TV and Film Props

FOYLE`S WAR Series 6 (on air in UK during 2008)

Take a close look at the lifelike herd of pigs appearing in Series 6 of Foyles` War. This popular detective drama starring Michael Kitchen is set against the backdrop of World War II, and in the Broken Souls episode, the writers had included pigs in the script.

Unable to use real pigs as extras due to an unfortunate outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease in, and around the filming location, the producers went for the next best thing, and took our entire stock of life size fibreglass model pigs. (....we can only assume they added suitable sound fx!)

BBC`S DRAGONS DEN : The Happy Horse

Our best selling light weight hunter horse model recently appeared on the popular BBC TV Show, Dragons Den. The programme provides the opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to pitch for investment from five of the country`s top venture capitalists.

A lady called Aline accompanied "Charlie the Horse", looking to obtain funds to develop a pad that fits under the saddle. She reckoned it would take the equine world by storm.

Unfortunately, although the Dragons were impressed by the handsome 16.2hh model horse, they were not convinced about the limpet pad, and Aline rode out of the Den....and into the sunset ...with nothing...

The episode can be seen by logging onto the podcast :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/series5/episode8.shtml then clicking on "Happy Horse".

Cosmo!

ROUNDING UP DONKEYS

We`ve recently been assisting Sigma Films with props for their latest film "Rounding Up Donkeys" which stars a host of well known names including James Cosmo, Brian Pettifer, Katie Dickie and Martin Compston.

A variety of our fibreglass animals; including sheep and calves; as well as some gnomes were used for specific scenes in the film.

A number of the animals used as props were ultimately purchased by the producers, since they were so taken with them.

We`re now looking forward to seeing the final edit when it hits the big screen.

Below is a on-going production blog.

The James Cosmo Experience.

The Round Up

March 9, 2008

“Production has begun on Morag McKinnon’s ROUNDING UP DONKEYS featuring James Cosmo (BRAVEHEART, TROY), Brian Pettifer (AMADEUS, IF), Kate Dickie (RED ROAD) and Martin Compston (SWEET SIXTEEN).”

This is the second film in Lars Von Trier and Zentropa’s ‘Advance Party’ project, three films using the same group of characters. I thought it was a dumb idea at first, but any excuse to make a film is a good excuse, if the film itself is good, and I have hopes for this one. The writer is gifted word-engineer Colin McLaren and the director is Morag McKinnon, both friends of mine and long overdue for a feature gig.

The scheme was intended for writer-directors (schemers are fond of limiting their options in this way, in hopes of whittling out as many promising candidates as possible), and Morag signed on as such, then found herself a bit stumped and got Colin in to help.

“Is it OK if Colin helps?” she asked.

Then, a little later: “I think we’ll have to give Colin a credit, he’s really collaborating quite actively on it.”

Then: “Colin’s writing it.”

“A bittersweet, tragicomic tale of making amends, ROUNDING UP DONKEYS centres on Alfred Patterson (James Cosmo), who learns of his impending death and decides it’s time to make amends with his estranged daughter and her precocious 12-year-old.”

The first film in the ‘Advance Party’ scheme was RED ROAD, which won some awards and which I suppose I’ll watch at some point, but which seems, form its reputation, to embody exactly the kind of miserabilist mindset I generally can’t stand in British cinema. But I have to give it a chance.

The exciting difference with ROUNDING UP DONKEYS is the addition of humour, including an opening inspired by Jacques Tati’s PLAYTIME and a lot of tragi-comic black comedy around the feckless central character and his numpty pal. (I’ve discussed the project with Colin and Morag a few times during its looong gestation.)

The same two collaborated on several previous shorts, including BAFTA-winner HOME, available on the Cinema 16 DVD, the film which introduced their lucky donkey motif, and both have collaborated with myself in the past: I produced Morag’s first ever short, THE END, back when we were babies, and edited DIARY OF A MADMAN, starring Colin, who adapted it brilliantly from Gogol’s short story. Colin then starred in two of my films, HOW TO GET UP and CLARIMONDE, proving himself the leading exponent of the Scottish Expressionism school of performance. We wrote a bunch of unmade films together, including such misterpieces as ENTITY BLOUSE AND THE SPY FROM FFABRIC and INSIDE A DOG, and then co-hatched CRY FOR BOBO after an evening spent getting outside of some wine and watching three hours of mind-palpatingly depressing Scottish short films.

So there’s history there, and so I’m no doubt biased, but wouldn’t it be nice to think somebody was making a British film that might be worth seeing? Join me in my world and believe.

Source : david cairns