{"id":2282,"date":"2020-11-06T10:31:52","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T10:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/stamford\/?p=568"},"modified":"2020-11-06T10:31:52","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T10:31:52","slug":"let-it-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/highlights\/let-it-snow\/11-2020","title":{"rendered":"Let it Snow!"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re dreaming of a White Christmas, Bourne couple Harry &\u2008Vix Meddings-Stokes can help. The couple\u2019s business, Snowboy Systems, provides ground snow, falling snow, wind and rain for TV, film, retail and theatre work across the UK\u2026<\/h3>\n
\"Harry,
Harry, Vix and the team can create any weather conditions on set but specialise in ground snow and falling snow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pop group Crowded House said of the subject of their 1991 song, \u2018everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you.\u2019 In the case of Harry & Vix Meddings-Stokes, never has a more applicable lyric been written.\u00a0The pair have been in the special effects industry for the duration of their professional lives and work hard to create ground snow, falling snow, wind, rain and smoke effects for their clients, mostly involving TV, film, commercial photo or video work, and theatre.<\/p>\n

I came across Snowboy Systems a couple of years ago and considering it to be a pretty perfect festive magazine story, I\u2019ve been chasing it down ever since.<\/p>\n

Alas, the time we work on our Christmas editions also happens to be Harry & Vix\u2019s busiest time of the year too. That\u2019s because snow is most in demand a few months prior to the festive season when firms like supermarkets want to create that season\u2019s Christmas publicity campaigns.<\/p>\n

This year has been a bit of an anomaly, as firms have held off for as long as possible to see how Covid restrictions will affect their customers and how restricted we\u2019ll find ourselves during the festive season.<\/p>\n

But with the uncharacteristic availability of an hour or two to chat at this time of year, Vix was at least able to talk me through the company\u2019s work\u2026 or rather, she would have been. Poor Vix could barely answer one question before I excitedly asked two or three more. It was a brilliant conversation – great fun – which is usually a barometer for its translation into a good article\u2026 but I\u2019m getting ahead of myself.<\/p>\n

Harry\u2019s father, Phillip Stokes, had worked in the special effects industry for a number of years before founding his own company in 1984. Phillip was also involved in Spilsby Theatre and for one production, needed a realistic falling snow effect.<\/p>\n

With no machines existing at the time suited to his performance, Phillip took the initiative and\u2026 well, made one. It was a machine he named the Snowboy, and Harry subsequently joined him in business making and using the machines.<\/p>\n

Phillip worked alongside another of the industry\u2019s greats, Derek Meddings, meeting on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Derek soon had Baftas and Oscars to his name and is best known as the man who made Superman fly in the 1978 film.<\/p>\n

Vix is Derek\u2019s niece and she often joined him on set to help out with his work. With both Harry & Vix working in the industry, the two met in 2000 when she and Harry both worked on the WWII mini-series Band of Brothers.<\/p>\n

Now, most couples meet in bars or by going on dates to the cinema. Not Harry and Vix though\u2026 oh no. Their eyes met across a crowded gantry at the British Aerospace factory in Hatfield whilst the two were alone, sprinkling a little falling snow onto a WWI trench as the brave Tommies lay down their guns for a Christmas Day truce. There\u2019s something romantic about that, I reckon.<\/p>\n

Harry inherited the business at 19 years of age. He and Vix later got together and now run the company, having changed its name from Enterprises Unlimited to Snowboy, after the machine that Phillip invented.<\/p>\n

Today, half of Snowboy\u2019s business is hiring out the modern iterations of Phillip\u2019s original invention. The largest of which is the latest in a series of giant bespoke truck-mounted snow machines large enough to cover an entire street in snow.<\/p>\n

The other half of the company\u2019s work is creating effects. This year you\u2019ll see the company\u2019s handiwork in the Christmas campaign of fashion brands Joules and Joe Browns. A couple of other projects for large retailers are in the offing too, but until footage is wrapped and approved by the client, confidentiality is an essential element of the couple\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of romantic Christmas movies, you\u2019ll remember the final scenes in the 2001 film adaptation of Bridget Jones\u2019s Diary, in which the eponymous heroine chases Colin Firth and the couple reunite in the snowy streets of London. Harry helped create that very scene; specifically the falling snow.<\/p>\n

Or perhaps you were one of the nine million viewers who tuned into the final episode of Downton Abbey, in which Lady Edith finally gets her happy ending prior to Christmas 1924. That snowy scene was actually filmed in mid-July 2015 at County Durham\u2019s Beamish open air museum\u2026 and that snow? Snowboy, of course.<\/p>\n

Last year the Christmas campaign for Tesco featured a delivery van time travelling on a snowy street. 2019\u2019s Christmas market-themed Marks & Spencer advert took place in a snow-covered winter wonderland.<\/p>\n

Waitrose\u2019s commercial a few years ago featured diners enjoying Christmas lunch in a snowed-in pub. Each of the above featured weather or technical assistance from Snowboy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe create a number of effects from ground snow to falling snow to frost, rain and wind,\u201d says Vix. \u201cWe\u2019re as busy as usual with commercial work but everything is happening later partly because companies are waiting to see what\u2019s happening with Covid. However, theatre and pantomime work has all but disappeared this year for obvious reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe company is best known for its snow, and we don\u2019t need to advertise or promote ourselves; those who need our services just \u2018know\u2019 about us. It\u2019s a bit of a close-knit industry, and our reputation has meant that work just naturally comes in. Likewise we have our own staff but we also know a number of trusted freelance technicians who we can call upon, so we can grow our team very quickly and dynamically.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is changing in the industry is that with digital technology like green screen and the prevalence of computer-based post-production, teams are smaller and schedules are tighter than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of technology we\u2019re also able to work indoors more. Good lighting designers can turn day into night easily and convincingly, and it\u2019s sometimes easier to work indoors where you can control the elements.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur work can take up anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Typically though we are also busy prior to \u2013 and after \u2013 the shoot days themselves. There\u2019s always a lot of prep work and we need to make sure that before everyone else arrives on set we\u2019re achieving the desired look for our client to meet our brief.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the shoot days themselves, we\u2019re on-set constantly, operating machines and making sure everything is OK, then after the shoot there\u2019s always a lot of clearing up to do! Hoovering up a snowy street is a surreal experience but part of the job!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCamera technology has improved enormously, and so our effects have to stand up to greater scrutiny than ever. Whether our snow will be viewed from far away for a wide shot or close up, the effect has to be convincing in high definition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor ground snow we use a biodegradable paper product which lays just like snow. It stands up well to closeup shots and it\u2019s not slippery; on set, there\u2019s a lot of crew and equipment so health and safety is something that\u2019s enormously important. Paper snow was first used in the 1994 film Mary Shelley\u2019s Frankenstein. Dentritic salt – essentialy bath salts – used to be used to create it. I\u2019ve also heard that in the early days of film making, asbestos would also be used as snow\u2026 you definitely wouldn\u2019t get away with that today!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFalling snow uses a completely different technique and our Snowboy machines use a special sort of foam product that is aerated into realistic flakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt melts away leaving no mess and depending on the way it\u2019s deployed, we can control the height at which it dissipates to achieve different effects.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can also be used in a studio as well as outside, and because it\u2019s at room temperature you don\u2019t end up chilling an actor to the bones or melting snow under hot studio lights!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSnow is actually an easier effect to create than rain. Only water looks like water, especially close up, and water needs to be lit really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve created custom tanks for shoots before, which recirculate water and shower it out. For Andy Murray\u2019s appearance in the Jaguar campaign Show Your Edge we created an even rain pattern for a slow-motion camera to film Andy playing tennis in a dark, low-key studio environment. We also showered Miley Cyrus in her video Adore You and we created the wind and rain for the camping retailer Go Outdoors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snowboy Systems can also help to ensure episodes of our favourite dramas go out with a bang. Explosions and pyrotechnics are another specialism. Usually effects like fire are created with gas-fired rings which can be controlled easily.<\/p>\n

Occasionally though there\u2019s the need for a good old traditional explosion with a liquid propellant. On one motoring show Harry had set up the effect, which would see a vehicle blow up in the middle of a quarry.<\/p>\n

A rather ambitious senior member of the production team asked if more propellant could be used as they wanted a really big bang. Harry\u2019s tactfully advised that there was a sufficient quantity already to achieve the desired result. The gentleman was quite insistent that the effect should be \u2018big, big, big.\u2019 Harry assured him his was in safe hands. The cameras rolled. Lights, camera, action\u2026 ka-pow!<\/p>\n

As the car (very, very much) exploded and the shockwave sent a ripple through the production team and all of the equipment, the team member\u2019s series of expletives had to be overdubbed from the final footage and nobody to our knowledge has questioned Harry\u2019s barbecue skills since.<\/p>\n

Working for such high-end clients as Harrods \u2013 the team covered the world\u2019s most famous department store in show one August for the luxury retailer\u2019s pre-Christmas launch \u2013 means a sense of professionalism.<\/p>\n

Whilst it\u2019s a fun, exciting profession, it\u2019s also one that requires creative flair, technical ingenuity and problem-solving ability in equal measure. These days, shoots are tight for time and money.<\/p>\n

Everything in TV and film production is expensive\u2026 and across the media generally, the occasional ego of talent or a \u2018creative\u2019 leads can necessitate a degree of tact. Being able to think on your feet is an essential skill and though the industry is less dependent on gaffer tape these days, Vix points out that there are always several different ways to achieve an effect, and the occasional necessity of a quick fix. To remain cool-headed and practical to achieve a desired effect in a short space of time is a real asset\u2026 Harry and the team are capable of doing just that, hence they\u2019ve earned a reputation as being a safe pair of hands in the special effects industry.<\/p>\n

Of course, you can\u2019t just order an off-the-peg snow-making trailer \u2013 more\u2019s the pity \u2013 so Harry also has to serve as an engineer and make his own rigs and equipment. Much of the equipment he uses is unique and engineered for his purpose, which means not only do his effects help him to produce the desired result on-screen, they also add to his experience creating machines that deliver realistic effects.<\/p>\n

Naturally there are celebrities too. Harry remembers being in the presence of film nobility in the form of Peter O\u2019Toole, whilst Vix enjoyed working alongside one of her favourite actors, Sean Connery, in the 1998 film The Avengers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a faux pas to approach a celebrity during a shoot. Everyone\u2019s busy and everyone has their eye on the production. It just becomes work and the novelty wears off to a large extent,\u201d says Vix.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut occasionally there\u2019s down time and some of the more \u2018famous\u2019 people we\u2019ve worked with have been really lovely!\u201d<\/p>\n

As a rule the company works a season ahead, creating snow in autumn, spring showers in winter and so on. But if you turn on the TV this Christmas and see groceries or festive gifts advertised amid a blanket of snow, we\u2019ll let you into a secret; that commercial hasn\u2019t been shot in Lapland or the Arctic Circle. The fact it looks so convincing, though, is testimony to the skills and creativity of Harry, Vix and the rest of the Snowboy Systems team. So this month, if the fire is so delightful, and if you\u2019ve no place to go, give the crew a call\u2026 and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!<\/p>\n

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