The Making of…
Chapter 16
Elves Everywhere!
On our first morning on the new set, I reluctantly rolled out of bed, and for a moment, forgot that I was no longer in my hotel room.
“Oh yeah…” I mumbled sleepily to myself as I tousled my hair and staggered into the tiny bathroom. After I’d showered and changed, I quickly dried my hair and left my trailer, hopping carefully down the steps in the slight darkness. Even though we got to get up a little later - because we were already on set - the sun still hadn’t risen. I yawned and went to find our makeup bus. I found it quickly and climbed the steps before opening the door and finding Viggo already there.
“Good morning.” He smiled as I slumped down in the chair beside him.
“Mrrph…” I mumbled, yawning as Lou pounced on me with her makeup brushes. I glanced over at Viggo’s mirror and noticed that he’d affixed a few photos to it – I blushed when I spotted several of me, but said nothing as I popped in my contact lenses and succumbed to the wrath of the makeup department.
Some time later, I was dozily standing in the car park in full costume (complete with my new elvish cloak), waiting for Viggo to finish changing so we could go find the set. He jogged up to me and we walked in a comfortable silence to the edge of the forest that lay just over a grassy field. Amongst the trees I could see floodlights and cameras being set up. As we approached the set, we spotted Peter talking to a group of guys all in full elven costumes. They looked almost like Orlando’s doubles!
“So, when did the Bloom fan club show up?” I joked to Viggo as we walked up to them.
“Good morning!” Pete smiled cheerfully, “These guys are playing the Lothlórien elves.” He said as he waved towards the small group. “This is Craig Parker, he’s playing Haldir.” A guy in a blonde wig stepped forward – well to be fair, they were all wearing blond wigs – and shook hands with Viggo and myself.
“Hey,” He smiled, “Nice to meet you.” We were then introduced to the extras that were playing the other elves, before Peter began to talk us through what we would be doing today.
The scenes were simple, a few shots of us running into the forest, and the scene where the Fellowship is found by Haldir. I had pretty much no lines in these scenes, as Rana’s supposed to be burying he grief over Gandalf’s death, so I got to spend the entire day moping. It shouldn’t have taken long to get through the scenes, but around mid-afternoon it started raining. I was sheltering in one of the marquee-tents that had been set up as makeshift canteens along with the rest of the Fellowship. Peter kept assuring us that the rain would soon pass over, and sure enough, as I was halfway through my lunch, it began to ease off, before stopping altogether. I stood and stretched as people began moving outside again.
“Come on guys; let’s get these scenes finished before it starts up again!” Peter called. As I stepped outside I got a waft of that fantastic summer-rain smell, which instantly perked me up a little.
We finished the scenes for the day without any other mishaps, apart from the heavy downpour that started the second we had packed the cameras away.
“Nobody told me it was monsoon season!” I muttered as Viggo and I jogged to our bus. My hair was plastered to my head before we even reached the door.
“Oh Ki, what have you done to your hair?” Lou cried out in dismay as I slumped down in my chair. “It’ll take ages to get your extensions out!”
“Sorry Lou…” I sighed apologetically, as Kevin also fretted over Viggo’s hair… Drama queens…
I dashed back to my trailer once Lou released me and changed into a comfy green hoodie and jeans. As I listened to the drumming of the rain on the roof, I was reminded of my childhood caravan holidays. Continuous rain and three-day-long games of Monopoly. I smiled at the fond memory and slumped down on my sofa, before locating my well-worn copy of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’. I leafed through the familiar pages, becoming lost in the story that I was now a part of, until I heard an urgent knock on the door. I stood and opened it to find Viggo standing in my doorway in the rain.
