Using the Manor as a Film and Drama Location

IFilming at the Manor begins with the recce

Filming at the Manor is not merely borrowing a backdrop; it is a shoot in which the movement of people, the position of equipment and the distance from the furnishings are settled one by one. Your butler asks the intent of the production and suggests scenes from all 11 zones: the dining room, the study, the fireplace room, the bedroom, the gallery and more.

Please plan for a maximum of six people. The number — camera crew, cast and those handling costume and equipment — and the movements of each are confirmed on the recce.

IIConfirming angles and furnishings on the recce

Your butler walks the Manor with you and asks the angles you wish to shoot and where the cast will stand. Chairs and desks you wish to move, silver and porcelain to be placed in the background, and the armour and hall clock to be filmed untouched are distinguished, and the arrangement for the day is recorded.

A recce is the time spent on site confirming angles, light, sound and the movement of people and equipment, so as to reduce the decisions to be made on the day. If the director or cinematographer shows your butler the positions they want to see, we can check in turn: doors open and closed, seated and standing, angles with and without the furnishings.

Please use the antique furnishings under your butler's guidance. What may be moved and whether protection is needed is confirmed on site, piece by piece. Listing the furnishings needed in shooting order lets the changes from scene to scene proceed calmly on the day.

One Manor, eleven scenes.

Your butler asks how people and equipment will move, and guides you to the zones that suit the production.

IIIThe quote is built from time, numbers and scenes

On the basis of the recce, your butler sets out the hours of use, the number of people (up to six), the zones required and the handling of the furnishings. The basis of Location / Full Day is 12 hours (9am–9pm) at ¥216,800 incl. tax. The chauffeured transfer between the Manor and five points including Tokyo Teleport Station accompanies your plan. On some days the vehicle is unavailable, so availability is confirmed when you book.

A location quote takes 12 hours (9am–9pm), including load-in, as its basis and confirms how much of set-up, costume changes, scene changes, pack-down and restoration falls within the hours of use. Please write out the preparation and pack-down you have in mind, and confirm the scope of work at the quote stage.

If a butler is to appear in the production, please discuss in advance, separating hands, back views and scenes in which the face is recognisable. We ask whether you prefer a male or female butler, whether there are requirements for costume or gestures, and whether the images will also be used as stills, and confirm what we can accommodate.

IVLoad-in begins with protecting the house

On the day, your butler receives you and attends the load-in of equipment and costume. Floors, doors, tables and any other point that equipment will approach are checked first; the protection required and the materials the crew will bring are agreed in advance, and each scene is arranged by the method confirmed.

Please tell us the size and quantity of what is to be brought in before the quote. Deciding in advance the route through the building's car park and lift, where things will be set down once inside, and where empty cases will go means no one hesitates near the furnishings.

The arrangement is agreed with your butler so that passages are not blocked and the paths of cast and equipment do not cross. Separating costume and props by scene, and keeping what is not in use out of frame and off the route, lets even a small crew work calmly.

VDuring the shoot, the butler tends everything outside the frame

Your butler remains in the Manor, helping to move furnishings, work doors, and check lighting and props. Both male and female butlers are in residence, so if you wish to place a butler within a scene, please tell us in advance.

Assisting a shoot does not mean deciding its content; it means keeping the house's setting and safety while placing doors, chairs, silver, porcelain and the rest where they are needed. On cue, your butler opens the double doors, sets down the silver in white gloves, and returns each piece to its place as the scene changes.

Between takes, too, the position and safety of the furnishings are checked. You are welcome to bring food and drink, though meals are not served. Keeping the break area, the place for drinks, and the tableware used on camera separate from what is used at rest also helps preserve continuity.

In any scene of this house, your butler will take a commemorative photograph.

Even the movement of a door becomes part of the scene.

Your butler arranges the furnishings and the doors, stepping into the production only at the moments required.

VIAfter pack-down, restoration is confirmed

Once equipment and costume have been carried out, your butler returns the furnishings to their places. Protection is removed, and floors, doors, furniture, silver and porcelain are checked in turn until the house is as it was before the shoot.

Restoration means more than carrying out the equipment: the chairs turned, the props moved and the lighting adjusted for the shoot are all returned to the setting you found on arrival and confirmed. Your butler and the person in charge of the shoot walk the same route, checking for anything left behind and the condition of the house.

Should any damage or marks be found, the condition is shared on the spot. Please confirm at the quote stage how much of pack-down and restoration falls within the 12 hours (9am–9pm). After the final scene, the schedule allows time for packing, load-out and the walk-through.

VIIShoots suited to full-day use

Film and drama shoots that move through several zones, with repeated costume changes and lighting adjustments, suit full-day use. From the study to the dining room, from the fireplace room to the gallery, your butler prepares the next setting as the scene moves.

In the study, an English 1980s mahogany twin-pedestal desk and a black leather captain's chair; in the dining room, the yew table and the nine-light Maria Theresa chandelier; in the fireplace room, the wine-red sofa and the electric fire: each changes the character of a scene.

For a short shoot or a single scene, please also see the list of photography plans. Send us the purpose, dates, numbers and scenes required, and your butler will suggest the most suitable way to use the house.

VIIILight and sound: the production's standard is set on the recce

Light within the Manor is made by combining the warm glow of chandeliers and candlesticks with the lighting you bring. The nine lights of the dining room, the three of the study and the six of the fireplace room each photograph differently, so please set your standard for colour and brightness in the first scene.

In a windowless house, the weather outside has little effect; in exchange, the placement of lighting decides the impression of people and furnishings.

For productions recording dialogue or sound, separate the sounds used in the scene from those to be stopped: the electric fire, the floor-standing clock, the opening and closing of doors. Loud sound and use after 9pm require prior discussion, so please tell us when enquiring if your plans involve volume.

IXContinuity between scenes is carried by photographs

Continuity means being able to return chairs, tableware, costume and props to the same state even when the shooting order differs from the order of the story. Your butler handles the furnishings, but it is important that continuity within the production is checked against the crew's own records.

In which hand the silver bell sits, where the quill points on the desk, how far the double doors stand open: take a reference frame before shooting and share it with the scene number. Your butler refers to that photograph when preparing the next setting and returns the house's pieces to the same positions.

Silver and porcelain are brought out and put away by your butler. With sets as extensive as the twelve-piece Christofle Marly for six, or the floral, gilt-edged Bernardaud Volubilis, specifying the single piece to be used in advance makes each scene change clear.

XYour enquiry: production, numbers, scenes and equipment

An enquiry about a shoot does not require you to disclose the title. It tells your butler, as far as is needed to judge how the house will be used, whether the work is video or stills, which scenes will be shot and what will be brought in. For unreleased productions, you may consult us on the basis of the settings and movements required alone.

Please write down your preferred dates, the hours from load-in to restoration, the breakdown of up to six people, the candidate zones, equipment and costume, and whether sound or naked flame is involved. If a butler is to appear, please also state separately how they will be shown and where the images will be used.

Having heard the details, your butler sets out the points to confirm on the recce. Whether to begin with the doors of the dining room opening, or with quiet hands in the study: once the first shot is decided, the route through the house falls into place.