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UNIVERSALS SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
TAKES THE GRIMM BROTHERS FAIRYTALE BACK TO
ITS DARK ROOTS, WITH A REVISIONIST TAKE
SHOT ON LOCATION AROUND THE UK
MAKING A SCENE
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AS FAIRYTALE locations go, the UK has
it all, from period chapels to dark forests,
from enchanted coasts to epic highlands.
In Rupert Sanders Snow White And The
Huntsman, the Queen has thwarted
death. Forests have turned black and na-
ture is turning in on itself the world
is in disarray. Universals epic new pro-
duction found everything it needed in the
UK.
While scouting, location manager Bill
Darby took his director to Frensham Com-
mon in Surrey, southwest of London, and
nearby Frensham Little Pond. The year
before, the Common had suffered a very
bad heath fire. But Rupert so liked the
burnt look, it got written into the script,
Darby says. In the film, Queen Ravenna,
played by Charlize Theron, has drained
both the lifeblood of the land and of all
the young women in it, to satiate her need
to stay young.
The desolate and burnt look of Fren-
sham Common informed the creative
process of the film in the early stages,
Darby says. When we first looked at it in
February, it was barren and nothing was
growing. Rupert wanted to use it for a
battle scene, so we opened negotiations
with Waverley Council, which manages
the Common, and also with Natural Eng-
land, which monitors commercial activ-
ity on Sites of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSIs). We were scheduled to shoot in
August, but in June it poured with rain
and suddenly the heath came back to life,
and everyone started to worry about the
erosion 150 charging horses might cause.
So at the penultimate hour we had to
switch the location to nearby Bourne
Wood. Subsequently almost everywhere
we went where we had to recreate bits of
the barren world, we had to burn or
blacken either digitally, or physically, by
using black peat and dyed artificial snow.
The National Trust is the UKs largest
landowner and can supply many of the
countrys most stun-
ning locations. Fren-
sham Little Pond, one
of the Trusts proper-
ties, was chosen as the
location to build the
films Fenland Village
set, which took seven weeks to install for
a two-week shoot. Temporary planning
permission was required for this exten-
sive set, which consisted of some eight
buildings, with interconnecting jetties
and walkways, some of which were on
the foreshore and some of which were ex-
tended into the lake itself. The Local
Planning Authority has a policy to encour-
age filming in the area, which was useful
as it got us off to a reasonably good start,
Darby says. The story required us to set
fire to the village when it is attacked by
the Queens men, so everything had to be
very carefully planned.
No newts were singed in the making
of the film, says Harvey Edgington, Na-
tional Trust broadcast and media man-
ager, who in close co-operation with Nat-
ural England and the Local Authority
helped the production secure planning
permission for the protected site which is
now a sanctuary for wildlife. All the
money made through filming at National
Trust properties goes back into maintain-
ing and caring for the property or site. Its
a superb location. It has a quality quite
unique for the home counties [semi-ru-
ral counties close to London], Darby
says. Originally created in the 11th cen-
tury, the pond was used to supply fish to
the Bishop of Winchester and his court.
There are a number of common and rare
birds in the area, damselflies and drag-
onflies dart over the glistening water in
the warmer months, and the banks of the
pond are fringed with a multitude of yel-
low iris, purple loosestrife and common
reeds. The heath is a colourful mosaic of
purple heathers, fragrant bright yellow
gorse and rich green bracken. Ancient
gnarled oaks and pines are scattered
across the site.
Other locations included Marloes Sands
in Pembrokeshire, one of Wales unspoilt
sandy beaches. Administered by the Pem-
brokeshire Coast National Park, the loca-
tion was last used in the 1968 historical
epic The Lion In Winter, and the dramatic
rock formations and coastline provided
the spectacular backdrop for the produc-
tions final battle sequence. With care-
ful scheduling and planning, Darby and
the crew were able to get all the horses
and vehicles, as well as all the cast and
crew onto the beach for low tide, retreat-
ing again at high tide when the entire
beach became engulfed in water. The
beach was a bit of a number, Darby says.
The end of the access path had been
washed away, so we built a 150-foot ramp
in order to get 150 horses and all the
equipment down there. A castle was
THE ACCESS PATH HAD BEEN WASHED
AWAY, SO WE BUILT A 150-FOOT RAMP IN
ORDER TO GET 150 HORSES AND ALL THE
EQUIPMENT DOWN THERE BILL DARBY
Charlize Theron
as Queen Ravenna
in Snow White
And The
Huntsman
q
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digitally superimposed onto Gateholm
Island, at the western end of the Marloes
Peninuslar, while the National Trust pro-
vided camera positions along the cliffs.
Elsewhere, the fairytale forest locations
were provided by Bears Rails in Wind-
sor Great Park, Black Park and Langley
Park, all near Pinewood Studios, as well
as Bourne Wood in Surrey. The Dark For-
est set was built in Black Park, creating
a forest within a forest, including anima-
tronic trees, bogs and ponds. Managed by
Buckinghamshire County Council and
covering 530 acres (214 ha), these woods
featured prominently in the Hammer
Horror films from the late 1950s to the
1970s.
A similar Sanctuary set, a vast tree sited
on an island in the middle of a lake, was
created at Langley Park, with its acres
of open grassland and woodland pasture.
Over the centuries King Henry VIII,
Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, and
the 3rd and 4th Dukes of Marlborough
have all been linked to the Park. In Wind-
sor close to Heathrow Airport Bears
Rails stood in for the Enchanted Forest.
Bears Rails is an impressive unspoilt
woodland that boasts ancient oaks up
to 1,000 years old, with one particularly
magnificent specimen known as the Ele-
phant Oak.
The Forestry Commission provided fur-
ther locations. The commission has loca-
tions where there are no pylons, phone
masts or traffic noise 360 uninter-
rupted views all within commuting dis-
tance of major studios, and close to Lon-
don. Other forest locations included
Burnham Beeches in South Bucking-
hamshire, just northwest of London, and
neighbouring Kiln Wood.
Its the classic story with a contem-
porary twist, Darby says. Snow White
escapes from the castle across the wasted
countryside and she enters the Dark For-
est with the Huntsman pursuing her.
They then escape into a cave system
which we shot in the Lake District [in
Cumbria, in the north of England].
Cathedral Quarry is a network of inter-
linked blue slate quarries above Little
Langdale near Ambleside in Cumbria.
One of the most stunning locations in the
film, the system is best known for its spec-
tacular main chamber, which still stands
40 feet in height, and is lit by two holes
off the main quarry where the sunlight
pours in. Thats quite a special place. It
had a very eerie feel about it and would
have been too costly to build on a stage
everything is dripping moisture and
the cavern floor is flooded. Through
Cumbrias Film Friendly Partnership, Cre-
ative England was able to engage with key
personnel and agencies to ensure the
shoot ran smoothly.
Throughout the UK similar film-friendly
partnerships facilitate large and some-
times complex shoots. Engaging with lo-
cal authorities is vital to instilling a film-
friendly ethos in every region of England,
Creative Englands Bobby Cochrane says.
Meeting regularly allows Creative Eng-
land to discuss thebenefits of filmingand
means that when large-scale feature films
like Snow White And The Huntsman come
to film in the region, they are provided
with a service that is responsive, reliable
and positive. ALISON WILLIAMS
NTPL / Joe Cornish NTPL / Robert Morris NTPL / Nadia Mackenzie NTPL / Arhhel de Serra NTPL / lan Shaw
We have 250 fasc|nat|ng propert|es, thousands of un|que
|nter|ors, 250,000 acres of the most beaut|fu| gardens and
countrys|de, 700 m||es of stunn|ng coast||ne...
but just one number...

EMAILHARVEYEDGINGTONNATIONALTRUSTORGUKWWWNATIONALTRUSTORGUKWWWNTPLORGUK
Location fnding Exclusive use options Catering Wardrobe & make-up facilities
Registered charity no. 205846
ENGAGING WITH
LOCAL AUTHORITIES IS
VITAL TO INSTILLING A
FILM-FRIENDLY ETHOS
BOBBY COCHRANE
Preparing for a shoot
in Burnham Wood:
Chris Hemsworth (left)
as The Huntsman,
Kristen Stewart (centre)
as Snow White, and at
the camera, director
Rupert Sanders
q
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