This past week has been awesome and very draining. We have been filming so many spectacular sights (ex.-wild horses running along the beach, a landscape of yellow flowers with the sun setting in the distance, amazingly lush gardens, old ruins and monuments….etc) and in between we have filmed thirteen interviews. Filming interviews is a time consuming and very thoughtful process. Everything has to look great, sound great, and then the content delivered from the interviewee has to be great for it all to work and be effective for the film. For this documentary, we have a total of seventeen interviews……that’s a lot of time and a ton of questions! It has been a challenge to step back in time to the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s and ask questions that would reveal something new for this documentary, but as I review the footage each night I’ve been very pleased with the results. I’ve been fascinated by the stories and rich history being unfolded on camera.

I’ve posted pictures of our work behind the scenes and the sights we have been lucky enough to enjoy each day. I hope you too enjoy these images. This place is beautiful and as one of the people I interviewed put it, “Beaulieu is timeless….and Lord Montagu has kept it that way”. Enjoy PS – Phillip and I head to London tomorrow for another week of filming. I’ll try to post more often…..I’ve been a tad tired as of late

Capturing a sunset via timelapse

Filming wild horses by the Solent coast

Two sisters I interviewed for the documentary.

The 3 Amigos on top of the castle (phillip on left, jake on right, random dude in the middle)

As Phillip says, “epic photo”.

Two days ago we arrived at Beaulieu and our adventure began. Palace House, my home for the next ten days, is epic. The building of the palace dates back to the 16th century. My crew and I are staying in the family dwelling area of the palace closed off from the touring public. A moat surrounds the palace and acres of lush green yellow and red paint the landscape of the gardens. Today was the first day of clear weather and our first opportunity to film the scenery. Yesterday, we had lunch (salmon) with Lord Montagu and his son (and heir) Ralph (pronounced “r-aa-f”). Then, Lord Montagu gave us a personal tour of The National Motor Museum which is absolutely incredible! It is every car lover’s dream. Here is a pic of Lord Montagu and me.

Today (Saturday) was our first day of filming. We filmed the bi-annual Autojumble which is a gathering of thousands of car enthusiasts who buy and sell vintage autos and parts. I’ve never seen or heard anything like it. I spoke with one man who was showing his ruby red 1956 Mercedes 190SL. When it was manufactured it was three times the cost of an average house, and it was Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite auto. One of the coolest sightings was an artist, Ian Cook. He paints large portraits of cars using electric toy cars!! He literally uses dozens of remote control toy cars as his paint brush…..how’s that for imagination?!? Phillip, my photographer, asked him how he came upon the idea. Ian said his girlfriend gave him a toy car as a present and said not to get paint on it. Ian did the opposite and it’s working out nicely for him. I bought one of his prints.

I must get to bed….we are filming Lord Montagu at his beach house in the morning. We have not had much free time today, so here are a few pics as a teaser We will post more tomorrow. ** I’ll be posting a video of the amazing scenery very soon too!!

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As promised, I’m going to be posting music that is independent and/or unheard on the “top 40″ radio you hear every day. So, I’m starting a weekly installment called “Music for your Mondays”. Here are a couple great diddies for your Monday. The first is “Hello Yellow” by Johnny Stimson. He’s a talented independent artist, and I’m using this track for a video I’m currently finishing up. I like his vocals and harmony chorus sound. The next is “How Many Loves” by Naomi. This is one of my favorite Electronic bands. I hope these help you make it through your case of The Mondays!! NOTE: I had to compress the music for my vlog, so the quality is no bueno. If you like the music, please visit iTunes to download the great sound. I’ll try and troubleshoot the audio quality soon.

PS – Stay tuned…..tomorrow, I’ll be posting info about my trip to film the UK documentary!!