Behind the scenes photography from series 3 of Endeavour which was filming in Oxford recently. For the first time the crew are filming during the summer which is not helping the moody look and feel of the tv show. I’m curious to see how the final episodes look after they’ve been through grading and post production.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss Planar, Ilford HP5 (expired), developed in Ilfotec LC29 1+19.
Some behind the scenes shots while series 8 of Lewis was being filmed on Broad Street, Oxford last month. It wasn’t easy for the crew to film on a main street during lunch time and they certainly drew a crowd of curious onlookers. I particularly liked how they had transformed the empty Blackwell’s music shop on the corner of Turl Street into a coffee shop called Fix. The shot in the bottom left is of the props guy’s moving in some of the furniture.
[Tech info:] Zenit TTL, 58/2 Helios lens, loaded with Agfa Vista 200 (Poundland) film, processed and scanned by ASDA in Swindon. (Thanks Simon).
The Lewis crew were back in Oxford a few weeks ago filming series 8 of the popular tv show and here are some behind the scenes shots of some of the crew, starting with the producer Chris Burt who was nice enough to stop for a quick portrait despite having a bit of a cold that day. As with Endeavour this crew are a nice bunch who are always interesting to chat to.One of the most impressive transformations of a location I’ve seen was the University offices building that was transformed into Oxford Police Station for a scene outside. It really looked the part with very convincing looking signage outside that had some of the locals turning their heads as they walked past.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss Planar, loaded with Fuji Pro 400H film (expired), processed by Ag Photo lab.
Here are some behind the scenes shots of an episode of Endeavour that was being filmed on the streets of Oxford last November. From what I saw this is going to be an excellent episode. There were mods and rockers, fake fog, cool cars and tons of atmosphere. I’m not going to give any details away of what I saw being filmed but I will say that the scene with the bus driving through the fog was a real joy to see, it felt like being inside a movie. I really like how the colours have turned out in these shots especially as I was using daylight balanced film in conditions that were mostly lit by yellow street lights. Most of the exposures were made at 1/15th or less and I just guessed a lot of the exposures because of the huge contrast between the shadows and the street lights, it’s amazing how well colour negative film handles it all with ease.
[Tech info:] Nikon FM2, 50/1.4D lens loaded with Fuji 400 Press film (expired). Processed and scanned at ASDA in Swindon.
Happy New Year to everyone that visits my blog. December was a bit slow in terms of new posts and activity because of various things that were taking up my time but I still have a backlog of shots from 2013 that I haven’t had time to post so there’s no shortage of new images to come. Usually I try to group the shots in my posts together so they make sense but that’s also led to delays so I think what I might do more of is just concentrate on posting whatever images are on a particular roll of film which sometimes is spread over a wide time period when I’ve used a camera for a day or two but then haven’t come back to it until weeks later because I’ve been using other cameras.
Here we have some behind the scenes shots from some filming of Endeavour (episode 2 of the forthcoming season), there was a night scene outside the cinema on Jeune Street (that’s the make-up crew on the bench) and also some shots of the major roadworks that were going on along St Aldates for 5 weeks which was a real pain. There’s also a shot of the new entrance to the Radcliffe Camera being built which I believe was to allow wheelchair access.
[Tech info:] Nikon FM2, 50/1.4D lens, loaded with Fuji Press 400 film, processed and scanned by ASDA in Swindon.
The Endeavour film crew were back in Oxford for a couple of days at the end of last month and I managed to fit in a quick bit of behind the scenes photography during my lunch break and after work. On the first day the weather was really cold which is why you can see the supporting actors dressed in warm coats. For the night time part of the shoot there was a smoke machine wafting in fake fog which really added to the atmosphere. I’m really looking forward to seeing these episodes next year.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex Automat 3.5, loaded with Kodak TMAX 400 film, processed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 5mins.
This is the last set of images I managed to make behind-the-scenes during the Endeavour filming last Sunday before heavy rain put a dampener on things. This roll of film was part of a batch that a kind friend of mine brought me over from New York but when I hung it up to dry after processing it in the darkroom I noticed x-ray scanner fogging on the roll which took the form of a zig zag pattern all the way along the film. Fortunately it’s hardly visible in the scans and that’s if you’re looking very hard. I’m really looking forward to the Endeavour crew coming back so that I can hopefully do some more behind-the-scenes photography.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F Zeiss Planar loaded with Kodak TMAX 400 film, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b for 5:30.
There’s something that just feels right about photographing behind-the-scenes pictures of a tv show set in the 1960’s with a camera that is from the 1960’s. These shots are the entire contents of my first roll of film last Sunday morning when the Endeavour film crew were in town shooting the second episode of four new ones that will be broadcast next spring. The episode title of this one is Nocturne so keep an eye out for some of these smartly dressed supporting actors. Just as I was getting going with my photography rain stopped play and I had to head for shelter in the Covered Market. The photographer is not part of the filming but he just happens to be one of my favourite Oxford street photographers and we bumped into each other completely by chance and had a nice chat while it poured down with rain. Shortly after that the film crew relocated to Exeter College gardens where they managed to film a little more before the sky opened up again and they stopped for lunch. I did manage to shoot another half a roll, those shots to follow soon.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F Zeiss Planar loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400, processed in HC110 dilution b for 7:30.
The second series of Endeavour (the Inspector Morse prequel) has started filming here in Oxford and I stumbled upon a scene being filmed during my lunch hour photo walk yesterday. I don’t watch much tv these days but Endeavour is one of my all time favourite tv shows to watch so you can imagine how pleased I was to come across the set. It’s amazing how Oxford can be so easily transformed to the 1960’s with minimal set dressing (I’ve read that series 2 is based in 1966). I only had five frames left on the roll of film I had in my Rolleiflex so I had to use them carefully. Shaun Evans who plays the title role was very down to earth and nice enough to stop for a couple of pictures, others I photographed below were some extras, the make-up artists, sound engineer and one of the guys in charge of the vehicles. I’m really glad that it was my Rolleiflex twin-lens that I had on me because it’s from the 1960’s. Some of these shots were from lunch time and some are from after work when they had moved to a different location. I would love to do more behind the scenes photography of Endeavour over the coming months but it’s impossible to know in advance when and where they’ll be filming around Oxford.
Here are some of my pictures during the filming of the final scene in the pilot episode of Endeavour back in 2011.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8f Planar, Kodak Tri-X 400 (expired) processed in Kodak Xtol 1+1.
This is Rupert Penry-Jones starring in Silk 2 which is due on the BBC later this year. There was a small film crew shooting a scene where he rides this Norton Commando underneath the Bridge of Sighs. I came across them during my lunch break. He seemed nice enough. The funny thing is I don’t watch much tv at all so I had no idea who he was and had to ask a gushing fan nearby.
[Tech info:] Nikon FM2 camera loaded with Kodak Color Plus film (£1/roll in Poundland). Processed and scanned by me.
In front of the Norton Commando
A new Inspector Morse prequel is being filmed here in Oxford and I just so happened to walk through a scene being shot while I was out during my lunch break. Of course I had a camera on me so here are some images made with my little Olympus Mju-II point and shoot film camera. These are straight scans and I’ve left some of the dust in them for that old skool flavour. Hand processed and scanned by me. The tv show is titled Endeavour and is set in 1965 – you can read more about it here.
*Update* Now that I’ve seen this pilot episode it turns out that my shot below of the black Jaguar car turning the corner is actually the very final shot in the episode. I loved every minute of it.
Camera crew and an extra waiting patiently.
Cyclists on old bikes.
Vintage bus.
Old van.
Vintage Jaguar car, possibly used by Morse?
Old bicycles.
Extras waiting patiently. I love the old metal dustbins.
Extras waiting patiently. Notice the fake traffic lights on the left and the chain link bollards. They are not usually there.
A blast from the past.
