Before there was outlander.solsector.net there was... This thread

So, does anyone know if they're looking for extras at their new place? The Classics Society at Acadia University (pretty close to where they're shooting) want in. :)

As far as I know, all the casting was done a month or so ago. But I suppose things could come up and they might be able to use another extra. Filmworks was taking care of the casting in Halifax so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to contact them:

FILMWORKS PRODUCTION SERVICES
1060 Barrington Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 2R1

FILMWORKS ONLINE Hotline (902) 431 6388

Either way, if you happen to see or hear anything interesting, don't hesitate to let us know here.
 
Ascendant Pictures did a minor update to their coming soon page here.

Nothing really new as far as info but they did put up a new pic which looks like a concept painting of the funeral pyre scene:

funeral.jpg
 
http://www.boyrobot.com/ .... Ryan Meinerding - Concept artist: Ninth Ray Studios

Though they may or may not have been made for or actually used for the final movie here are a few interesting character concepts found on Ryan Meinerding’s site. It’s hard to tell for sure whether these predate the movie on not but I imagine anything he drew while at Ninth Ray would be similar. It very well could be that multiple sets of concepts in various styles were made so they could pick an appropriate one while ones like these were actually not picked. But right now there’s no way to tell. These were originally labeled “Vikings” and “Kids” for example. (Click on Images for larger versions):

- - -
 
Some more extras reports:

http://newfiejesus.blogspot.com/
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Lark Hr. Sexy Vikings
A most excellent distraction flew into my view early this week as Manda decided to go to Corner Brook. Blindly I flew into a new arena: an unsullied city and days of intrigue and suspense.

An exchange was made. I would provide companionship in exchange for her patronage. I'm not sure who got the best of that deal. It was just pure brilliance to take one of those great ideas and just pounce upon it. Perhaps because it didn't need much time and effort to germinate. Plus, the timing was immpeccable. I in the midst of another downward spiral, she dealing with getting the business end of things lately... A reason to get away from it all for awhile turned out to be damn nourishing.

Having hemp tunics and wooden shields draped over my person and standing in a muddy bog for three days during the Newfoundland shoot for "OUTLANDER" was just a blast. Bouts of monotony, poor weather and no finances aside, it was just great to be elsewhere for just long enough to get the buzz going, the honesty of new experiences shared among many.

A new record of 40 hours of consciousness was achieved. Fun stories exchanged. Experiences had. It made me reflect on how well travelled I am, and how I just love the changing scenery. I mean, it's all the same... the faces, the architecture, and preferred brand of beer may change, but it's all the same. Things always seem to spiral upward when surrounded by new people is what I'm getting at. Just got to remember it's worth the effort is all.

If I can grab that momentum and keep it going, I can slingshot my sad ass around the sun and into deep space, and out of this mudhole (hee, irony) I'm in.

I think I'll rename my hockey pool team the Lark Hr. Sexy Vikings.




http://beccainhalifax.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Viking Women Don't Wash.
Though, apparently, they do wear really cool clothes!

Last week, I got called to do a night shoot for Outlander. So, at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, I headed out to the second unit set which, fortunately enough, was just this side of Spryfield, only 10 minutes from home, where I sat in a big tent with 20 other extras and waited. First, I waited to get costumed. Then I waited for hair and makeup. Then I waited while the crew had their dinner break. Then, while most of the other background performers slept on chairs and tables, I waited for us to be called to the set. And waited. Finally, around 5 a.m., they told us that they were having trouble with the wind machine, and to please wait a little while longer. Shortly before 7, they told us that they wouldn't be able to fix the wind machine before sunrise, and that they would have to shoot the scene on Friday night, instead. So I went home, showered, slept for just over an hour, then went to school to lead a tutorial on Othello. I came home, got a little more sleep, then headed off to Balcony rehearsal, and, from there, straight back to the set to wait some more. Around 3, while everyone else was sleeping, I tried to read, but discovered that I was so tired that I could actually no longer read. At all. It was weird--like I was looking at Latin or engineering symbols or something. So I put away the book and waited some more. Finally, finally, finally, around 5 a.m., they loaded us up in vans and drove us to the lake--a tiny, calm little lake that stands in for the ocean. They handed me 3 logs (apparently, as far as Viking women go, I'm not all that tough) and told me to carry them into one of the two lodges when they called action. We rehearsed a few times before they took away our coats, cranked on the wind and rain machines--we were villagers fleeing from the storm--and we did it for real a few times. As long as they don't cut the scene, you might just be able to see me walking from a fire into a lodge. Look for the white sleeves and grey tunic-thingy. They built two lodges, but apparently, they're going to CGI more into the background. Actually, the set looked pretty cool, even from close up. Two other extras, Colleen and Joanne, had to carry dried fish in out of the rain. Real dried fish. Fake rain. They smelled great afterwards.
Here are some pics from Joanne's camera in the holding tent. You'll notice that hair and makeup consisted of making us look... unwashed. And that the costumes were meant to make us look busty and sexy (the costumer's words, not mine).
Now cross your fingers that Trent gets called soon!
(Okay, I'm trying to upload the pics... stay tuned.)
Thursday, November 09, 2006

Viking: 29 years in the making
Yay! Bear got called to the Outlander set for a night shoot tonight! Of course, it's miserable, cold and and raining in Halifax today, so he might regret his Viking tendencies before sunrise, but with a little luck, he'll get close enough to the camera for us to be able to recognize him.

Send your warm, dry thoughts to Trent-Bear tonight, guys.
Friday, November 10, 2006

Finally--Viking Pics!... Sadly, Trent's shoot last night got cancelled due to heavy rain (they were [calling] the set Atlantis!"). Here's hoping they call him back out there soon...

(Click on the pictures for larger versions)

 
Found a few more pics on another extras blog. There's a good one of the village here:
 

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Yep I was cancelled last Thursday night too. But I am going out again tonight and again Thursday through Saturday. Can't miss me - I am the 6'6" Viking, one of Gunnar's men and I will definitely be a wigger (I'm bald - half choice, half genetics).

Should be a blast!
 
Yep I was cancelled last Thursday night too. But I am going out again tonight and again Thursday through Saturday. Can't miss me - I am the 6'6" Viking, one of Gunnar's men and I will definitely be a wigger (I'm bald - half choice, half genetics).

Should be a blast!

That's really neat. If I were on the east coast instead of on the west, I would have definitely tried out too. If you have any pictures or any details that you are legally allowed to share feel free to post them here.

On that note I now have a few more pictures of some of the male extras (maybe you're even in one of them!) I'd apologize for the crappy resolution but I didn't have anything to do with taking them. They're ok for cell phone pictures I suppose.
 

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Here's another blog entry from an extra on the Newfoundland shoot: http://mydogshotjfk.blogspot.com/2006/10/wow.html
They have TONS of great pictures up here: http://picasaweb.google.com/AmandaEve/VikingAdventure Apparently this is the person "newfiejesus" I reported on earlier was going to the shoot with.

WOW. Just ... wow ... what a great week. It was unreal. So I decided to do that movie extra thing in Corner Brook, after hyming and ha-ing over it all week. And I'm soooooo glad I did. I had an amazing time. I started at 6am - i was up all night ... could even close my eyes. Not sure if i was just too exited to sleep or not, but I couldn't even close my eyes ... they would shake ... so I lay on the couch and watched Space all night. Anyway ... 6am i load up the Yaris, and call Bubs ... he is up for it ... so I go to Tim's up up some coffee's and dodge over to get bubs ... we drive to CB in good spirits, get there in good time around 5. We sleep in the car until 2am (our call time is 2:15 am Tuesday morning).
So 2:15 we hop on a bus with a bunch of apehensive folks, and end up at a church in Lark Harbour (little over an hours drive from CB). Get registered and all, get into some viking garb ... and wait. That was almost the whole time - waiting ... but that's too be expecting on a movie set.
We got to know so many awesome people; it was great.
Tuesday was insane! INSANE - it was blowing a gale, and raining and i think it was hail for a few minutes. We had to stare off at sea for hours and be like pillars in the wind. COLD?!?!?!? holy be-jesus?!?!?!? COLD?!?!?!?! man ... it was cold. We had to stand in a bog .. and that bog was cold.
The production team wasn't prepared for the weather we got, it came out of nowhere. But it was cool, they were really good about it. The driector thanked us over the speakers and such, at least it was acknowledged. There was some men that were fitted out in nothing but loin cloth-type costumes ... it was too much ... i don't think they came back the second day; but the second day was massivily better than the first day, we got coffee and everything. hee hee. We were well taken are of, everyone was really great to us, the actors weren't all snobbing and 'don't look at me', and the directors and crew wasn't all 'get these people out of my sight', everyone was awesome. Esspecially the [Assistant Directors] they were great too.
But I've got to say the best thing was the people. Imagine stading around for 15+ hours with the same 100+ folks; I haven't cursed so much in my life. HAHA ... what a ball. I'd do it all over again in a second - but I'd bring rubber boots.
 
Another blogger to report on... with a semi-humourous post. Also, he has some pictures and this time we scored one of Caviezel. You can see his costume under his parka.

http://shellyhasablog.blogspot.com/2006/10/hollywood-hits-la.html

Friday, October 20, 2006 Hollywood hits LA

First of all I should let you all know that those of us from the area refer to Lark Harbour as L.A. (for Lark 'Arbour). And righteously so it seems. After all these years Hollywood has finally discovered LA. There is a movie being filmed in my hometown.. Lark Harbour, NFLD. One of the main actors is the guy that played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ. He even used the bathroom in my cousin's house! Can you believe it! Jesus peed in Joanne's flush! AWESOME!

From the local newspaper there was an interview with a member of the film crew who said they scouted places in New Zealand, and B.C. but they chose Lark Harbour because of its beauty and accessibility. Apparently, the director said his only regret on filming this movie was that he did not fim the entire thing there! He went on to say that not only was the location ideal that the people he found there were simply amazing. He could not have asked for a better community.

A few of my uncles were helping out the camera crew with their fishing boats. I have a cousin who was hired as an extra. You will see him next to one of the pallbearers in a funeral scene.

So, the movie is called Outlander, and the first and ending scenes were filmed in LA (Lark 'Arbour that is... )

Here are a few pics. I'll be posting more as more become available to me. ENJOY!
 

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http://beccainhalifax.blogspot.com/

Saturday, November 18, 2006
Viking Update
It's 1 p.m. and Trent, for the first time all week, is upstairs sleeping for longer than 2 hours at a stretch. He's been on the Outlander set every night this week (minimum 10 hours a night--usually closer to 14!), plus, every day except Friday, put in nearly a full day at the Day-Job. Ech! The good news is he's as in the movie as an extra gets! He is one of Gunnar's Raiders, apparently (insert Phil's trademark "I don't know" sound here). And the alien monster looks like... a big black board with a white X on it. CGI monster. Let's guess what it will look like when the movie comes out! Here are my picks:
• Flying Spaghetti Monster
• Nancy's walking, gulping monster
• Ozzy the Cat
• A Big, Scary Black Board with a White X on It.
 
Here's a couple more links for you guys:

First up are some websites associated with Bill Perkins, an artist / Freelancer associated with Ninth Ray studios that also worked on concept art.

http://www.highstreetstudio.com/
http://www.billperkinsstudio.com/


Next we have the web site of Electropolis Motion Picture Studios.
http://www.electropolis-studios.com/

It is one of the main soundstages in Halifax that Outlander will be filmed in. I imagin mostly interiors and maybe some greenscreen will be done there... Maybe some spaceship interiors? Notable shows shot there include Lexx.
Electropolis Motion Picture Studios opened in January, 1998. The former Nova Scotia Power Corporation power plant was converted to house film and television production studios. The project resulted in a 35,000 square foot film production facility that is uniquely situated on the Halifax waterfront."

Some of the features of the larger stage one at Electropolis (that also houses 3 other smaller stages) include:
Green Screen, 20' x 13' pit, 25 Ton Overhead Heavy Lift Bridge Crane at 60', 14' Drive Through Doors, Floodable, Catwalks 2 sides, Producers Gallery.


Some scenes will also be shot at the soundstages in the Via Rail building in downtown Halifax but I haven't come across much info on the facilities there.
 
Another odd link for you today: http://www.blueriderpictures.com/index.html

Apparently they are also financing Outlander... Here's their page for the movie that happend to also have a low res piece of concept art as well as the piece on Ascendants page: http://www.blueriderpictures.com/projects/outlander.htm

Blue Rider is bridge financing the $40 million epic sci-fi creature adventure OUTLANDER, which will be distributed in North America by The Weinstein Company in 2007.

outlander.jpg


Hmmmmm? I wonder if that Outlander logo with the Runes under it will be the official one? Looks like this piece is called "The Village".
 
*interview*

A great Interview has surface with Writer/ director Howard McCain at www.ugo.com. (Thanks to www.sophiamyles.orgfor pointing me in that direction)

http://www.ugo.com/ugo/html/article/?id=16070&sectionId=2
from UGO.com / by Troy Rogers
If you're a fan of Viking movies, you'll undoubtedly want to stand up and take notice of director Howard McCain's upcoming sci-fi/fantasy film Outlander, currently filming in both Halifax, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on the east coast of Canada. Jim Caviezel stars as an alien named Kainan who crash lands on Earth during the time of the Vikings. He aligns with local Norsemen to battle another extra-terrestrial called Moorwen, which has also crash landed on the planet at the same time. With the production in full swing on the east coast, we caught up with writer/director Howard McCain to talk Vikings, creature design by Patrick Tatopolous, and what fans can expect from Outlander, which also stars John Hurt, Ron Perlman, Sophia Myles, and grandson of the late great John Huston, Jack Huston.

UGO: Where did the inspiration for Outlander come from?

HOWARD MCCAIN: Actually, I remember the day in 1992 when I was in NYU film school. I saw a cover of Archaeology magazine and there was a picture of a Viking ship on it that they rebuilt to sail across to Newfoundland. I kept thinking I always wanted to make a version of Beowulf and at the time Lord of the Rings hadn't come out yet. I kept thinking that nobody is going to buy a monster in Viking times. I put that idea on the shelf and then in about 1998 I decided it could still be a cool idea, and we'll use science fiction as the excuse to jump back in the past and basically tell Beowulf that way. It was originally written as Beowulf with the lead character called Beowulf, and there was a Grendel and everything else. I wrote it and the agents loved it, but they said everybody hates Beowulf. It was that thing you were forced to read in English class that nobody liked, so we had to re-title it and all of the characters changed and it became Outlander.

UGO: How tough of a sell was the script?

HOWARD: I was just a budding screenwriter and it got me a writing career. It didn't sell, but it got me a career. Everybody liked it at the time and it got optioned a number of times. Renny Harlan was even going to make it once. Then a couple of years ago we tried to get it made, self financed. A friend of mine, Patrick Tatopolous did a fantastic creature for us for free. More time went by and we found this company called Ascendant Pictures, who just made Lucky Number Slevin and Barry Osborne, the producer of all three Lord of the Rings, was a huge fan of the script. and he came on board. This was about two years ago and at about that time the film was set to go to New Zealand with a significantly higher budget. But because it's an independently financed film, and a very expensive one at that, some of the money fell through. We'd already scouted New Zealand and Weta was going to do the effects. They were offering to do all of the armor and chain mail, and that stuff. We were going to shoot it in the South Islands, but that all collapsed, which was very sad.

UGO: How would you describe the film's conceptual design?

HOWARD: Iian McCaig, one of the chief character designers on the last three Star Wars movies, is a friend of mine. After those movies wrapped Iian and a bunch of artists left LucasFilm and moved down to L.A. to form a co-op of artists that would do production design, concept work. They're called Ninth Ray Studios and they worked on John Carter: Warlord of Mars and now they're doing Iron Man for Jon Favreau. Last summer, right before the New Zealand thing collapsed, we hired them and spent about ten weeks just doing concept artwork and storyboarding for the entire movie and we did animatics for it, and everything. We did characters, props, buildings, everything. It was an amazing film, an amazingly expensive one.

UGO: I've heard Outlander described as Vikings meets Predator, but Jim Caviezel recently compared it somewhat as Braveheart meets Highlander. How do you see it?

HOWARD: I guess it's kind of Predator meets Braveheart. As a one-liner, I guess those work, but they sound corny when I hear them. Highlander meets Braveheart is about as accurate, but the film has more adventure and romance. It's not just strictly a hardcore action film the way Predator was, so in that sense it makes it more like Braveheart. You really get into the Viking world. One of the things I'm proudest about with the movie and story is that you really get the sense that there is a whole culture and world going on in the Viking times before the hero arrives. There's a huge political conflict that is occurring between these two tribes. It has nothing to do with our hero, but eventually plays directly into the plot. A lot of movies like this just feel like the movie is waiting to happen once the hero arrives. A hero just drops into this movie and it's already going, and it has its own concerns, relationships and problems.

UGO: So how would you describe Jim as the Kainan character?

HOWARD Well, he's a very soulful Kainan and that's what I wanted. I wanted a person with soul, and there were a lot of actors suggested to me. Over time, I didn't really care if they could do the action part really well or not. Personally for that character, it's about a man being reborn and it's about him learning to take responsibility for what some of his actions were in the past. It's kind of an original sin that you find out as the story gets going between him and the monster. That's what I also liked about this; the monster is a character, not just a killing machine. He has a whole history with the hero and it's born out in the course of the story that it's starting to repeat itself here on Earth. So, I like that. I like stories that invent their own mythology and kind of carry it through and bother to give a history and a backstory of why things got to be the way they are. Jim can bring that soulfulness and that gravitas to the part that the character needed. Jim is also, I think, as he himself would admit, there is something a little ethereal about Jim - his look, his manner, his nature - he looks different than the Vikings. He's also great to work with and he's a really warm person, so it was pretty comfortable.

UGO: You've got a really diverse cast with Jim, John Hurt, Sophia Myles, even Jack Huston. How important was casting?

HOWARD: I think the reason we were able to get the level of cast that we wanted partly was because I keep fighting that one-liner you mentioned, Predator meets Braveheart. For instance, when John Hurt was given the script he said, "You have to be kidding, Vikings and aliens," and his wife and him just rolled their eyes. But when they sat down to read it, John said, "Wait a minute, this isn't what I thought at all." Then they read it again and said, "This really works." That's what we wanted, really good actors for these roles. Sophia is amazing, she's just spot on. Jack, who is the grandson of John Huston, is amazing. He's going to be something pretty quick, I think. Also, because it's a Viking film, you kind of have to play a European angle. It's fine that Jim sounds like an American, because he's the alien in the bunch, but everybody else had to have that European sound in order for a Western audience to buy that they were Vikings. The other cool thing; there is a point in the film where Jim, who is speaking in his alien tongue before he learns the Viking language, in order to invent our own language we decided that's what he would speak, we actually use old Norse. We went to Iceland and got this professor who is one of the only people in the world who can speak old Norse, which is a totally dead language. We had him translate the dialogue and then brought in a language guy to teach Jim and another actor how to speak old Norse. We're the first film in history, Viking or otherwise, to have old Norse in it. The cast is really important that you find a believable cast to bring you into this world. You treat it with a lot of respect and a lot of love so that the elements that might make you stand back a little bit were overcome by the authenticity and the intensity of the performance.

UGO: How are you and Patrick Tatopolous approaching the Moorwen creature from a design standpoint?

HOWARD: Well, just to let you know about the name, since we couldn't call it Grendel anymore, we always liked the word Morlock from H.G. Wells' Time Machine. It was actually a play on that, so we came up with the name Moorwen. It had to fit several things. First of all, I didn't want some biomechanical killing machine. Pretty much since Alien, with the exception of Predator, all of the creatures that have been made since then kind of fall in the shadow of those two creations. What we decided right off in terms of the story, the Moorwen was really more about that it had character; it had backstory more than just its shape and its design. Beyond that, when you got into the shape and design, Patrick and I looked at it and we both thought something should look great in silhouette. It should have a sensual, pleasing shape to it right away that the eye fixates on and loves the shape. Also, underneath all of that, the creature is an animal. It's not a monster. It's a monster to us, but it's an animal, which kind of puts it down a different path because you're not trying to design something that is so outrageous and makes no sense that the eye has difficulty comprehending it. In certain stories that works perfectly, but in this story it doesn't. This is a creature that in its world whole social structure and a life, and is an animal. It may be at the top of the food chain in its world, but it is a biological living thing. With that in mind, you can still design something that is scary as sh*t, and it represented that idea. Where you look at H.R. Giger's Alien, it really doesn't fit into any kind of known concept of animal, bug, or whatever. A lot of people took a crack at the design, but Patrick just got it right away. He brought the right amount of fierceness, sensuality, the sense of personality and a sentient kind of intelligence to this thing that was perfect. I love the design.

UGO: So how does it fit into the story?

HOWARD: He's there the whole time, but he's bioluminescent, so when he's in the woods hunting at night, you can't see him unless he wants to be seen. In this world, first of all, the Vikings have no street lights or anything, so whatever is there is the only available light at night, the torches. It's not like Predator. It's not see-through or anything, it simply uses light to lure its prey and what Patrick came up with is pretty cool.

UGO: How are you balancing the effects with the story?

HOWARD: I would actually lump in effects with the action, because there is a lot of action in the movie and some of it centers around the effects. It's not a problem; actually, because in this film the way the creature makes itself known, and it's kind of allotted out as the story progresses, it doesn't overwhelm anything. Right about the time you find out what it looks like, you now find out about this big backstory, which now makes you look at that thing in a totally new light. Before it was just a thing to fear.

UGO: I've heard you built an actual Norse village and a Viking ship.

HOWARD: Yeah, and it was very sad when we burned it. We built a beautiful boat, and I've been to Norway to research the film. We couldn't shoot in Norway, because it's the most expensive place on earth. When I got off the plane, I went to McDonalds and a medium coke and fries cost 13 U.S. dollars. I went to the Viking ship museum in Oslo and that's where they have the Oseberg ship, this burial ship that they dug up. We got the measurements and designs for that and that ship was 77 feet long. We had to shorten ours by 10 feet, because it wouldn't fit down the road and we had to take it to this place called Little Port in Newfoundland where we put it in the water. It was a real Viking boat in every other way. We rowed it out to sea and it was unbelievably beautiful, and then we burned it. Actually, we burned it twice and by the second time the thing was cooked.

We built the village out at Nine Mile farm, which flooded. When we went there and scouted it in late May or early June, we logged our own trees to do it and because we were on such a tight budget, we hired our own logging crew and truck to cut all of our own tress to build the parapet. We have like 800 feet of parapet wall and it goes up 20 feet. We also build the long houses, a lot of them true to form. It took three months to build the village and it's pretty big. It will be very sad when they have to tear it down.

UGO: It's interesting that you also have Debra Hanson on board as your costume designer.

HOWARD: Yes. Debra did Beowulf and Grendel, which was shot in Iceland. That was a big boom for us, because all of our extras use costumes that come from that movie. Not the lead costumes, just the extras. There was a huge shipping container that came over from Iceland with all of the costumes for the extras. She built by hand all the rest of the costumes. She did an amazing job based on the Ninth Ray designs because we did everything a year ago with Ninth Ray Studios.
 

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First up is an odd myspace page here. In his words he's "a sci-fi fan and budding paparazzi who has used his 'powers of disguise' to gain access to the set of the new sci-fi epic 'Outlander'". Some of his glowing admiration makes me wonder how much of an outsider he really is, but it's all pretty interesting all the same.

Saturday, November 11, 2006
Crew Teaser Preview!

Director Howard McCain gave the crew a treat the other day. He cut together a 6 minute compilation of footage from the shoot. I have to admit it looked fantastic! The footage was very raw - no color correction or effects - but still was breathtaking. The performances looked great and the cinematography by Montreal native Pierre Gill was stunning. That man knows how to use a Panavision Tehnocrane like nobody else! I hope they screen more footage soon! BTW Pierre was the DOP on quite a few movies including the Covenent, Joan of Arc and the Art of War.

Smithy Fight Scene

Filmed a pretty darn good fight scene in the Smithy the other night. Kainan (Jim) is captured by the Vikings and drug to the Smithy to be interrogated. Needless to say, he escapes his captors and kicks Viking ass! Steve Lucescu, the movies fight and stunt coordinator did a great job with the fight choreography and the Smitthy setting with the hot iron, flame pits and available weaponery added that extra bit of excitement to the battle. Steve boasts an incredible resume having been stunt/fight coordinator/stunt man on a ton of very big budget movies. Including Silent Hill, Lucky Number Slevin, Land of the Dead, Cinderella Man, Assault on Precinct 13 and Resident Evil: Apocalypse. On top of that, he is a really nice guy!

Herot Town Night Shoots

The crew has flipped to night shoots in Herot and boy, is everyone tired. The grips and electrics crew have been working overtime to get the set lit and ready for shooting. In fact the whole crew have gone beyond the call of duty with this shoot. Why do I lavish such praise on them? One word - mud. Yes, they built the town on a 200 acre farmers hay field ... by a river ... in a low lying area ... and it has rained all night.

The resulting mud has made everyone's life pretty miserable but everyone is pitching in and working hard to get the job done. These local Nova Scotia film crews are a dream to work with. They always give 100%, never complain and always go the extra mile to "git 'er done"! Hats off the the hard working crew!

Herot Town!

The shoot has moved to it's main location - Herot Town 709 AD - and it is absolutely incredible! You will not believe what the set designers have come up with. They have built a complete replica Viking village! They did not hold back anything. There is even a working smithy, armoury, banquet hall and everything else that a good viking needs to feel at home.

The design and attention to detail is what makes this so incredible. The intricate wood carvings, the giant rune stones dotting the landscape, the 30 foot high parapets surrounding the village. It is all so real!

If you want to try and sneak a peek at the town in person, you can go cross country and try to slip past security. The "address" of the villiage is 9 Mile Farm, 249 MacIntosh Road, 9 Mile River, Nova Scotia, Canada. Good luck getting past security though! It is tight!


Monday, October 30, 2006

Gentle Ben - NOT!

Today the production shot on the scenic Musquodoboit Rail Trail - after a long hike into the woods of course! Thankfully the producers hired some 4x4's so the crew did not have to hump the gear too far.

The day was spent shooting a bear attack in what had to be the most realistic looking styrofoam cave I have ever seen! The art department on this show is incredible! I cannot believe the detail they put into this! It blended perfectly with the existing granite boulders and cliff face. Great job guys!

The Viking cast did battle with a huge grizzly bear that was created by the prosthetics department. A Viking warrior did not fare well in the battle and suffered mortal wounds! In fact, I am surprised that the stunt guy didn't break his neck in real life! He had to take a "one dismembered arm" fall down a 30 foot gully filled with huge boulders. No styrofoam rocks here - it was all real. He had to perform the stunt several times and I cringed every time I saw him bounce off a boulder on the way down! Ouch!!

Oh yes! I have managed to shoot a few "clandestine" photos and will post them as soon as I can figure out how to get them on this myspace site! While sneaking in a few pics I discovered that it really hard to take a picture without people really seeing you. The results - not exactly the best photos - but they are fun none the less!




This other stuff was posted to another blog a week ago or so but the pictures are from some time back. Of course they had to build the viking boat somewhere, and once it was done it had to make it's way to the water somehow. Note that some of the detail pieces were put on after. Some of the pictures seem to indicate that the carving and such for the heads was done where they constructed the viking village in Nova Scotia... Click on the photos for the larger version

What I did not count on was getting to see some local industry conducted at the behest of a film company making a film to be called "The Outlander". Filmed partly in Nova Scotia and partly in the Lark Harbour area around Bottle Cove, the Outlander called for the construction of a replica viking long ship. As luck would have it, the day I was heading back for Montreal was the day they were launching the long ship at Little Port, just next door to Bottle Cove. I caught up with the articulation on the road.





 
A local paper has a neat article online about the Viking Movie Outlander. They visited the set and spoke with executive producer Don Carmody, who seems to do alot of the PR work. I guess chauffering visiting press around while they are on set is part of his job description. 2000 extras sounds high but maybe that number means local workers all together.

http://www.enfieldweeklypress.com/
November 21, 2006
Hollywood lights hit Upper Nine Mile River
The bright lights of Hollywood are shining in Upper Nine Mile River - literally.
For close to a month, a large dome of light, seen high above the tree line by motorists traveling through or near the East Hants community, has drawn some curiosity.
And while the lights do draw the attention of interested onlookers, it’s what’s beneath those lights that’s truly amazing - dozens of movie cameras, hundreds of vikings and one angry monster.
Since Oct. 16, film crews and actors have been using the property, located at the end of the MacIntosh Road, as their primary shooting location for the big-budget film Outlander.
Several huts and barns have been designed and constructed in a large field to resemble a living Norse village, while in another field, which looks down upon the smoke filled movie set, dozens of tractor trailers and campers are parked as people run around in different directions handling their assigned responsibilities.
“It’s a viking movie,” said Outlander executive producer Don Carmody, between shots during a recent night filming.
“It’s a viking movie like no other. It’s a good old action adventure yarn full of suspense.”
Outlander stars Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ), Sophia Myles, (Underworld: Evolution), Jack Huston (Factory Girl), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), and John Hurt (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone).
The epic journey begins when a space craft crashes into the majestic fjords of ancient Norway and into the time of the Vikings. From the wreckage emerge two bitter enemies: a soldier from another world – Kainan, played by Caviezel– and a bloodthirsty creature known as the Moorwen with man and monster both seeking revenge for violence committed against them.
As the Moorwen ravages the Viking world, killing everything in its path, Kainan forms an unlikely alliance with the primitive but fierce warriors.
Combining his advanced technology with ancient Iron Age weapons, the hero leads a desperate attempt to kill the monster - before it destroys them all.
Carmody said the film is an example of Vikings meeting Predator.
“It’s thrilling, something like the way Predator was,” Carmody said.
“I think a lot of people will be taken by surprise. It looks as though the movie is going one way and then all of a sudden, you realize it’s not going in the direction you had first thought.”
The movie is currently in the middle of a three week period where much of the filming will be at night.
While some of the film has been shot in other Atlantic Canadian locations such as Newfoundland, Carmody says there were several reasons why the Upper Nine Mile River location was selected.
“This was actually the first location we looked at in Nova Scotia,” he said.
“We actually went all over looking for other locations but ended up back here. This spot is a natural valley, it’s surrounded by trees and has water nearby. The clean tree line will allow us to add some mountains in the background.”
With so much involved in the set design, work actually began in August.
Filming for Outlander also took place in Kinsac Lake and Oakfield Park.
“We’re a little more than half way through filming,” continued Carmody. “We hope to have most of the filming in this location wrapped up by the end of the month.”
Calls for extras in the movie were also put out and while he couldn’t be sure, Carmody estimated approximately 2,000 were involved from Halifax and the surrounding areas.
The film is helmed by Howard McCain from a screenplay he wrote with Dirk Blackman, and is produced by Ascendant Pictures/VIP Medienfronds 4 in association with Rising Star.
Filming continues through January 2007.

[Picture Caption]One of the viking huts on the set of the Outlander is briefly set on fire as crews ready themselves for an upcoming shot.
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I'm also attaching a few more pictures of Outlander's viking settlement. I found these pictures of the village elsewhere.
 

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Blogger Jim Dorey apparently also spent time on the set and sent this message to a fellow blogger:

Jim Dorey said:
November 22, 2006

Speaking of holy terrors - my turn as a viking has expired I think. My ankle was bruised and twisted after being run SILLY on the set of 'Outlander'. I did shake hands with John Hurt and came face to face with Jim Cavezel on the battlefield, but no dice on the Ron Perlman autograph - was never closer than 50 feet from him. Sorry Lise. Look for me running out of the viking kings long house; behind Cavezel when he yells to a kid 'Get the $^#@ out of here!'; and behind the battle by the village well. Nothing like running from 5pm to 7am with a sword over your head, a long wig (complete with braids) and mud all over you. When the makeup girls started covering me, one said to the other: 'Are you going to muck him, or me? (while giggling). I replied: 'Same time please'. The whole thing was a blast though. And the food was good :)
 
Hey all

I spent a night as a "raider" on outlander, doing allot of mock combat. There were a bunch of people there taking pictures and I'm betting they made it online somewhere. Has anyone seen any of those pics. I'd sure like to see that one of me in my armoror fighting with ron perlman!

anyway...

cheers!
 
It Seems That filming in "Herot Village" is complete (as of Thursday or Friday) and the production is moving indoors to the sets on the soundstages at Metropolis studios in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
 

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Today I bring you a blog that atempts to be different by being written in a humourous style. It follows the on set exploits of a fictional Character named Harvey who it seems is an amalgam of things that really happen in the shooting process, so sometimes it's a little hard to follow what is really happening. There's some good pictures but either these are left overs from a better collection or this guy doesn't take great pictures. However, the composition is interesting on a number of them, whether or not we can tell much about what's going on.

http://harveytheviking.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Following months of intensive beard growth, I finally got my call to the set this morning. 'Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday a large number of Viking Warrior Men and Archers will be required. There will be a lot of running involved with these scenes...'
Sunday, November 26, 2006

Starting Points - what we know:
- -
Harvey only recently returned to his village. we open when he suddenly finds himself preparing to trap an alien that looks like 'a small elephant, but only scarier'.

after the beast explodes we discover him suddenly as a dead body.

there is a flashback. In it harvey is a raider! The raiders are the enemy tribe of pilagers from across the way. Not too unlike those bastard i. e. Harveys from the other side of the river. But after fleeing, 'having just had their asses kicked', our hero, Harvey, transforms back into one of the warriors. certainly some shady past dealing in Harvey's history.

The blast did not kill the monster, and once it escapes after the explosion there is another one attacking villagers inside the town hall. Somehow Harvey the corpse vanishes, 'loses the sheild and weapon', and becomes 'an old man with a limp' held up and consequently terriorized by the alien in the town hall.

[The] last we saw Harvey, he had regained his weapons, and had joined the other warriors on an attack. He retreats at one point, 'scared and ready to run home to his momma's', but we also discover him attacking, and 'running like hell'.

[In] the coming days, I hope [to share] more clues into the life of this viking, Harvey.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Hold On Harvey!

Life comes with few assurances except death. Death is for certain.

The last couple of days gave Harvey the Viking a shake up that would end in a dire state of affairs. The recent adventure began with news that the king had died.



You might remember from an earlier post that Harvey was suddenly an old man running from a church. Well, as it turned out, the King (played by William Hurt) ran into that church to save his daughter. Anyhow, the monster’s beast spawn was in there.

Harvey and the rest of the villagers received the news of the King’s death with ‘gloom and much sadness’ standing on the steps of the ‘Great Hall’.

Without anyone willing to become the King- there was this one guy in really shinny amour but ‘he had nothing’- the entire village packed up on ‘a mass exodus’.



Harvey packed up all of his worldly possessions, which amounted to a barrel, a few pelts, and some straw- barrels were like iPods in those days-, and left the village.

But then the craziest thing happened. We flashed ahead or back in time- I wasn’t quite sure which- and we find Harvey being pulled suddenly into the infirmary. Blood was in his ears, neck, and all over his face. He entered ‘carried in by a woman’, and was ‘flopped down on the pile of hay’.



For several hours, and takes, he laid there-in a stable house- in pain, ‘almost about to die’.

And that is where we left him.



Perhaps Harvey will not be a hero at all. Perhaps this is how his life will end, and these events will be left fragmented for our interpretation.

All I know is that the story isn’t over. I got news that Harvey is required on the set Wednesday and Friday.

Let’s hope it’s not too late.
Monday, December 04, 2006

How Did We Get Here?

At last we left Harvey he was laying behind Jim Caviezel in a stable clinging to life.



I cannot tell you at this point whether Harvey lives or dies but this next part I know for certain. That scene ends, and we cut to find Harvey in a field with dozens of other villagers ‘gathering wood’, and ‘making himself look busy’. There is an unquestionable repetitive nature to this activity since each, and every time he completes his pile, he must ‘reset’ and do the whole thing all over- always ‘locking it down’, ‘rolling sound’, and starting on ‘action’.

We can assume that this is moment is in the past since there is considerable effort on the parts of Kainin (Jim Caviezel), and ‘the guy who had nothing’ (Jack Huston) to build a trap for the alien monster. Although nothing quite explains why Harvey must use a rubber axe.



While carrying a log on his shoulder, and walking a ‘slippery banana’, Harvey catches the eye of a beautiful red haired villager (Sophia Myles). Harvey was really only looking at her, and it was the back of her head at that, but what’s the dif…

The sun was out, the air was warm, and the three pairs of long underwares Harvey had on seemed heat him down below.



The scene now jumps to night, and Harvey is standing amidst two torches some thirty feet in the air on the ‘parapets’.



He is wearing a helmet adorned by silver chain mail that draws in the cold of the air. He is holding a flaming arrow, and he is aiming down into the trap. A command is given, ‘the morween’ (alien monster) runs into the trap’, and the gate thunders shut. He pulls back ready to fire.



It is at this moment that I must stop you the reader, to ask you to consider what is happening. This scene is where Harvey’s adventure began, but instead of being on the ground with ‘sword and spear’, Harvey is now an archer? Let us also not forget that in the minutes that follow Harvey will be a corpse on the ground, and seconds after that ‘an old man’ exiting ‘shield hall’ ‘with a limp’.



Time seems to be no friend of ours in piecing together this story. As is timing can be no friend of Harvey’s.

[In] The next scene we cut to the alien is running around the village. There is ‘mass chaos’, ‘everybody is running about’, and some characters are ‘looking for their lost children.’ Harvey is given a ‘route’ to run. With broadsword and shield in hand he takes of running through the village- First to the armory, then to the church, and over to the tannery where he meets up with another villager to ‘run in a team’ across the open square to the well.



At the instant Harvey takes of with his partner Kainin and the little boy are running down the same square. There is a collision. Bodies go flying and land in the mud covered ground. Harvey is instantly aware that this was not supposed to happen.

This week there is a call for ‘an aerial shot’. Let’s hope it can gives us some perspective on the current situation.
 
A great video has landed over at space (the canadian equvalent to the US Sci-fi channel, with the exception that they don't really produce any of their own series).

http://www.spacecast.com/wvx/2006/12/hs_a061205.wvx

Aparently more indepth coverage is planned for this weekend. Are they going to have it online? I don't know but is there anyone who can have their PVR ready?
 
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