Transits on set

[FredTransit]

Here's a few pics of the vans on set, I haven't bothered with anything but transits!

 

 

 

Our bus and another dressed as 'Cuttlers Grammar School' buses, for The History Boys

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, it's a Mk3, but we were asked for one.. HARMONY HAIRSPRAY PRESS AD.

 

 

 

 

A park in West London doubles as the Romanian Border - Flamenco Fever

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting for that damn Mk6 to get out of the way - Top Gear (40th special)

[FredTransit]

Here's the same bus bus on set for a music vid, action set in the 80's miner's strike. The livery is mostly my own work and I was well chuffed with the result.

 

 

[brickwall]

The old polis vans look ace.

[FredTransit]

This is Notting Hill Gate, circa 1983. These market traders are getting richer, and the Mk2 phase2 launch was really early in this BBC universe...............

 

[FredTransit]

sunny Clackton on Sea. Waiting to go down to the set, the ice cream van was the star. Stop me and buy one! Film was Starter For Ten

 

[FredTransit]

Here's Belle, then new girl already at work after a week...........

 

RIGGING THE CAMERA FOR DRIVING SHOTS

 

 

 

ON THE ROAD SEEN THROUGH THE LEAD CAR'S MIRROR

 

 

THE CAMERA IN PLACE

 

 

 

Ebay auction for the amby finished on tuesday, collected and tested thursday, on set saturday, paid for by monday! Love it when a plan comes together.....

[FredTransit]

Here's Alex being a builder's van, circa 1982 (yes I know, I know....)

 

 

Portfolio shot!

 

 

 

With the lighting rig.

 

 

The lady on the right looking like a lost pedestrian is Vanessa Redgraves

[FredTransit]

Back in 2003, set in 1972, starring two lovely early SWBs, and a V6 LWB, and somebody's Mk2 ambulance, obviously transported there in the Tardis by Dr Who  

 

Getaway van!

 

Look closely and you will see how the art dept cunningly obscured the '40 years of transit' sticker on the back window with muck.....  

 

 

 

 

Despite the Art Dept's best efforts, they still thought the green and cream stunner looked too SHINY!  

 

 

this SWB SWB IS a star!

[FredTransit]

Day three, the last day. The fjord blue SWB had a bit of an overheating tantrum on the way, but not half as bad as the panic to come. For some unknown reason the director thought he had booked the green/cream as well as the fjord, but it wasn't on the vehicle list on the call sheet that I had had since wednesday. After a panicked phone call to the owner, we had to fetch the van two hours before the call time. The good news is I got to drive the beastie , the bad news is he had washed her, and so, enter art dept........  

 

 

Had to hide the 40th sticker again!

 

 

 

[FredTransit]

The gang arrive, ready to pile into the first gateway van (no idea why this is so small)

 

 

Returning in that filthry SWB with the loot, back into the getaway cars

 

 

With the unmarked police car, for the interior shots

 

[FredTransit]

Another day, another film set. What is it with these art directors? I knew they wanted a white luton to make it dirty, but.....

 

The Luton luton as it arrived.

 

 

 

At unit base, the art dept guys spray on the 'dirt'a mix of fuller's earth and poster paint pigment.

 

 

 

All finished, ready to go on set. Don't have a go at me for the number plates, in this respect I am loosing the will to live.

 

 

Lined up and in shot

 

 

 

 

 

Topping up the dirt between takes!

 

 

The shot

 

[FredTransit]

Fascinating stuff Fred. I have a mate with a green Transit almost identical to your last picture.

 

 

TA! is it a durotoque turbo?

[FredTransit]

a busy week. At least none of the shoots involved vast quantities of dirt this time!!  

 

 

Waiting with the other vehicle luvvies, the Mk1 was just along for the ride following on from another production. The SDI Rover was a huge diappointment, a civilian car that had been mocked up, something was going on with silicone and one of the back lights.....

 

 

Belle in place being, erm an emergency Ambulance (!)  

 

She's looking the part!

 

And yes, I do know the Mk2 phase2 wasn't around in 78......

[FredTransit]

Another shoot, this time for Hovis Nimble. I actually don't expect to be able to tell that this was Bobbi, as everything was done in cropped close up of the back end, will have to wait and see the ad. The wierd part about this shoot is it was on a fully working building site near Billaricay, so H&S insisted everybody wore hard hats and fluros! Ya couldn't tell the difference between the film crew and the regular builders!!  

 

 

Bobbi the builder, is she typecast? Yes she is!

In case anybody is wondering why she's not pulling a wheely, that was fake cement, bags full of cat litter!  

 

 

As the advert's story line spanned the different seasons, part of the site/set was covered in fake snow, the magic of television! Winter in August.

 

 

Trundling through the back of the shot in 'Winter'

[Asimo]

Fascinating! Thanks for psoting.

[fordperv]

How do you sleep at night with the excitement of owning all these awesome transits.

 

cheers for posting the pictures

[sheffcortinacentre]

remember the pop video well, the fake bricks were very realistic, seem to remember someone saying they were £100 each.

laccys were terrified of loosing them, shame as I wanted one, did get some picket posters though.

[FredTransit]

not the same one then! yeah pics plz

[FredTransit]

remember the pop video well, the fake bricks were very realistic, seem to remember someone saying they were £100 each.

laccys were terrified of loosing them, shame as I wanted one, did get some picket posters though.

would have been nice to have some warning though. Nearly chinned one of background till one of em went aquelch on the windscreen

[wackywacerwill]

Saying that there is a lot of love for old trannys on the brown forum sounds wrong. Never mind, it's done now.

[Felly Magic]

Epic thread here Fred

[FredTransit]

Ta! Heres some more then

 

 

the lovely green/cream SWB as seen in Supergrass was picked for the feature film The Bank Job. Had to take her along to a viewing at Ealing Studios, here she is in the veiwing line up on sound stage three.

 

 

Funny thing is, we waited about 4 hours for the producer to turn up, in that time loads of people wandered in , took a glance at the line up and made a B line for the transit!! Hilariously the Producer and Art director did the same thing! It was like - hmmm, car, car, bedford OOO LOOK AT THE NICE TRANSIT!!!

[FredTransit]

more onset of The Bank Job, set in 1970.

 

 

We were asked to change the back windows for plain ones at the viewing, so obviously that would explain why the art dept decided to put dark limo tint on them, then they took it off, put it back on, took it off and settled on dark lighting gell.

 

 

 

waiting for the shot of the 'gang' screaming up in the getaway van to the hideout warehouse.

 

 

It gets a bit matey in a SWB with all the cast and crew!!

 

 

the gang rush into the warehouse

[FredTransit]

A few more from the Bank Job

 

 

Portfolio shot! The signwriting is hand done, but it's on a magnetic panel so no harm done.

 

 

With the owners permission, we had to remove the passenger seat to give the camera enough room.

 

 

With the stunt drivers taking over, this was the plain clothes police car. Take a close look at the SWB's exaust, this is a text book example of film people not living in the real world. The comment was "can we loose the smoke (????) from the exaust?" Only answer to that was "yeah, if we turn the engine off".

 

 

This scene was filmed over and over, god knows why cos by take 12 I bet the actors were loosing the will to live. It was the plain clothes police getting out of thier car, and going with the van driver to the back doors and opening them. Can we all write in and complain it would be a better scene if the policeman had stood two inches to the left?

 

[FredTransit]

some screen shots from Supergrass

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FredTransit]

me minibus was back in uniform again. This time for the promo for 'Cold Case' for the Crime Channel.

 

 

Waiting at unit base with the police car

 

 

on set with 'murder victim's parents and police officer'

 

 

In place with the 'slice' camera rig

 

[FredTransit]

this is our ice cream van, a couple of years before we bought her. At that time she lived in Bute and Argyle so couldnt be further away from the location.

 

It was too plain, so the Art Dept added more ice cream stickers, and a name on the signboards. they also tried to make the van look worse hence the gaffer tape on the wheel arches, I did try to mention that ice cream vans are mostly fiberglass......

 

 

 

 

The driver is Lee Mack, a comedy actor

 

 

 

The show is Not Going Out

[FredTransit]

this is me Mk1 camper reversion at an in-house shoot for orange, you may not see this as it's for thier website and in house literature.

 

 

 

[beko1987]

I remember that Not Going Out episode!

 

Gr9 stuff Fred!

[FredTransit]

the other thing I remember they painted the icey with 'rust'. Er again its FIBREGLASS!!