There was bright sunshine when I stepped out of the tube this morning (at 6.20, thanks for asking). But pretty soon the dark clouds were gathering, and not long after that there was the first of several bursts of torrential more
In front of camera, it's a sweltering night in our nameless African city, some time after a thunderstorm has passed. The thunderstorm, however, seems to have taken up residence in the real world just above our location. It's day 3 more
Above is the clapperboard at the end of day 1. Somehow it's reassuring that, even when all the other camera stuff is high end digital, we still need one of these totally traditional objects. Last night the digital rushes were more
So... here we go. 05.05: leaving the house to catch the first tube heading north on the Northern Line. At least it's not raining. 07:35: First AD Kristian Dench gathers everyone for some brief house-keeping notes, including the fire alarm procedures - more
The last weekend. On Monday - Shakespeare's birthday, in case you hadn't noticed - we turn over on our BBC film of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Julius Caesar. Director Greg Doran finished the fourth week of rehearsals on Friday with more
If it's Monday, it must mean there's a week to go. Seven days from now we start shooting Julius Caesar. At lunchtime, with our First AD Kristian Dench, I head up the Northern Line to the location. As I have indicated more
In case you hadn't noticed, the Shakespeare spring kicks off tonight. First up is a cluster of programmes on Sky Arts - a goodly number of them, including Being Shakespeare, produced by Illuminations. Then there is the big more
There's something slightly unreal about these final couple of days before we start work at the location for Julius Caesar. If all goes well, cleaning and prepping the site starts tomorrow, and then the art department will get going on more
The detail above from the sheet music for Cole Porter's 1949 Kiss Me Kate comes from a rich online (and real world) exhibition (until 4 June) at Yale University's Beinicke Library. Remembering Shakespeare details 'the process of more
The morning of Good Friday. Two weeks and three days before we begin filming Julius Caesar. In just ten days we start work at our location, cleaning, building sets - and driving away pigeons. We are a significantly bigger crew more