97% Match 2015 PERIOD/DRAMA
Timmy a child 50miles away from London is experiencing his brother leaving to fight the war while in London a small child named Evan will be in the middle of the London blitz.
DIGITILHEART ORIGINAL
FILM
THE PRODUCTION
CAST AND CREW
BEHIND THE SCENES
MORE FILMS
LOCATION
Beaumanor Hall
Leicestershire's secret World War Two listening post
Beaumanor Hall is a Victorian country house located in Woodhouse, Leicestershire. Set in 34 acres of idyllic countryside, Beaumanor has been run by Leicestershire County Council since the 1970’s and offers a whole range of facilities including;
OUR FIRST SCOUT
For a few weeks now I have been revealing across style east midlands and I came across Beaumanor Hall. This is a Victorian country house located in Woodhouse, Leicestershire. Set in 34 acres of idyllic countryside, Beaumanor has been run by Leicestershire County Council since the 1970s and offers a whole range of facilities including: Beaumanor Hall has a rich and varied history. Built between 1842 and 1854 by architect William Rialto for the Herrick family, it remained in their possession until World War II when the War Office requisitioned the estate. Throughout the war, the Hall was used as a secret listening station to intercept encrypted enemy signals. Leicestershire County Council bought the Hall in 1974 for use as an education and conference center. I sent a lovely lady named L*** an email saying that I was very interested in filming on the ground! She sent me a message straight back saying it’s very hard to find days where they are free.With a few phone calls and man of exchanging emails we worked out a few days and Tom Wallbanks (Cinematographer) went to have a look round! On the day we got introduced to about 9 rooms! All look the part in which I was wanting! Most of the rooms were more than perfect that I changed the script back to the original as I thought id have to cut some corners. On these days we also worked out shooting days. This will be there on the 7th and 9th of January! I split it into two days so we can take our time! I understand that this could be a first film for the kids so id like them to relax as much as possible! No pressure.7th – King Richards Room In B Manor hall! This will be Daniels's day as Timmy! We will have everything for him and also supply lunch! So if he lets us know what sandwiches and drinks he likes ill get him them! The same goes for Oliver! We have a room that looks beautiful (Files of the place are attached) it's pure red and has a huge window looking out to the other side of the building! It's perfect for Timmy’s place! One the day even though only Timmy’s sequence will be shot I think both children should be there reading their lines so they can act off one another!
STORY?
A Short story about the inner working of a Child’s mindset during London Blitz in 1940.
Things I NEED to do to keep realism and true to the Blitiz
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Bombings were at Night
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Planes were the main supply of bombs
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There was a Blackout so no lights.
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You become acutely more aware of sound. because your much more alert when your afraid. your listening and watching for everything in complete darkness.
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Evacuated children came home for Christmas. and on the 29th December bombs struck again.
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List of Days and Tmes: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/sep/06/london-blitz-bomb-map-september-7-1940
Toys
Inspiration
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Imitation Game
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The boy in the Striped Pyjamas
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Fury
People say it’s hard to make a story with things you have no experience in. I was never alive in WW2, but I have known family to tell me about it or what it was like. To get a grip on what it's like I will need to go through the minds of a few storytellers. There are many films and books I could look at but I have limited myself to two. Imitation Game for the idea that there are different things in the war we can focus on other than the fighting and Boy in the Striped Pajamas for the idea of a terrible situation told in the view of children.
Toys
One of Two problems Other than funding this project is Plastic. The first plastic based on a synthetic polymer was made from phenol and formaldehyde, with the first viable and cheap synthesis methods invented in 1907, by Leo Hendrix Baekeland, a Belgian-born American living in New York State. So most toys weren’t made from this material until after the world war. So metal and wood are usually my only option. Little boys and girls in the 1940s had much more sophisticated toys than those just a decade older. In the early 40s toys were getting more advanced, but they all had sort of a war slant to them. Guns and military-type toys were in every little boy’s hands. Girls were playing house, pretending to be mommy, feeding, and clothing their baby dolls of which they had dozens to choose from. They had toy brooms, mops, tea sets, irons, ovens you name it. If mom had it, they made a small version for them.
The legal side
Legal
Part one of the licence. If you have any queries I would be happy to go through it all on the phone with you but a lot of it is self-explanatory. I have attached both of the licence application forms; Alexander is with Leicestershire County Council and Oliver is with Northamptonshire County Council. If you can complete
Paper Work
Part three for both applications and send back to me as soon as possible that would be great. This enables each council to collate all the information they have received and process the application in enough time, as sometimes they require 10 – 21 days, and with Christmas just around the corner we want to get this completed as soon as we can ready for you to start shooting.”
The SLR
The SCR Was the first ever AM “Handy-Talky”, for the US-Service One channel xtal-operation in the range 3.5 – 5.995 MHz’s Variants -A to -F. Another part of SCR-536 is the Box BX-49, containing components for 12 different frequencies or “channels”.
One of the main problem was that the SCR wasnt made anymore. There was a Replica being sold at the time but it was too expensive. I was not willing to spend £320 for something id only ever use for one shoot.
Solution:
We had to make one. The Official dimensions of the handle talkie is 80 x 320 x 90 mm / 3.1 x 12.6 x 3.5 inch
Process:
To actually get this made I went to B&Q to get some MDF wood. This MDF wood will be crafted into the outer shell of the Handie Talkie. This was given to the guy from B&Q to cut in the dimensions of the microphone, which was found in a museum. We then stuck them together and drew on all the other parts, which we needed to make it look perfect. We then painted it with Glossy Paint to make it have a plastic texture. To get more parts I couldn’t find in the shop I actually broken apart of modern day walkie-talkie and super glued the antenna and button to the handle talkie itself.
