Shoot Day 1

Hello friends,

Yesterday was amazing. To be finally shooting after all these years was very special. Thank-you for all your support and best wishes. Getting home to a message crammed phone and inbox was lovely. Weather was perfect -- extremely hot -- but beautiful. Endless blue skies with those little white clouds, giving the impression the sky is endless. Great for depth when you're shooting, and a quick glance at rushes last night filled us with confidence. We got some very cool stuff.

Oh god, Rachael is good. Her commitment is phenomenal. She had to do some difficult scenes yesterday and she nailed it. Can't give away too much, but she's a champion.

In the scorching heat everyone worked incredibly well. We have a super makeup team led by Nadia Cowell and I imagine keeping our actors looking relatively fresh in the sun is bloody tricky. They nailed it yesterday. Forecast for tomorrow is 43! OUCH. Oh man, I'm gonna need a little spritzer bottle to carry around. After each good take I can reward the relevant parties with a quick spritz. I'll be like: "Hey, well done, sweet scene. Spritzy spritzy!" -- and then squirty squirty! I'll soon be Mr Popular on set. Hmmmm, that's what's been missing.

To watch the individual departments working in sync was a real highlight. Gripping dept rigging car after car, camera dept swinging lens and switching cards (I'm still not used to the thought of our footage being on hard drive), Art dept dressing and propping everything within eyesight and wardrobe checking everything worn is looking just perfect. I gotta say, I'm in heaven! We have such a high spirited, talented bunch.

Today we do some major sequences at a country pub. Big setup day. Alex's first shooting scenes, and some really cool stuff. It's a Day / Night shoot so wont be in till late.

Promise lots of stills next time I'm on.

Ricky : )