On the 11th of December 2018, together with the creators of the Historia bez cenzury [History Without Censorship] YouTube channel, we wrapped filming on the new documentary. The result is an unusual film showing the secrets of the work of conservators and people responsible for the displays in the Wilanów palace and gardens. The film will premiere before the end of December!
Earlier – both this year and last year – much filming was done on the ongoing works and their effects. Key scenes were recorded in December. For over 6 hours, the film’s narrator, Wojciech Drewniak, talked about all the issues, and the camera recorded his brilliant comments, as well as funny slips of the tongue (although to be honest, there were not many of them).
What did it look like? Individual shots were recorded in several locations in the palace and several in the courtyard and gardens. The whole project took 6 hours, although only 10 minutes of the filmed material ended up in the film. Sometimes Wojciech Drewniak simply spoke to the camera, but there are also surprises – shots with props or scenes filmed on the roof of the palace. It wasn’t an easy task – the weather in December is not ideal for this type of production, and sunlight runs out as early as 2:30 p.m. Therefore, everything had to be organised and carried out very efficiently. Wojciech Drewniak learned individual lines from the script by heart, so we didn’t use any boards or prompters. The most difficult and time-consuming filming was done in the palace cloakroom. In it, the narrator proudly walks on a special mat, which, for the sake of simplicity, resembles an ordinary carpet.
The film is maintained in the convention of Woody Allen’s format of “Everything you ever wanted to know about... but were afraid to ask”. Thus, we take on the questions – why is it usually very dark in some rooms in the palace, do we really show only original artworks, why can’t people go everywhere and see all the exhibits, and what do the various strange objects– dehumidifiers, mats, roller blinds, etc. – do in the rooms...
The official presentation of the finished film took place on 27 December at 2:00 p.m. in the Villa Intrata building on the premises of the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów.
