Ces i benwythnos rhagorol, yn gweithio gyda thri dawnsiwr a pherfformwyr rhyfeddol i wisgo a bywhau ein gwisgoedd Rebecca. Rydyn ni yn creu ffilm i fod rhan o’r arddangosfa Cragen Beca yn Amgueddfa Sir Gar canol mis Mai.
Diolch enfawr i Marc Rees, Osian Meilir a Jonathan Pugh am eu brwdfrydedd mewn gwisgo lan ac am ffeindio eu ‘Becca mewnol’. Diolch i’r artist symudiad Simon Whitehead am ei gwaith meddylgar ac am helpu i ddatblygu’r perfformiadau.
Diolch hefyd i wneuthurwr ffilm, Jacob Whittaker a Jay, ei chynorthwyydd. Diolch i Hilton am adael ni defnyddio ei sgubor ffantastig am y ffilmio.
Rwy’n edrych ymlaen i rhannu lluniau o’r y dydd yn fuan.
I had such a brilliant weekend working with three amazing dancers and performers to wear and animate the Rebecca costumes. We’re making a film that will be part of the Cragen Beca exhibition at Carmarthenshire Museum in mid-May.
Thank you so much to Marc Rees, Osian Meilir and Jonathan Pugh for inhabiting the costumes so brilliantly and finding their ‘inner Becca’! Thank you to movement artist Simon Whitehead for his thoughtful work helping to develop the performances.
Thanks also to filmmaker Jacob Whittaker and assistant Jay as well as Hilton who let us use his beautiful Carmarthenshire barn as a location for the filming.
Looking forward to sharing stills from the shoot very soon.
Ddoe, es i am dro i bentref Talog yn Sir Gâr gyda’r cerddor Ceri Owen-Jones a’r gwneuthurwr ffilmiau, Jacob Whittaker. Mae Ceri wedi treulio rhai misoedd yn perffeithio ei dechneg chwythu trwmped cragen dro ac fe aethon ni â’r gragen gyda ni i’w chwythu mewn gwahanol leoliadau o amgylch Talog.
Roedd y trwmped cragen dro wreiddiol, Cragen Beca, yn perthyn i landlord Tafarn y Castell yn Nhalog a chafodd ei guddio yn y dafarn am dros 100 mlynedd cyn iddo gael ei roi i Amgueddfa Caerfyrddin yn y 1980au. Nid oes hawl gennym ni i chwythu Cragen Beca. Cafodd y gragen y mae Ceri wedi bod yn ei defnyddio ei darganfod mewn siop hen bethau yn nhref Caerfyrddin yn 2020.
Dwi wedi bod yn crwydro lleoliadau yn Nhalog dros y misoedd diwethaf ac fe aethon ni fore Sadwrn i ddechrau ffilmio. Yn y diwedd, fe wnaethon ni ddefnyddio pedwar lleoliad gwahanol yn Nhalog a’r cyffiniau gan gwrdd â phobl wych yn y pentref yn ystod y dydd. Roedd Neuadd Bentref Talog ar agor am goffi a chacen ac felly fe wnaethon ni alw heibio ganol bore a chwrdd â Heather sy’n rhedeg gwefan a thudalen Facebook Talog yn ogystal â Kevin sy’n helpu i redeg neuadd y pentref.
Gan deimlo’n effro ac yn egnïol, fe aethon ni i’r bryniau uwchben Talog i chwilio am olygfa banoramig dros y pentref. Ar ôl tynnu i mewn i fuarth fferm Penrallt ar ben lôn serth, fe wnaethom gyfarfod â Bethan a Rhun sy’n ffermio moch maes Tamworth hardd mewn modd cynaliadwy. Fe wnaethon nhw roi caniatâd i ni ffilmio yn yr eiddo ac aeth Rhun â ni i’r caeau ymhellach i fyny’r bryn lle’r oedd yr olygfa ar draws y pentref yn berffaith.
Roedd clywed y gragen yn atseinio ar draws bryniau gogledd Sir Gâr a dychmygu’r gragen wreiddiol yn canu i alw ar ferched Beca yr ardal yn brofiad eithriadol.
Yesterday I headed off to the Carmarthenshire village of Talog with musician Ceri Owen-Jones and filmmaker Jacob Whittaker. Ceri has spent some months perfecting his conch trumpet blowing technique and we took the shell out with us to blow in various locations around Talog.
The original Cragen Beca shell trumpet belonged to the landlord of the Castle Inn in Talog and was kept hidden in the pub for over 100 years before it was donated to Carmarthen Museum in the 1980s. We are not permitted to blow Cragen Beca, the shell Ceri has been working with was found in an antique shop in Carmarthen town in 2020.
I have been scouting out locations in Talog over the last few months and we set out on Saturday morning to start filming. We ended up using four different locations in and around Talog and during the day we met some wonderful people in the village. Talog Village Hall was open for coffee and cake and we dropped in mid-morning where we met Heather who runs the Talog website and Facebook page as well as Kevin who helps run the village hall.
Feeling refreshed and energised, we wound our way up to the hills above Talog in search of a panoramic view over the village. Pulling in to Penrallt farmyard at the top of a steep lane, we met Bethan and Rhun who farm beautiful free range, sustainably farmed Tamworth pigs. They generously allowed us to film at the property and Rhun took us to the fields further up the hill from the farm where the view across the village was perfect.
Hearing the shell resonate across the north Carmarthenshire hills and imagining the original shell sounding out to muster the Rebeccaites of the area to action was an extraordinary experience.
cragenbeca.co.uk 