A h̶o̶u̶s̶e̶ castle through time

Our 5am call at Herstmonceux Castle was totally justified in achieving the dawn shot of a knight on a magnificent black charger galloping in front of the Castle with mist rising across the moat and the sun breaking over the Castle.

The commercial for Cignpost was for their Covid Testing company Express Test. The story is that our knight is on a film shoot and he’s required to carry out a Covid Test.

Covid test for our knight and not his charger

It was 0800 and the ‘money’ shot was in the can and there was time for a bacon sandwich before we got to all the cutaways to make the Covid Test commercial.

GCMS provided a pivotal role in this commercial by securing the location and liaising with the Events Team at the Castle who were very helpful in all aspects from providing the early morning bacon sandwiches to ensuring our Knight and his charger Zoro were met in the middle of the night. GCMS also organised the other services on site such as the medic and vet both required on set.

Zoro not too sure of our camera team -operator Jack Wood and DoP Paul Bond

Lewis Morgan Focus Puller and Jack Wood Camera op. lining up the next shot

By 1130 we had cleared the site and time to explore and learn more about the history of Herstmonceux which dates back to 1441 and was built by Sir Roger Fiennes (ancestors of the Fiennes acting dynasty) with the proceeds from the Hundred Years War where he fought alongside both Henry V. Herstmonceux has had a very colourful history and is now owned by Queen’s University of Ontario in Canada. The full history can be found via www.herstmonceux-castle.com

travel through the ages!