We had a long day in Knowsley Park, near Liverpool, yesterday. We provided three cars - my Mehari, my blue Drummer (with some red panels from my other 2cv), and Kim Page's orange Club. They wanted "distressed" looking vehicles, and ours fitted the bill quite well. In addition, there was a green reproduction 2cv van, which is actually owned by Hollyoaks, as it used to appear in the programme frequently, when it was painted orange.
We were there from 8am to 7pm, and the day started with a great free full English breakfast, eaten on a bus alongside cast and crew - as was the equally great lunch. Despite us being there all day, our cars were only used briefly, in two scenes. However, it was a lovely day, and I found watching the filming taking place very interesting. It's incredible how long it takes just to get a single short scene done, with endless retakes and reverse-angle shots. Actors and crew have to be extremely patient - especially as the director was a bit of a prat!
I was a bit gutted that only two of the cast were girls (although watching them acting out the volleyball scene over and over made the whole day worthwhile), and Kim said that the lads weren't that fit - but maybe she was just jealous as I gave them a lift back to the location HQ in the Mehari.
The plot is basically that a bunch of Hollyoaks freshers (most of whom will I think start to appear in the real Hollyoaks from September) go on holiday in France in a VW camper van. The Artistic Department had booked our cars, made fake French road signs and number plates (although my Mehari's French plates were its own original ones), and dressed various locations to make them look like France - for example, the entrance to the "vineyard" had boxes of vegatables stacked up by the roadside, plus a shopper bike with the obligatory string of onions... There were also a couple of boxes of red berries, which were actually painted pebbles!
I'm not sure yet when the episode will be shown (in fact, I think the scenes shot yesterday might have been for at least two episdoes), but they are part of a spin-off series from Hollyoaks, called "Freshers", so will be easier to single out than if they were part of the main show. Various crew members told me they shoot about six weeks in advance of transmission, which would put transmission at mid-July. If I find out I'll post it on here. In addition to the TV show, there will be an online blog - this is going to be produced as though it's a real travel blog put together in real time by the characters, with phone pictures and video clips, as they go along on their holiday.
Personally, I think they've gone a bit OTT with the use of A Series vehicles, and will have succeeded in creating an image of France from 20 or 30 years ago. They also didn't seem bothered that two of the three Citroens were RHD. But what the heck, we had a nice (if a bit tedious at times) day out in the sun, and got paid for it. Musn't grrrumble!
Here are a few pictures that I took. Unfortunately they're not much cop as I was being subtle (sneaky) and mostly using my phone.
The reproduction "MOB van" that belongs to Hollyoaks
The VW bus that takes the characters on their holiday - plus camera mount
"Vineyard" entrance
The Mehari was a hit with both cast and crew - I think I could have sold it about 10 times over!
I wish I'd been able to get more pics of the volleyball scene...
Wooden road sign
How a French road might have looked 20 or 30 years ago...
