On a misty morning in Edinburgh, a week after dining in restrictions had been lifted, our crew filmed a horse quietly walking through a suburban area with a fox hunter on its back. We had only a day to shoot in multiple locations with a large crew, members of the public and one very well behaved horse.
When we prepped for this shoot, a lot of amenities we take for granted were a huge unknown. Typical things like where the restrooms were for our crew became logistical nightmares under COVID guidelines and we were fortunate some restrictions were lifted the week before our shoot. A bigger problem we faced was making sure that we would be getting the crowd reactions we needed in order to pull off this campaign.
Moving from the quiet residential area, our cast and crew meandered to the heart of Edinburgh and set off down the Royal Mile to eventually arrive at Scottish Parliament. Our goal was to get as many eyes on our campaign as possible during the shoot and film the realtime reactions of a fox hunter riding a horse through the middle of Edinburgh. Juxtaposed with the cars, street art and high-rise buildings, we were able to convey how outdated and barbaric fox hunting is. It was very clear that the horse and its rider were out of place in the modern world.
We were able to capture priceless reactions from people on the street and dining outside for the first time since restrictions eased. For the first time in about a year, people were able to gather on the street and it made an excellent backdrop for our shoot.
Although the day provided its own set of logistical challenges – namely moving a horse through a city – we were able to get every shot we needed and pull together a truly terrific campaign. You can do your part by signing the petition to ban fox hunting below:
https://takeaction.league.org.uk/page/41379/petition/1
You can also follow The League Against Cruel Sports across their social media platforms:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeagueAgainstCruelSports
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leagueacs/
