When the 4th FILM of Endeavour series 5 was being filmed I was fortunate enough to visit the interior sets for Cowley CID. Here are some detail shots from around the Police station that I made before filming began in the morning. The attention to detail from the Art department and the props team is nothing short of incredible. It really did feel like travelling back in time.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 film @ ISO 1600, developed in Kodak XTOL. Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography from filming of Endeavour series FILM 2 in Oxford. This scene involved a house that had been cleverly dressed by the Art department to look like it had been burnt out by a fire bomb. The scene involving the arsonists was filmed at night on this same day. No actual damage was done to the house, it’s all smoke and mirrors. Afterwards there was a location move to Fred Thursday’s house where a scene took place in the front garden. This was June and with longer days it didn’t dark until quite late which made for a long and busy day.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Fuji Reala 100 film, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour series 5 FILM 5 in Oxford. It was a sunny Sunday morning when special branch arrived at Brasenose College to take the college porter for a ride. The final scenes from this Endeavour FILM were filmed first thing in the morning and then the rest of the day was spent filming various scenes within the college grounds.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Fuji Superia 200 film, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography from a busy day of filming Endeavour 5 FILM 6 on Turl Street in Oxford. This was a fun day of filming with lots going on. As I look back through these pictures I notice at least one shot that was filmed which didn’t make it to the final edit – where Fred Thursday crosses the street and the Jamaican gangsters drive past in their car. The Art department did an excellent job of transforming the Oxfam Bookshop into a pet shop but you don’t really get to see much of the detail on screen in the final edit.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Ilford HP5 film, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5.30. Pakon scans.
This set of pictures is a bit of a mixture and although they are all from the same roll of film, there are shots from two different episodes of Endeavour. While the cast and crew were in Oxford to film the final episode of series five they also filmed some pick up shots for the first episode. I guess you only really know how well scenes properly fit together when you’re in the editing suite and any gaps need to be filled which is probably where reshoots come in.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Kodak Portra 800, Pakon scans.
The Endeavour crew came to the Oxford Union to film some scenes from FILM 4 of the fifth series and these behind the scenes pictures are from a scene that involved a flour bomb being thrown. The pictures pick up from after the first take where the flour bomb missed the intended target so quite a bit of clean up was required before the second take – this is where the props guys sprung into action. The last handful of shots are from a different day when I visited the Cowley CID interior set and finished off the same roll of film. I really like the use of daylight balanced HMI lighting because it enabled me to use daylight film without any filters.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Kodak Portra 400, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour 5 | FILM 6 in Oxford, October 2017. The first few shots are from the scene outside the pet shop towards the end of the day when the light level was rapidly dropping. Although there was a stunt team on hand the actors did their own stunts in this scene. The following morning it was a bright and sunny start on Christ Church meadow where the harsh sunlight made it tricky to move around without casting a shadow into shot.
It’s hard to believe this was almost 7 months ago. Lots more pictures still to come from Endeavour 5.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Ilford HP5 film developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5.30. Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography during the filming of Endeavour series 5, FILM 6 in Oxford. This was a busy day of filming for the crew with the bulk of the time spent on the drive-by shooting outside the pet shop on Turl Street (the Oxfam bookshop on any other day). The first set up was outside Joan’s flat – you can see leaves on the ground as this was the end of October and Autumn was on the turn. More shots to come from this day of filming.
[Tech info:] Hexar AF, Ilford FP4 film developed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour series 5 FILM 4 on Holywell Street in Oxford. The scenes filmed here were cut short in the final edit which was a bit of a shame but it’s often the way when you’re working to a set running time. Back when Inspector Morse was being filmed it was here outside the Holywell Music Room that I first encountered the crew, they were setting up a dolly track for an establishing shot as I recall. I’ve got the pictures in my archive somewhere, on slide film as that’s what I was mostly using back then.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 40/1.4 Nokton, Agfa APX 100 (expired) developed in Tetenal Ultrafin developer. Pakon scans.
Sunday morning in Oxford’s University Parks, what a perfect place to film a punting scene for the tv show Endeavour. If only the sun would co-operate. After a very overcast start the sun did peek through the clouds just long enough to light everything up. I have some colour shots that will follow in a future blog post.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 50/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton, Eastman Double X film developed in D76 1+1. Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 5, FILM 5 in Brasenose college, Oxford. These shots are all from the same roll of film through my Rolleiflex. The scenes filmed on this day take place before the scenes filmed on the previous day in Radcliffe Square but it all matched up well in the final edit. Whenever I get the chance I try to photograph SA’s (supporting artiste’s) because I like the outfits from the 1960’s. You may recognise the college don below from various different Endeavour episodes and maybe even some other tv shows and movies.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F Zeiss Planar, Ilford HP5 developed in Kodak HC-110 1+31.
Behind the scenes photography from the filming of Endeavour series 5, FILM 4 in Oxford. It was mid-August when the picnic scene was filmed in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens and what was meant to be a nice summer’s evening ended up looking more like drizzly October. That’s when the magic of a large light ended up transforming the scene to look like the sun had broken through the heavy overcast sky – I shot some wider shots to show how dark the sky was. The last frame is from the next setup which was a nice scene that didn’t make the final edit. This was the last frame on this roll, more from that scene will follow in a future blog post.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss planar, Ilford HP5 film @ ISO 1600, developed in Kodak HC-110.
