movie filming fun.

Here's one more thing to cross off my reverse bucket list: observe the filming of a major motion picture in our back yard!

Well, not exactly our back yard. We live pretty close (1 mile-ish?) to the Docklands Studios, a production studio for movies and television. Our neighbourhood consists of apartments, corporate businesses, and of course docking areas for ships - nothing fancy, and it's pretty much a deserted area after 6 pm. But it's apparently prime real estate for things like: filming pirate ships braving an artificial windstorm. Which is exactly what I got to watch this Tuesday evening.

Last week, I spotted a stack of public notices at the library, with details about a movie being filmed at the Melbourne City Marina. It had a schedule of filming times (mostly evenings, from 5 pm to 5 am), and some contact details for questions and concerns. The movie is called "The Moon and the Sun," and it's based on a 90's science fiction/historical romance novel. The cast includes Pierce Brosnan and William Hurt, along with Ben Lloyd-Huges (most recently seen in "Divergent"). 

Like a typical curious fangirl, I did my morning run around the filming site during the first morning of set-up, then headed over in the evening to witness the action. (Unfortunately, Ben was out of town for work, otherwise I would have dragged him along too.) I joined a handful of people at the edge of the marina, all poised with smartphone cameras and umbrellas (it was raining off and on - perfect for special effects!). It wasn't very crowded, and many of the onlookers were merely passing by on their after-dinner strolls. There was a uniformed woman approaching us that I assumed was a security guard, and for a moment I thought she might ask everyone to leave, or not to take pictures - but she was really friendly, chatting with people and updating everyone with the proposed schedule of events (45 minutes until the dress rehearsal, then actual filming). A group of Asian women approached her and excitedly inquired about Fan Bingbing, a famous Chinese actress (also in the newest X-Men movie!!) who stars in the movie as "the mermaid." The security guard apologetically explained that Fan had wrapped up her scenes weeks ago, and was back in China (although I know she'll be back in Melbourne for the X-Men movie premiere in a few weeks, with Hugh Jackman! yay!). 

The crowd of us huddled around the marina, watching the crew set up and test all the fancy-looking equipment. There was no sign of the former Mr. Bond, but I did see some other cast members film a sequence on the mast of the ship, repeatedly being thrown around and attacked with water and lightning effects. By the way, Melbourne is definitely heading into winter, and it is not pleasant outside. I was shivering under all my layers of clothing and couldn't feel my feet - but felt even colder watching the cast members on the drenched ship, dressed in their delicate 17th century best, doing take after take of the stormy scene into the wee hours of the morning. Acting isn't always as glamorous as it seems, I guess.

CK