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The Great Storm is a group of four episodes of the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away'', broadcast between 5 and 8 September 2011 on Network Seven. The episodes focused on a severe storm which crosses over the fictional town of Summer Bay and leaves several of the serial's characters in danger. ''Home and Away's'' producer Cameron Welsh first announced intention to screen the storyline in June 2011. It was self-described to be the "biggest stunt/disaster storyline" to ever feature in the serial. In the months prior to its screening, the cast filmed a series of stunts for the episodes on a shoot lasting eleven days. It marked the first time that ''Home and Away'' used a wide combination of special effects such as FX, green screen, wind machines and rain machines. Along with more time than usual spent filming the block of episodes, the storyline became ''Home and Away's'' most expensive to date. Welsh said that the use of machinery became problematic during filming so additional dialogue recordings were added to the scenes during post-production. The storyline was promoted by the Seven Network and overseas broadcaster Channel 5, in the form of televisual adverts. One of the serial's cast members revealed that one character would die in the disaster, but details were kept under wraps until transmission. The storyline follows the struggle the characters encounter when the storm hits. Various characters become stranded in different locations while the majority take shelter at Summer Bay High where an evacuation centre is set up. The characters of Harvey Ryan (Marcus Graham) and Roo Stewart (Georgie Parker) become stranded when their boat capsizes. While Romeo Smith (Luke Mitchell) takes on the role of the "hero" and tries to save lives. Other segments include the character of Leah Patterson-Baker (Ada Nicodemou) nearly losing her unborn child and the roof collapsing at Summer Bay High leaving the characters of Colleen Smart (Lyn Collingwood), Bianca Scott (Lisa Gormley) and Heath Braxton (Dan Ewing) trapped in the wreckage. When the storm passes guest character Tegan Callahan (Saskia Burmeister) is killed in a car accident. The episodes rated well on the Seven Network averaging at 1.131 million viewers for the whole block of episodes. The ratings fared less in the UK staying below the million mark. The storyline was not popular with Erin Miller from ''TV Week'' who opined that the special effects used ruined many scenes. While Jaci Stephen from the ''Daily Mail'' said that disaster storylines were a repetitive feature in the programme and said that Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) seemed to be the same character rescuing others in each instance. ==Creation and development== In June 2011, the serial's producer Cameron Welsh revealed that ''Home and Away'' would air a special week of episodes featuring a storm. In July, Welsh told entertainment website Digital Spy that there were plans for the "biggest stunt/disaster storyline" that production team had ever undertaken. He said they were in the final stages of post-production meaning that it would come to air "very soon". In August, Rhiannon Fish who plays April Scott told ''TV Week'' that the storyline would focus on a "deadly storm" that crosses the path of Summer Bay. Fish said that filming of the storyline was "full on" and wind and rain machines were installed on set to create the correct environment. Fish added that the cast felt like they were filming during an actual storm. Ada Nicodemou who plays Leah Patterson-Baker revealed that one character would die in the storm, but was not permitted to reveal their identity. She also said her character Leah would become trapped inside the Pier Diner and worried about the whereabouts of her son VJ Patterson (Felix Dean). As she is pregnant, when she discovers bleeding she presumes that she has miscarried. Nicodemou said the ill turn is down to the stress of the storm. Welsh later revealed more details on the storyline and the effects it would have on the characters. The main storyline threads feature the characters of Harvey Ryan (Marcus Graham) and Roo Stewart (Georgie Parker) facing danger when their boat capsizes during "rough seas". Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) and Romeo Smith (Luke Mitchell) then go on the trail to save their lives. The serial's local school, Summer Bay High would become the "evacuation centre". Then a collapsed roof then traps the characters of Bianca Scott (Lisa Gormley) and Heath Braxton (Dan Ewing).〔 ''The Great Storm'' is one of ''Home and Away's'' most expensive storylines to date. The episodes were filmed on a budget which was double the amount in costs that are needed to produce a "usual block" of episodes. Extra money was spent on additional days of shooting, wind and rain machines, FX and Computer-generated imagery. Filming took place for eleven days, five were spent on location while the rest were studio based. The shoot lasted three days extra than the typical amount of days required to film. In the filming of the episodic block green screen and special effects were used. ''Home and Away'' previously had not used a combination of both, but Welsh said they needed to because it "brings the reality of the storm into our studio sets". While filming scenes on location shoots they were used to "intensify the overall feel of the storm". The cast also played out stunts and filmed in excess water.〔 The scenes in which Romeo and Alf rescue characters from a capsized boat were filmed on location at Cattai National Park. Rain machines and light towers were installed. Despite cold conditions Welsh said the cast morale had remained high because they felt they were "part of something special". Welsh said seeing the cast pull together creating "something so massive" was a memorable moment. He added that Luke Mitchell had to endure the worst conditions for a prolonged period of time while filming and praised his portrayal.〔 Due to heightened set noise from the wind and rain machines, their cast members dialogue could not be heard in initial filming. A number of weeks later they added additional dialogue recordings to the scenes, this was the "biggest difficulty" that was faced during the production process.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Great Storm (Home and Away)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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