The sum of its parts: This second example shows the 'montage' effect, or multiple collage, used to greater effect. The screenplay for The Lost Crown dicated that "a narrow set of steps led up towards the old war memorial, perched on the headland. The reeds of the marsh gave way to shallow rock pools and sea rounded rocks". After searching here, there and everywhere, I couldn't find an ideal location for the scene, so decided to build one from various scraps of the landscape. Below you can see how completely different locations were combined to bring about "The Memorial Steps".

Further to the 4 photographs shown, extra material was added to finish off the scene, they included:

• The war memorial itself (the cross on the hill).
• Thick reeds in the foreground, and stretching away to the left.
• The middle-ground was rocky. They were removed and replaced by sand.
• Gorse bushes, and distant pines were added.
• Two hunting Marsh Harriers swoop and soar in the sky.
• Nigel himself, partially obscured by reeds.
• Metal rings added to the sea defense wall.
• Lastly, the image was 'graded' to feature a nostalgic ochre glow.

Of course, the strangest thing about this process is the fact that I see many of these locations each day, and find it hard to differentiate between the fiction and reality. I guess that's the job of any writer, artist or designer. Photographing the land around me is a pleasure, but it does have its downsides. When The Lost Crown is finished, I will have taken around 2000+ digital photographs. That's alot of hard disk space!


Go back to page one.