The Making of…

Chapter 14

No Liv! Don’t Leave Me With Them!

For the next few days, we continued to take the helicopters into the mountains, so we could film more scenes of us walking. We were just getting to the part where we would have stumbled out of The Mines of Moria, after Gandalf fell, so we all got to be angst-y at that point. I had to bring myself to the verge of tears, but not allow myself to cry as we moved through the scene. Once we had finished, we were whisked away again to do more walking scenes, before we were dropped back at the studio. Just before we headed back to the hotel, Peter jogged over to where we were standing and chatting.

“Hey guys,” He smiled, “I just thought you should know that you have the next two days off.” There was a resounding cheer throughout the group as Pete continued. “Well, everyone except you Kira.”

“Oh.” I sighed, “What do you need me to do?”

“It’s just a short scene showing you walking to Rivendell tomorrow. There aren’t any lines or anything to worry about, so we should have it done quickly.” He replied.

“That’s fine then.” I smiled.

“Tough break Ki.” Billy laughed. I cast him a glare and he smiled sweetly. I honestly didn’t mind working an extra day, but I wouldn’t have minded a lie-in either.

***

The next day, Peter sent a car to come and pick me up from the hotel. I still hadn’t gotten around to renting my own one, as Viggo always drove me to and from the set without complaint. I was surprised to see Liv waiting in the car park when I arrived.

“Hey Liv,” I smiled, “Are you filming anything today?”

“Yeah, I’m doing the scene where Arwen saves Frodo from the Ringwraiths.” She replied and I nodded. The script had been written so Arwen was the one who saved Frodo, instead of Glorfindel, who rescued him in the books. I supposed Peter wanted to give Liv a bigger part - she deserved it, she was a fantastic actress. She told me that they had been down at the set a few days ago, filming the shots with Elijah. She would be working with his size-double today.

We were driven to the set, which was on the shore of a river. The point we were filming at seemed more like a ford, because this was where the horses would have to cross.

“Hi girls!” Peter waved as we approached the cameras and trailers scattered around. There were also several horseboxes, for the Black Rider’s horses and Arwen's. I was a little jealous that I didn’t get a horse, but I would get one over the course of filming!

Liv and I went and got our makeup on; she had to get a small scratch painted on her cheek, which would have been caused by Arwen being pursued by the Ringwraiths.

“I just realised,” She murmured, “Today is my last day on location for this movie!”

“Really?” I cried sadly.

“Yeah, I’m going home for a few weeks, but I’ll be back for filming in the studio.”

“You can’t leave me alone with the guys! I’ll be the only girl left!” I gasped in mock-horror.

“Don’t worry; I’m sure you’ll survive.” She smiled, as the door to the trailer opened and a coupled of guys holding a camera came in.

“Hey, we’re doing the ‘Making of’ footage for the DVD.” One of the guys said, “Do you mind if we take a few shots in here?”

“Go ahead.” I smiled as Lou pinned in my extensions. They asked us a few questions about how filming was going and things like that, before Liv and I went to get our costumes on. I was just dressed in my regular Rana costume, but Liv was wearing a beautifully intricate elvish outfit.

Peter wanted to do my scene first, which just consisted of me walking across the calm ford (in the film, this would be after the Nasgûl were swept away). My face wouldn’t even be seen, as I would have the hood of my cloak up. All I had to do was walk, and sing a little. It was one of my favourite songs from the book, one of the ones written by Bilbo, called ‘The Road Goes Ever On’. I didn’t even have to sing that loudly, just to myself. Which I supposed was good, as I didn’t exactly consider myself to be a good singer. Peter wanted to take a shot of just my feet as I walked across the ford, so it was strange, knowing the first part of me that anyone would see in the movie would be my feet. Everybody else gets really dramatic introductions… I get feet. Peter assured me that it would look dramatic once everything had been put together. We then took a few shots of me walking across the water, and into the trees on the other side, as this would be the scene just before Rana enters Rivendell. After that, I was pretty much finished for the day, but I decided to hang around and watch Liv do her scene. The guys who were playing the Black Riders suddenly appeared, and I jumped a little, because they looked pretty scary. When I was little, they were always the characters that had given me nightmares. I knew all the guys underneath the costumes, as I’d been doing my stunt training with them before, but it was hard to not be a little creeped out. I watched as they all mounted their horses (which looked equally scary) and began to do run-throughs of the scene. Liv wasn’t allowed to ride her horse for most of the scene – especially for the parts where they were riding fast – because he was a stallion, and she wasn’t an experienced rider. It just wouldn’t have been safe, so her stunt double, Lani – who was also my stunt double- stepped in.

I watched as Lani rode across the ford, pursued by the Nasgûl, and then it would switch to a shot of Liv on the horse. I was watching pretty intently, until someone covered my eyes.

“Guess who?” A familiar voice asked. I grinned, tilting my head back a little.

“Hey Viggo.” I smirked, “What are you doing here on your day off? Come down to keep me company?” He uncovered my eyes and I looked up to see him dressed in his regular, casual clothes, along with a well-worn cowboy-style hat – so he definitely wasn’t doing a scene.

“Nah, I’m going fishing.” He grinned, “I heard this river was the best place for it.”

“Sounds fun.” I smiled, standing up and following him to his Jeep. He unloaded his fishing gear and carried his rod over his shoulder.

“Do you want to come along?” He asked, “If you don’t have any more scenes to do that is.”

“Sure.” I shrugged, “We should probably tell Pete though.”

We walked back over to the set and spotted Peter talking to Liv.

“Hey Pete!” Viggo yelled as our director turned and waved. “I’m just stealing Kira for a while, ok?”

“Sure, just return her in a workable condition!” Peter called back with a wink as I rolled my eyes and grabbed my backpack from where I had left it on my chair. Viggo and I walked downstream for a while, until he found a spot he was happy with. He sat down on a rock and began tying little feathered hooks to the fishing line.

“So are you fly-fishing then?” I asked, sitting down beside him and watching in fascination as he expertly tied the thin wire.

“Yeah…” He murmured, threading the line through the reel.

“What are you going to do if you catch anything?” I mused. We were still staying in the hotel, so he had no facilities to cook anything.

“I’ll probably set it free.” He sighed, standing and giving the rod an experimental flick and walking towards the river. I sat back on my rock and watched as he cast the line into the water. I observed him for a while, marvelling at how natural he looked, standing at the side of the river. I’d tried fly-fishing before, but I was too clumsy and uncoordinated for it. Viggo made it seem effortless.

After a few minutes I stood and stretched, before wandering along the bank of the river, gazing into the crystal-clear water at the pebbles that lay beneath the surface, ranging in colour from a pale tan, to a dark brick red, and then to a steely grey. All the while, I was careful not to cast my shadow over the water, so as not to startle any passing fish. I then slowly walked back to where I had been sitting, and resumed my activity of watching the world go by.

“Are you bored?” Viggo asked quietly after a few minutes.

“No,” I murmured softly, “I’m just enjoying the peacefulness.” I smiled as we lapsed back into our comfortable silence. It was rare to get a moment of calm like this, especially when we had been so busy lately. I closed my eyes and listened, really listened. I heard the river as it tumbled and flowed over the rocks below, the gentle sound of the breeze moving the trees and rustling the leaves, and the soft swish of Viggo casting his line back and forth. In the trees, I could hear unfamiliar bird calls. I had come to recognise the calls and songs of the birds back home without realising it, these sounds were different. I opened my eyes and looked up at the trees, trying to spot one of the elusive birds. With a quiet gasp I spotted one.

“What is it?” Viggo asked in a low murmur. Evidently, he had heard me.

“There is a parrot in that tree.” I whispered, so as not to startle the creature.

“Well we are in New Zealand.” He replied, laughing a little at my amazement as I stared at the vibrant bird. It was small, with jade green feathers and a ruby red beak, with flashes of other colours streaking its striking plumage.

“It’s beautiful.” I sighed softly to myself as it took flight; I looked back to the river and saw Viggo smiling at me. “What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He smiled, turning back to his fishing. I smiled a little and continued to watch him, until I remembered something that I was carrying in my backpack. I reached into it and pulled out my camera. I removed the lens cap and held it in my teeth as I focused the lens on Viggo, snapping a shot of him flicking back his line. He turned to me with a raised eyebrow as I took another photo and slipped the lens cap into my bag.

“You’re not the only one who can take pictures, Cowboy.” I smiled, referring to his hat. He rolled his eyes and continued fishing as I stood and took a few more shots of the landscape.

After a while, I heard an unfamiliar splash in the shallow water, and looked up to see Viggo begin to slowly reel in his line. I watched in fascination as he walked a little way into the river and reached into it, gently lifting out a small fish – not much longer than his hand - that had bitten his line. I walked over and stood on the shoreline as he walked back with it.

“It’s only a small one.” He smiled, gently removing the hook from its mouth. I grimaced slightly at the trickle of blood that ran from the fish’s mouth as the sharp object was removed, before I lifted my camera and smiled.

“Come on then, let’s get a shot of you and your monster catch!” I joked as he held up the fish. I snapped a few quick pictures before he walked back into the river and gently set it in the water. I watched as it drifted for a moment, seeming dazed by its out-of-water experience, before swimming quickly downstream. Viggo quickly rinsed his hands in the running water before walking back to me. He flicked a few droplets of water at me with a smirk as he caught me off-guard.

“Yuck! Fishy-water!” I squeaked, wiping it off my face with my sleeve as he laughed and looked at his watch. I peered over his shoulder to look at the time; we’d been here for hours!

“We should probably get back.” He sighed, walking over to where we’d left our bags. He dismantled his fishing equipment quickly, and I put away my camera and shouldered my backpack, before we began to walk upstream again, back towards the busy world of filming and leaving our peaceful spot behind.