That next morning, I walked to Brasenose Lane which is right next to the Radcliffe Camera (one of the main attractions of Oxford). Jock, Ralph, Joe, and Aiden were already there setting up the equipment, and they were checking shots through the camera. Leaves were piled lightly across the street, but since they were not even, Ralph asked Aiden and me to spread them out. So, Aiden and I walked back and forth down the lane, grabbing large armfuls of leaves to scatter across the camera's view.
Once Grace, Alex, and Max arrived, we began shooting. In this scene, Tolkien and Lewis had not yet met, but they lived in Oxford at the same time. Tolkien was working at the Ashmolean Museum, and Lewis was a student. They filmed this scene as if they ran into each other on the street, a foreshadow of their meeting years later when they both worked at Oxford University.
Most of the morning was spent on this one scene. Alex would ride the bike back and forth with Max walking out in front of him, his head buried in a book. Alex would swerve, and both would continue on. This happened many times with different angles and distances from the camera. I did not do much but take pictures and buy coffee and snacks for everyone.
We then went to New College Lane which is by the Bridge of Sighs (another main attraction in Oxford) and filmed the actors again walking or riding down the street. Since it was about midday, many tourists flocked the streets. So, we constantly had to stop people before they walked out in front of the camera, and then once we finished, then we would let them pass. Many of them, once they figured out that we were filming, pulled out their phones and took pictures of us.
At one point, Ralph was setting up his camera, trying to find his shots. Then, he said, "We need more leaves. Hannah! Aiden! Go back to Brasenose Lane and get those leaves." They let Aiden ride the bike, and I sat in the back of the cart, and we biked through the crowds of tourists past the Bridge of Sighs and Radcliffe Camera. When we got to the lane, Aiden piled loads of leaves onto my lap. Then, we dodged the crowd again. But this time, as we rode past, they pulled out their phones and started filming me. I could not help but laugh because I was sure I looked ridiculous. When we got back, we scattered the leaves in front of the camera. From that point forward every time we changed locations, Aiden and I had to pick up the leaves and transport them with us. We found the job hilarious and made a big deal of it!
We stopped for lunch at the Turf Tavern, a famous pub in Oxford. Then, we continued to Merton Street. This is right next to Merton College (go figure) which is where Tolkien was a professor. We filmed Alex ride along this street, and while we still had to deal with some people, tourists were not near a problem.
Alex and Aiden then went back to the van, but we continued to film Max walking along Merton Grove. This is a tiny lane that runs in between Merton College and Christ Church College. It's a beautiful place but narrow. All of a sudden about thirty Asian tourists bombarded the scene. As soon as they realized we were filming, they grabbed Max, Joe, and me and took selfies with us. They didn't ask or anything. They just got in between us and started taking pictures. After about five minutes of this, Ralph said we needed to continue and that they needed to move along. Ralph started pulling Max away, but one woman kept insisting on one last picture. They finally all left, and we finished the scene. As we walked back to the van, Max told me that we were going to be famous in Asia...just Asia though. And, that ended the second day.
British thing I learned:
Yorkshire pudding is a hollow pastry usually served with beef and a brown gravy, and it is a traditional side dish to the Sunday Roast. It is nothing like American pudding nor a British dessert.
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