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THE ARCHIVES
05/08/2009. Okay, looks like Shrove Tuesday has been finished. I haven't locked the edit yet, but it's just a matter of time.
Here are some final stills:
Pancake Marion during the prolude. This sequence explains her origins.
01/08/2009. I'm just in the final stages of the sound mix. Shrove Tuesday should be all done in about a week.
Principle photography has wrapped. After 7 months, I'm putting my finger in the air and taking a guess that all filming is now complete.
And the majority of the FX work is also finished. And man, Shrove Tuesday is going to kick some slasher ass!
What mostly remains now is the sound mix. Mixing Dolby 5.1 surround is a little bit trickier than I'd initially anticipated, and therefore this is going to take a while.
I'm still aiming to finish up by August, in time to submit to the 2010 NYC Horror Film Festival.
Apologies for not having updated the site for a few weeks, but I've been working non stop on the film.
The 'big' news is that Shrove Tuesday will be released in two flavours: The "epic" director's cut, and the shorter, "meaner" version.
I am still aiming towards a summer double bill release (with Fleshbeast). It looks likely to be July 2009.
Principle photography has almost finished. There is one more Marionwod shoot planned. All filming with Jayde has now finished (much to Jayde's joy)
Here are the first stills from Shrove Tuesday. It's been a busy few weeks in FX-land. We've had a short hiatus from filming, but should be up and running again over the next few weeks.
Days #10 and #11 have now been completed (16th and 17th Feb respectively). All of the wood exterior shots with Jayde are done
. There is still a few shots here and there to complete, but they are most certainly in the minority. It's been a tough shoot, and the British weather is not a friend to the independant filmmaker.
The poster says "Opens 20th February"...but I didn't say what year. It's going to be more like April 2009 now.
Here it is...an actual teaser trailer for Shrove.
Shrove Tuesday will no longer be a trailer for...erm...Shrove Tuesday. It will now act as a pre-credits sequence, for a feature-length movie that I won't be making...at least, not yet anyway.
Okay folks...here's lobby card number 2.
I dare say that this will end up being considered for the final poster designs as well.
Saturday 31st January, and we dash ever closer to completion. Day #9 now in the bag.
Sunday 25th January...day #8. Wow...I thought I could film it in a day! Again! It's tough stuff. A difficult location, lots of heavy equipment and volatile weather. We shall soldier on. Lots has been done, but there is still a lot of work left to do. But Shrove Tuesday is really shaping up to be something special.
Sunday 18th January and yet another day of successful filming completed. Things are really shaping up now
"The Tree of Lost Souls"
The Shrove Tuesday trailer has evolved. As with most things, it's taken on a life of it's own...and now it will be more of a fully fledged short film...as opposed to just a trailer. It is a trailer...but with a little added extra.
Saturday 17th January, and another day of shooting is in the 'can'.
15th January...filming day #5.
Here's a lobby card for Shrove Tuesday
I've also shot some supplementary material, featuring the former victims of Pancake Marion. And if you can't get fog on set...then make some of your own...which I did. Thank you Blue Fogger!
Jayde "on set", 30/12/2008 (doing her best not to laugh in this picture)
Dece
mber 30th. Filming day #4. We've now completed another bout of principle photography. And it was cold...really cold. The shot list gets shorter with each trip to Marionwood. Which can only be a good thing.
However...we did have one casualty...Jayde fell off her chair! And scratched her face on on a twig on the ground. I've instructed my legal and health and safety teams that possible litigious action made be taken against me. ;-)...only time will tell.
We're having a short break from filming over the next few weeks. Principle photography will commence once more in January
Lol, here's a 'teaser trailer' for the forthcoming trailer, just to wet your appetites. (Hi res here...select high quality)
6th December: Filming day number 3. Lead actress Jayde Newman joined myself and Mark for four hours of filming. And it was cold. But Jayde soldiered on, and we managed to get 5 shots in the bag. About 15 to go. My initial plans to film everything in one day were ambitious...and unrealistic. I'm aiming to film once a week until we're finished (British weather permitting).
There's been a lot of talk of late about Pancake Marion, and the whole "Shrove Tuesday" phenomenon.
But just who is she? And why did she do the horrible things that she did? Historian Marcus Ploughmans looks back at the history of one of England's darkest secrets. 
"Pancake Marion, Pancake Marion
Now's the time to fry them
Pancake Marion, Pancake Marion
Now's the time to fry
Don't you dare to drop them Marcus Ploughmans
On the table plop them
Tuesday's day is pancake day
We dance our cares away"
The ever-popular children's nursery rhyme is now only ever really associated with cooking pancakes. But there was once a time when it was sung to remind children of the dangers of going into the darkness of Marionwood, Herefordshire. (Pictures provided by Rowena Carterington, curator of Pancake Marion musuem, Glos)
The Raven-Barrow Family Portrait in 1852 (from L-R). Agnes, Marion and Jonathon
In 1854, Jonathon Raven-Barrow (a wealthy industrialist from Wesminster, London) lost his entire fortune to bad investments made in overseas property. Jonathon, his wife and their daughter, Marion, were homeless and desitute. They were forced to live in makeshift accomodation in the woodlands of Hereford, surviving by eating scraps, scavenged from the dustbins of the local townfolk.
But, unknown to the Raven-Barrows, the villagers had grown tired of the rogue family's presence. They saw the family as vermin. The woods were once a play area for children, but had become a no-go area since the Raven-Barrows had taken over. The villagers conspired to trap the family, and, on the night of the 14th of February 1857, caught them deep within the woods. 
One by one, they were boiled alive in a vat of rancid eggs and lard...ingredients that were consistantly stolen. As Marion was being executed she managed to escape. The villagers assumed that her fierce wounds would finish her off.
But they were wrong. She lived. Albeit deformed and unhinged. Her mind twisted by the sight of the murder of her parents.
She fed off wild animals...to begin with!
When the animals ran out...she turn
ed to the children of the village. And anyone else who was foolish enough to go into the woods. All were captured...tortured and eaten alive, covered in boiling batter.
They called her Pancake Marion.
Armies of men would
march into the woods, all carrying weapons...but none would return.
In a five year period she claimed over 200 victims.
Eventually, the woods were burned to the ground. It seemed the only way to end her reign of terror.
For over 100 years she vanished. And the name of Pancake Marion became a thing of folklore.
Until now. And the murders in 'Marionwoods' have begun all over again.
If you go down to the woods today, you might spot Pancake Marion...
25th November: We have now completed a 2nd day of filming, this time amidst blazing British sunshine. And with a newly broken tripod to boot. It was a very successful visit to Marionwood, with over 20 shots now in the can.
Our next trip now should be with our star cast member...Jayde Newman.22nd November 2008. Filming has begun! And we're going for a Shrove Tuesday 2009 release!
22nd November: Principle photography for Shrove Tuesday has begun!
And filming outside in the British winter (well, filming outside in the UK full stop) has it's pitfalls. And today we had a combination of rain and hail. BUT, it soon passed and we managed to get 3 hours of shooting in. And, rather fortuitously, a local farmer had lit a large bonfire that provided some mist-style atmosphere.
Sigh, but if something is gonna break (or get lost) it's when you're in the middle of a freezing cold wood.
A crane cable connector went absent and the other camera crane broke.
And the additional weight creat
ed by the M2 adapter played havoc with the camera mounts on the cranes. However, we did get about 8 usable shots (all are additional, background images...minus Jayde), which I am currently editing/grading/ageing. I'm hoping to film the main segments over the next few weeks (and before Christmas). Good filmmaking is hard folks!
The costumes and props for Shrove Tuesday have all be created and are ready to be used.
Principle photography for Shrove Tuesday is slated to commence in November/December. I've done some location scouting and have found a suitably creepy wood.
Most of the grip equipment is now prepped for the Shrove Tuesday shoot. Filming outdoors, in the middle of a wood presents all kinds of technical issues. I've (hopefully) overcome most of them. I am looking forward to filming outdoors though, after the cramped conditions of the Fleshbeast set.
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