It's a long way from Narnia to Gore, as new Ensign reporter Grant Bryant reports.
Until a month ago, I had never been to Gore.
When I heard The Ensign wanted a new reporter, it coincided with my electing to make a career move after 10 years in movies, and I decided to apply.
For the best part of 2007, I was based in the Czech Republic working on Prince Caspian, a mega-budget blockbuster which has just had a massive worldwide release.
For the casual viewer, it might be 144 minutes of pleasant escapism, but for me it meant nine months of full-on work and adventure. It was a crazy experience to work on such a huge budget film, and my role as an on-set armourer was about as crazy as you can get.
This time last year, I was carrying an eight-foot broadsword through a remote valley in Poland, arming centaurs and dwarfs and lead actors for a helicopter shot.
In a fantasy film such as Prince Caspian, the lead actors are carrying weapons and dressed in armour for most of the running time. Our job was to make sure all armour was put on correctly and safely for each scene, and that the weapons they were using couldn't ever bring them to harm.
In any movie, you don't want the actors hurt, but on something as big as this, there would be some very bad consequences if an actor cut himself, or another actor, with the sword you just handed him, so let's just say that mistakes on the job were not an option.
We also had about three weeks shooting in the mountains of Slovenia, which was absolutely breathtaking.
Right up there with going to crazy places to do crazy things, one of the best parts of the job is getting to work with a very talented, very creative bunch of inspired and inspiring people.
On location shoots where everyone is travelling around, it often feels like you're part of some kind of mad circus.
I've made some great friends working on commercials and films, and on some shoots, there's been more action and drama going on behind the scenes than will ever reach the screen.
Working in the Czech Republic was very interesting. Prague, where we were mainly based, is a beautiful city, steeped in history, that is a year-round tourist magnet because it was one of the few European capital cities that escaped bombing during World War 2 so its castles are intact.
Strolling over the Charles Bridge, which was built in 1357, shoulder to shoulder with thousands of people from throughout the world, soaking up some great atmosphere and sampling the completely excellent beer that the Czechs produce with pride and love, is definitely not a bad way to spend your weekends.
There was a large kiwi contingent in Prague, from the director and executive producer Andrew Adamson down to stunt men, the wardrobe department, visual effects personnel and armourers.
I guess until you've worked overseas with a bunch of Kiwis, you don't realise how outstanding our work ethic can be. To be fair, the Czech Republic was under communist rule until they wrested independence from the crumbling USSR in the ‘‘Velvet Revolution'' of 1989, but it still feels like they're still catching up with the everyday intricacies of a freemarket economy.
This meant that sometimes the ability to problem-solve, improvise, use initiative and get the job done no matter what just didn't exist.
These very Kiwi traits come in handy.
After the film was completed, my girlfriend Amy (who runs the breakdown department in wardrobe for some very big films, ensuring all costumes look suitably aged, worn or bloodsplattered) and I headed off for some travelling.
After a week in Hungary, we flew to Rome and took our sweet time heading up through Italy.
Renaissance art and sculpture, the ruins of the colosseum, crazy little bars in Florence, new friends and the Biennale of modern art in Venice were some of the highlights, as well as dropping in on a friend of a friend, who we thought ran a little cafe.
Instead, he sat us down for an evening of amazing seafood and Italian hospitality at his Michelinstar-rated gourmet restaurant. From there, we lived in Berlin, an amazing city, for four months before hitting Paris and meeting up with friends for a whistle-stop party mission in London and heading back to New Zealand so Amy could work on Wolverine, which was shot on locations in Queenstown and Dunedin.
I used this time to finish a script and it was then that I decided it would be good to be working in a job that uses, enhances and sharpens the skills I have developed in this field.
The new job has been keeping me busy and I'm looking forward to getting to know a few more people in the community. I've just bought a pair of rugby boots and will be breaking them in at Excelsior C's practice on Thursday night, and am looking forward to joining the volunteer fire service.
• Prince Caspian is now screening at the St James Theatre in Gore.
