I just spent five days at Duncaron fort which is the home of Clan Ranald who were the combat team on Gladiator, King Arthur and Robin Hood. We were shooting a promo for a feature film called "The Curse Of Macha" which is an ancient Irish tale.

Let me tell you those boys know how to fight, the director calls action and then there is just carnage with little old me in the middle with the camera. I'm only 5'8" and these guys are all pushing the 6'5" mark so i felt a little like a midget.

If youv'e ever tried to do a fight scene with your friends or actors you'll know how hard it is to make it look real, well with the combat international team i could pretty much point my camera anywhere and i was getting amazing footage.

Here are a few photos


http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/58956_1412701645747_1478725984_31001545_967581_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/58956_1412701605746_1478725984_31001544_7807473_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/untitled.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/untitle.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/unt.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/u.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/62220_1412703565795_1478725984_31001560_2861350_n.jpg
The next photo below shows the Clan Leader in the red cape who you will all know better as the big Germanian guy holding the severd head at the start of Gladiator.
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/62220_1412703485793_1478725984_31001558_2612232_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/62220_1412703405791_1478725984_31001556_5698884_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/62065_1412704285813_1478725984_31001562_918573_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/61734_1412699405691_1478725984_31001528_4793112_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/60505_1412698005656_1478725984_31001523_2675391_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/58956_1412701805751_1478725984_31001549_3696567_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/58956_1412701485743_1478725984_31001541_8173048_n.jpg
We aslo spent some time hlping them build the fort wall.so this next one is just the crew helping out.
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/60505_1412697925654_1478725984_31001521_8003183_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/62220_1412703445792_1478725984_31001557_795951_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/58956_1412701765750_1478725984_31001548_4922763_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/62220_1412703245787_1478725984_31001552_5758222_n.jpg
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/62220_1412703205786_1478725984_31001551_2298045_n.jpg
Me (left) and the Director below, there Irish Lads so they brought there own homebrew mead
http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc438/Andy_Graham/62204_1412694885578_1478725984_31001503_4155489_n.jpg

Once i'v edited the footage i'll come back on and post it here. in the mean time have a look through the pics.


Andy

Cool stuff, thanks for posting. Interesting about how everywhere you shoot it looks like a real fight is truly going on. I guess every field has it's "professionals", and for good reason. It's probably pretty hard to pull off.

Yeah they just pair off and work out a routine and pretty much actually beat the hell outta each other. A lot of them are ex army having served in Iraq so there well trained, also got to hear some war stories round the camp fire from real life and their work in the movies.

Andy.

Those are great pictures... and I like seeing the costume/props all unfiltered as well. Thanks for this.

No Probs Cole, im the same i like seeing productions from a real world perspective as well, Im a big fan of behind the scenes extras, i think i saw the lord of the rings extras about 100 times.........so you can imagine how much fun i had on this shoot :) it was over too quickly!

Andy

Next time you've got something to shoot, I'll run coffee on your set - or hold your hat or something ;)

Lol Cole the cap turns backwards when im shooting (unless i have a monitor) anyway im not one for getting guys to do menial tasks, theres allways plenty good stuff to do.

Btw i got an email from a guy asking about the gear so here it is,Hiding under the bin bag and gaffer tape was a JVC HD100 in HDV25p mode the crane and dolly were both home built by myself. I took my glidecam v8 but never used it.

And people if your thinking of spending stupid money on a rain coat for your camera just buy a role of bin bags (garbage bags for the americans reading) they work perfectly.

Andy.

Ok i have an edit available on youtube HD, i think the director wants to work on it so if you click on it and it has been removed you'll know why, but i'll keep it up as long as i can.

Please remember to choose the 720p HD option from the video size setting at the bottom right of the player to get the full HD quality.

YouTube - The Curse Of Macha 2011 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlziFNLbIXY&feature=autofb)

Cheers
Andy

Finally i have a cut to show you, we did it with zero money and a couple of days filming but im happy with how it turned out. I would have liked to have gotten more fight action with the combat team, that age old battle between dp and director, i pleaded to shoot each indavidual death scene from each fight within the battle but alas the director decided the time was not there.

YouTube - THE CURSE OF MACHA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTquQzyitio&fmt=22)

As always choose the 720pHD option for best results

Thanks for taking the time to watch

Andy

PS. the title is just a working title based on the Irish macha legend, it will eventually be changed to something that doesnt make you think 20's B horror movie with mummies :)