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Covid-secure filming taking pace in Suffolk
- Credit: Screen Suffolk
Covid-19 shut down months of filming in 2020, but remarkably Suffolk’s official film office still managed to increase the number of filming days in the county on 2019. Local democracy reporter Jason Noble caught up with Screen Suffolk to talk about an unpredictable year and big projects coming up in 2021.
Bars, restaurants, retailers, gyms, theatres – scores of industries reported the overnight shock the Covid-19 pandemic-enforced lockdown back in March 2020 had on their businesses, as customers were there one day and unable to visit the next.
For the film and TV business, that was no different. And for Screen Suffolk, the county’s official film office tasked with bringing in productions to the county to enjoy the economic benefits they bring, that overnight effect was just as stark.
Covid-secure filming taking pace in Suffolk
- Credit: Screen Suffolk
Covid-19 shut down months of filming in 2020, but remarkably Suffolk’s official film office still managed to increase the number of filming days in the county on 2019. Local democracy reporter Jason Noble caught up with Screen Suffolk to talk about an unpredictable year and big projects coming up in 2021.
Bars, restaurants, retailers, gyms, theatres – scores of industries reported the overnight shock the Covid-19 pandemic-enforced lockdown back in March 2020 had on their businesses, as customers were there one day and unable to visit the next.
For the film and TV business, that was no different. And for Screen Suffolk, the county’s official film office tasked with bringing in productions to the county to enjoy the economic benefits they bring, that overnight effect was just as stark.
It certainly captured the essence of what the filmmakers were looking for.
Director Simon Stone said: “You go to Suffolk once and visit the estuary lands and you see such a unique landscape, like a world that you just don t recognise as quintessentially English, and so I thought to myself this is a real opportunity to show a side of England that you don t usually see.
“As you see, it s constantly through the film. We keep cutting back to shots that were shot in the environment where it took place.”
The old brick structure on Boyton Marshes is used in The Dig. Picture: SCREEN SUFFOLK
Behind the scenes of filming for The Dig in 2019. Picture: SCREEN SUFFOLK
- Credit: Screen Suffolk
While The Dig did not exclusively film in Suffolk, the county’s countryside does feature heavily in the film.
One of the most notable locations is Butley Ferry - “As soon as Simon [Stone, director] saw the Butley Ferry he was absolutely set that was where he had to be,” Screen Suffolk’s Rachel Aldridge said.
The old brick structure on Boyton Marshes is used in The Dig. Picture: SCREEN SUFFOLK
- Credit: Screen Suffolk
Elsewhere, the landscapes at RSPB’s Boyton Marshes featured – including the prominent brick structure there which also featured in Ed Sheeran’s Castle on the Hill music video, as well as shooting landscapes around Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh beach and Suffolk Wildlife Trust land.