‘THE CORONER’
things. At that point, we had no production footprint (other than we had found the location of the Coroner’s home at Hope Cove). With a low budget, day-time drama the schedule tends to be shorter as much for budget reasons than anything else.
How is shooting organised? We shot 10 x 45 min episodes in 15 weeks (75 filming days). that’s a very fast turn around. It was also critical that we completed the filming before the summer holiday season began. We divided the production into blocks of 2 episodes
each. each block mostly has a different director, assistant director and a director of photography. the teams start their detailed work about a month ahead of their filming slot, planning what they will be doing – prepping, refining the script, casting, sorting locations etc. For example, the same director may do the 1st and 4th block shooting each over their designated 3 weeks (15 days) and then take up to a week or a month in editing those episodes before they return again to the set for their next block. We have to shoot quickly so we don’t have the time or money to film the bigger events e.g complicated stunts, special effects etc. We have to ensure that whatever we do is doable in 15 days. my job is to make sure every thing is tailored to those 15 days. We try to keep it simple and ensure we get it right the first time. I have been amazed on this series
how much we’ve been able to do this e.g. we used a plymouth based but internationally renowned aerial filming company (they’ve won an Oscar for technical achievement) to shoot some helicopter sequences. they had to shoot everything (including the flying time back and forth to plymouth) in just one hour as that was all we could afford. We’ve focused on paring down the complicated scenes and choosing our moments carefully.
behind. If a new series is commissioned, we want to come back and feel we are welcome.
When does it come out? It‘s yet to be confirmed but probably early 2016 on bbC1 Daytime tV. It will probably be shown daily over two consecutive weeks.
‘“We shot 10 x 45 min episodes in 15 weeks (75 filming days). That’s a very fast turn around.”
It’s very much down to the viewing
figures on whether a further series is commissioned. I am currently preparing the groundwork should it be re- commissioned – hopefully, we’ll get the go ahead quickly as then the sooner we can start planning in earnest. We don’t want to start too late and encroach into the summer holiday season. Other bbC birmingham shows, such as Father Brown and Land Girls, are very popular in such
Have you has a good reaction from the general public during filming? people have been incredibly welcoming. each town has its own day-to-day heartbeat and way of doing things. When we come along with all our trucks we can interrupt that and quickly rub a lot of people up the wrong way. because I’m local as are our locations team, we have
worked incredibly hard to minimise the disruption we cause. there’s been greater ownership – if our litter starts blowing down the street, we make sure we pick it up as quickly as we can. We’ve done our best albeit with a few hiccups but we
do try hard. If it was a prime time drama there’d be twice as many people and our trucks would be twice as big! For example, our generator truck can be the biggest one we use but we worked carefully to make sure we got the biggest we needed but the smallest we could make it. We are aware that we flounce in and flounce out and
have to remind our people that whilst its their job, they are here as guests. I’d hate it if we left any bad feeling
countries as the us, Australia and Canada where they have prime time slots. We hope that The Coroner will do just as well. the bbC is keen to improve their daytime output and this show is part of that.
What happens to you now? I stepped out of the industry last year as I have spent too many years away from home living like a gypsy from one location to another. I have missed a big chunk of my children growing up during that time. As this production was local, I was, however, enticed back. I am now looking to take up a film production teaching post at Falmouth university but will still help out on programmes such as this when I can fit them in. You find yourself working incredibly long hours, often 6
days/week and then it all suddenly stops. there’s a massive void in your life and it takes a few days to adjust. At last, you get to regain control of your life and can do normal things like walk the dog.
Photos kindy provided by BBC Birmingham
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