takeaway, it took all my strength to eat after such an emotionally exhausting day, with the thought of the art department returning bright and early the next day to 'strike' the set, it was by no means over.  I'm into all this jargon now!

A week later, the house is now back to normal, all the glasses and china which had to be packed away have been unpacked.  We did take note of the way the stylist had used the space in our dining room and have changed our layout, which makes the room look much bigger.  The most surreal experience, is the only way I can describe our recent encounter with a film crew.  I think the jury is out on whether I would agree to this again!