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Thursday 25 November 2010

Chagford Filmmaking Group



Chagford Filmmaking Group
, the intrepid group of fairy tale filmmakers from Devon, have got lots of exciting things going on at the moment. The clip above is the opening of their first feature film, Sir Lanval, a twelfth century fairy tale. They shot it in fifteen epic days in two countries on a budget of just £25,000!

This weekend, as part of the Fantasy, Faeirie and Visionary Arts event at the Flavel Arts Centre in Dartmouth, there is a Talk On The Filming of Sir Lanval by Elizabeth-Jane Baldry (director and co-writer of the film) on Saturday at 12noon. This will include clips from the film and a chance to hear about behind-the-scenes adventures, and tales of pigs, maggots and magical white horses appearing from nowhere. On Sunday 28th at 11.30am, there will be a Screening of Peerifool: An Orkney Fairytale - a tremendous tale about three little girls who outwit an ogre. And it's full of porridge fairies! (Film duration = 40mins).

Also currently at the Flavel is an Exhibition of Costumes and Other Delights from the film, which runs until the end of the month. And at Exeter Castle the Shared Legends Exhibition of newly commissioned artworks inspired by the Lanval story opens on the 6th December and runs until the 18th. And it features the work of internationally known painters, sculptors, and graphic artists such as Brian Froud, Wendy Froud and Alan Lee as well as young rising stars in the mythic arts field (there is a wonderful post by Rima Staines over at The Hermitage about her experience of creating work for the exhibition).

This is all part of the group's Shared Legends Project, a unique cultural exchange between two countries that share a rich mythic heritage, which has been funded by the European Union and South West Screen.

9 comments:

  1. Whoa--that clip swept me right back to the 80s, when SF/Fantasy films were...well, they must have been pretty awesome. Must. Awesome. Otherwise, no way I'd still adore them so much, right? Right?

    Peter Stone wasn't involved with this, was he? In spirit if not in flesh? :)

    And the inevitable quote that must descend on all films which come near:

    'On second thought, let us not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.'

    Thanks for a great post again.

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  2. Can't wait to see this one. (I have two of their other films: "Childe Rowland" and "Cherry of Zennor" both of which are beautiful.)

    What a wonderful thing this Shared Legends Project is.

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  3. Mr Pond, so many of my favourite fantasy films are from the 80s too. Pre-CGI films (and the very rare films that do without it now) just seem so much more magical somehow. And trust you to bring Monty Python into it :-)

    Lynn, I can't wait to see it either! The Shared Legends Project is fantastic, bringing so many artists together, across cultures--wonderful, wonderful stuff! I wish I could get to the talk and exhibitions (I need that magic carpet you mentioned in your comment on the previous post!).

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  4. Ah, the 80s! Yes, my favourites are from then too...though I wish Ridley Scott had cast someone other than Tom Cruise in 'Legend'...other than that, a wonderful movie. But I do think Pan's Labyrinth more than lives up to the legacy!

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  5. Good point, Christina!! In fact what I said above wasn't very well thought out because there have been so many wonderful fantasy films that do use CGI, Pan's Labyrinth is top of the list for me too, but also The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Stardust, parts of LOTR. Maybe what I mean is that the films that don't use CGI to make their magic have a certain kind of charm, for me anyway. Also, spot on with the Legend casting too :-)

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  6. CGI is often just used as the lazy man's way to do what Henson did in real life. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I thought, struck a nice balance between the puppet/animatronic and CGI media.

    Not sure if you've seen the Films of High Adventure series at Fantasy Magazine? A celebration of the wonderfully awful fantasy films we grew up with. They usually are pretty spot on in their 'and this is how it looks now we're grown up' analysis, too.

    'We're the Knights of the Round Table,
    We dance whene'er we're able!'

    (In other news, I meant Paul Stone earlier, not Peter Stone. Paul Stone produced the Narnia mini-series in the 80s; Peter Stone is a mate of mine, quite savvy at the football, and I'm sure has nothing to do with film making!)

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  7. Thanks so much for that link! I had noticed the series but hadn't actually got round to reading the articles--brilliant stuff!!

    I was a bit confused by the Peter Stone reference so decided just not to mention it :-). Now then, Paul Stone, you mean the BBC series don't you? In a wonderful and strange coincidence we have been watching The Voyage of the Dawn Treader just this week with our boys! The eldest (4) loves it, the dragon and Aslan in particular. Just like Henson creations, they are incredibly enchanting. The BBC interpretations beat the Hollywood versions any day for me!!

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