Thursday, March 15, 2012

Wrapping up in Suffolk

December 19, 2011...
Since I don't have time to do a proper blog entry before we wrap IN FOUR DAYS (wooooooop!) I thought I'd post some pics since they're worth a thousand words and all that...

Ainu
This is Ainu. She belongs to our 2nd AD and is a cat disguised as a gorgeous husky. It's been a month of me lavishing love and ear rubs on her, not to mention feeding her pounds of meat by hand, and she has graduated from ignoring me to tolerating me sometimes to finally, FINALLY approaching me for a rub. I LOVE this dog. 

My office when its not raining...

When I'm not in car - which is where I have found myself for most of this location - I work from where ever I can. Sometimes a trailer, sometimes the office, and the rest of the time perched on whatever flat semi-clean surface is available.
My office when its dark...
A NOTE TO MY READERS: To be honest, I stopped writing this blog post at this point because I was exhausted and, just now three months later, have finally regained the strength to finish posting. Ok, maybe I slacked a little in the last two and a half months but I was really super tired for a solid 2 weeks after this location.

And so now, I continue below...
My hotel on a gorgeous spooky night
I lived in a golf club. With an OUTSTANDING bar that served INCREDIBLE food. If not for that bar, I would have been a sad, sad American girl. Thankfully, the bar was nightly filled with my fellow crew members and it really was where everybody knew everybody else's name and business and favorite drinks. Unlike an American movie where all the previous information would have likely lead to more incestuous hookups than VC Andrews could dream of (Flowers in the Attic? Heaven? Ruby? My Sweet Audrina? Anyone? No one? Just me? Oh.), here it resulted in many pints bought, countless fags smoked, tons of taking the piss and mostly single sleepers. Mostly.

Sunday morning tea
So English! So pretty!!
I was endlessly fascinated how tea is SUCH a huge part of the day. As is making it for one another. Whereas in American production offices if you're thirsty you get up and grab yourself a drink, in our office whenever anyone - ANYONE, from PA to producer - got up to get a drink, they would ask the office and take orders. Then they would be back 15 minutes later with assorted teas (with milk, with milk and sugar, with lots of milk) and coffees. Then 15 minutes later the whole thing would start again. Between making tea and peeing all the time, I don't know how we got anything done. But I loved it.

"I hear those voices that will not be drowned"
This sculpture is the only thing of its kind on the shores of Aldeburgh, and I went insane when I read the message (ahh, the dramahhh). I went to this beach every weekend on my day off, and my last day there someone had left flowers and a card in the pouring rain for their deceased brother. That a person would honor their brother's silenced voice by leaving a memorial at my favorite shrine to the voice of the infinite made me cry like a baby.

In addition to crying on the beaches of Aldeburgh, I also tried to explore some of the nearby villages on my day off. Here are some pics from my hour in Dunwich...
Dunwich Sheep!! So cute!!!
Oooold Dunwich cemetery! I LOVE CEMETERIES!
Sheep IN the cemetery!! Perfection.
With all the exclamation marks in my captions, you may wonder "Why just an hour, B?" Well, I'll tell ya: That was it. Dunwich could only boast of 1 church, 1 pub, and lots of sheep. It used to be the 3rd most important city in the United Kingdom ages ago, but Dunwich sits on the shore and over time the entire town got washed out and still stands under water. You can still see part of the original grand church in the last picture is now just ruins for the sheep to wander around. You may further wander, "Why even go there, B? Its a watery ghost town." To which I answer: exactly.

Southwold, aka Heaven
The only other village I got to tour for fun was Southwold, a beach town about 45 minutes up the coast from Aldeburgh that had the GREATEST BOARDWALK EVER and an arcade full of ridiculously fun games where I ultimately won a stuffed animal.
Pet or Meat: Settle Lamb's Fate
I bested The Claw!
A common reaction when people heard I'd be in the UK for location was to talk about how much weight I would lose. Wrong.
From Aldeburgh Fish & Chips, not to be confused with The Aldeburgh Fish & Chips Shop
Don't be fooled. You may think you've eaten fish & chips before or even made them at home (you haven't), but you are wrong (see?). There are no fish & chips unless they are the fish & chips from Aldeburgh Fish & Chips at the top of High Street eaten with your hands as you walk down the beach. If you were using utensils, were eating fish & chips from the Aldeburgh Fish & Chips Shop from mid-High Street, or were anywhere in America then YOU WERE NOT EATING FISH & CHIPS. No. You weren't.

The winner & still champion!
I tried them all: Flame-Grilled Steak, Roasted Chicken & Thyme, Sweet Suffolk Chili, Thai Chili, Caramelized Onion & Cheese and at least a dozen others I didn't document with pictures. The ultimate crisps? Prawn Cocktail. Who knew?

I could go on and on (and sorta have, whatever) but that's because I LOVED SUFFOLK. The countryside was breath-taking, driving was a blast, I fell in love with the food (no, seriously), every morning looked like the last scene of Pride & Prejudice, and the crew was the BEST CREW EVER!! 

Thank you United Kingdom, and thank you Suffolk!

That's a wrap!