Member in Focus: Carn Burton

We recently caught up with Production Guild Member Carn Burton, Location Manager, working on Gladiator II, Secret Garden, About Time and House of the Dragon. Most recently, Carn worked on this week’s featured release Rose of Nevada, shot in Cornwall, starring Callum Turner and George Mackay. The story follows a mysterious boat boat that returns to a village 30 years after vanishing. Two men join its crew hoping for better fortune. After one voyage, they find themselves transported back in time, mistaken for the original crew.
 

For this week’s Member in Focus, Carn told us about his experiences working on the production and his role in managing rough seas, coastal locations, and discusses just what it takes to be a Location Manager!

Congratulations on the release of Rose of Nevada! Now that it’s out in the world, how does it feel seeing it reach audiences, and what was it like shaping a film so rooted in Cornwall in terms of its locations and atmosphere?

I grew up in West Cornwall and my father was a Newlyn Fisherman, so to work on a local film set in the world of fishing was particularly rewarding. Working with Mark, who is a friend, with a huge talent to boot, was also particularly special.

Director Mark Jenkin has described Cornwall as “the centre of the world.” With your long career working across Cornwall-based productions and units—including House of the Dragon and Taboo - how does that statement resonate with you, and what were those experiences like working here? 

Cornwall is indeed the centre of the known world!

Everyone knows how beautiful it is. People often think of Cornwall as being a sleepy backwater, but historically Cornwall has been a trading centre and the Cornish have been really innovative and outward-looking, with a huge amount of influence worldwide. There is still real community here which is invaluable in the modern world.

Much as I like to go away, Cornwall always draws me back. I’m often working with people I’ve known all my life.  Those relationships make working here a lot more straightforward and enjoyable.

Can you tell us how you first got started in the industry, and what path led you to where you are today? 

Strangely, my love of surfing got me started in the industry. Blue Juice (a Film 4 feature starring Catherine Zeta Jones, Ewan MacGregor etc, set in a surfing community) came to shoot in West Cornwall in the early nineties, and advertised in the local paper for local crew who were immersed in the world of surfing. I went for an interview, and ended up getting a pretty hands-on job working with the Second Unit. 

Production Manager (and Production Guild Member) Anita Overland then asked me and my mate Ed Rutherford (who was a Camera Trainee on Blue Juice - and is now a DoP) to come to London to work on her next project. I ended up working in the Locations Department for the late great Michael Harm, and my locations career grew from there.

Screen Cornwall recently launched a £2.5 million investment fund for film and HETV - how significant is an initiative like that for a region like Cornwall, particularly for local production and location teams? 

This is an amazing new fund, and will undoubtedly encourage projects to shoot here, and to use the region's talented local crew and services. 

It means that local businesses and freelancers can work closer to home,  rather than having to travel away for half the year. And will help to give new talent in Cornwall a first step up the career ladder - the kind of work experience that I was lucky enough to get on Blue Juice, but which was really rare at that time. 

I’m hopeful that it will also give more homegrown projects and talent a chance to get the opportunities and recognition they deserve. 

Looking back on your career as a Supervising Location Manager, what would you say have been some of your key highlights, and do any stand out from Rose of Nevada in particular?  

A peak moment was flying portaloos underslung from a helicopter, very very carefully, on to Tintagel Island (long before the bridge was built between the land and the island) on The Kid who Would be King!

Seriously though, the challenging logistics of shooting House of the Dragon on St.Michael’s Mount, which is a stunning tidal island off Marazion, were a definite career highlight. 
On Rose of Nevada, the greatest joy was perhaps being able to work in a small crew again, just as I did when I first started out here in Cornwall - which is something that I get to do much more rarely now. That feeling of family and community all working together on a project that everyone deeply believes in makes all the long hours worthwhile.

You’ve worked across a wide range of budgets - how does your approach shift between large-scale productions and smaller indie films?  

Whatever the size of the project, you’re always trying to do something that exceeds the funds and resources available. It’s basically the same challenges, just experienced on a different scale.

At the lower end of the budget spectrum, the smaller department size means thatputting up Unit Signs and emptying the bins is everyone's job. You'll often need to find more innovative solutions to challenges. Sometimes you have to reinvent the wheel completely. 

When it isn’t possible to do things in the way we’re typically programmed to do them, it drives innovation. I really enjoy the creativity and teamwork that’s involved in solving seemingly impossible problems together.

On Rose of Nevada, you filmed on a boat- what was that experience like from a locations point of view, and how did it work for the crew day to day? 

Filming at sea is tricky and never cheap. On Rose of Nevada, I especially appreciated working with Marine Co-ordinator and all-round top bloke, Ben Granata. Commercial fishing and fishing boats, combined with unpredictable weather, are inherently dangerous - something that’s captured very powerfully in the film itself. 

As a team, we were able to find practical and affordable solutions that would minimise the length of time that needed to be spent at sea, ensuring a more controlled environment and keeping the crew on the wharf where possible. Despite those restrictions, we were still able to deliver a convincing end result that feels very much like being on a real fishing boat at sea (and I should know - as I experienced that many times with my own dad as a boy!). 

What do you enjoy most about working on indie projects? 

Working with smaller and more intimate crews is always a more enjoyable experience - you have time to build closer working relationships, and to get to know people’s needs and ways of working.  Working on things that break the mould creatively always keeps it exciting too - it’s always refreshing to work with Mark, as he brings such a clear vision and distinct approach to the film-making process. Mark and his producer Denzil are undoubtedly going on to great success so nice to be a very small part of that,

Are there any Cornish locations you’ve worked on over the years that stand out as personal favourites?  

I can’t help but have a fondness for Charlestown Harbour. That’s somewhere that has probably been used more times on film than anywhere else in Cornwall. It is an amazingly versatile location, and always fun to film at. In part, that’s because it looks stunning on screen, but also because a fantastic community of maritime characters has gathered and flourished there. Many were drawn there by their love for the traditional boats that have been based at the harbour since its closure as a China Clay Port in the early nineties. And they're all highly skilled at what they do, often eccentric and a lot of fun.

On a lighter note, what’s your go-to item from the craft table on a long shoot 

Fizzy water and a pasty, but only when on home territory! (Never eat a pasty outside Cornwall, it's a crime).

Finally, what advice would you give to someone wanting to move into locations, and what’s kept you interested in the role after all these years? 

Look after the places you film at and the people there, they will be there long after your current project. Those relationships are vital to the smooth running of any future film project - and to the community in which you live and build your life.

Stay open-minded and seek out fresh opportunities to learn and try new ways of working. For me, discovering new places, seeing old places through fresh eyes, and meeting and working with interesting people from all walks of life keeps me interested.

New Releases

Criminal Record (Series 2) (Apple TV)

Guild Members: Christian Rigg

Partners: Entertainment Partners, LocationOne, Loop Talent, Mission Digital,

SetKeeper, Team Engine, TPH Global

Half Man (BBC)

Guild Members: Paul Imrie, Paul Zieleniec

Partners: Entertainment Partners, LocationOne, Loop Talent, Panalux, SetKeeper, SK Media Rooms, Supply2Location, Team Engine, TPH Global

Mint (BBC)

Guild Members: Elizabeth Edgar, Gerry Tyrrell, Paula Fleming

Rose of Nevada (Film4 / BFI)

Guild Members: Antonio Austoni, Carn Burton

Partners: 6ft From The Spotlight, Digital Orchard Group, Facilities by ADF, KODAK,

LocationOne, SetKeeper, Team Engine, Tysers Insurance