Port transformed for 'Oceans' filming

Makeup artists work on  extras for a scene filmed in  Port Chalmers. Photos by Linda Robertson.
Makeup artists work on extras for a scene filmed in Port Chalmers. Photos by Linda Robertson.
A horse-drawn wagon turns on George St with the cruise ship Oosterdam in the background.
A horse-drawn wagon turns on George St with the cruise ship Oosterdam in the background.
Rachel Weisz (right) walks through a The Light Between Oceans set in George St, Port Chalmers, on...
Rachel Weisz (right) walks through a The Light Between Oceans set in George St, Port Chalmers, on Saturday. Photo by Craig Baxter.

Port Chalmers was ''buzzing'' during the film shoot of The Light Between Oceans in Dunedin on Saturday.

Manager of 2gypsies, Robyne Saunders, of Port Chalmers, said the the streets of the Dunedin harbourside suburb were packed with visitors to watch filming.

''The cafes, pubs and shops have done pretty good out of it. It has put us on the map.''

Part of Port Chalmers' main street, George St, and Grey St were transformed for the filming, with dirt and gravel laid down to create the look of the period when the film's story is set.

The gravel had made the furniture and art shop dusty but the film producers were paying for cleaners today, she said.

Filmmakers were welcome to return to work in Port Chalmers anytime, she said.

Carol Dewar, of Port Chalmers, said she was visiting her mother-in-law in Grey St on Saturday and saw Rachel Weisz filmed with a male actor.

''Rachel Weisz would run around the corner and meet him and they would talk to each other and all the extras would walk around them.''

The filming was ''intriguing'' to watch, she said.

''I've never seen anything like it before and living in Port Chalmers you don't get that sort of thing. It was quite neat.''

The filming began about 2.30pm on Saturday and the crew worked until darkness, she said.

She was told by a production crew member the filming in Grey St today would be mostly inside a building set up to look like a haberdashery shop.

On Saturday, the focus in George St was on one building which had been transformed into a book shop and the street outside lined with vintage cars, a horse and cart and local actors. Most of the filming took part inside the store with a wide-angled shot of the street outside taken.

It was understood the film's male lead, Michael Fassbender, was not in any of the Port Chalmers scenes. Fifteen Dunedin sites are being used in the film.

The Portsider owner Hanz Dekker said several regular patrons had stayed away because of filming but cruise ship passengers, visitors and the film crew filled the bar.

''We had a real good weekend.''

 

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