Just recently we filmed an episode of 'Casualty', the second this year and both throwing some hapless character (read stunty) over an edge. This one had our erstwhile individual look at his phone & plummet to a bashed & trapped right leg. Over the years I dread to think how many dead bodies we've retrieved or thrown over or down dangerous locations. Indeed the Midsomer Murder mugs we were presented with had "Killing people not the environment" printed on them. So, why am I actually writing about a recent job you say, where's the history...Ah well. The stunty who had to do the most recent dive & dramatic fall had worked many years ago on a film using a cruise ship at sea. He then had to dive some 60m into the water from the ship.
The ship pictured right in fact, oh who's that gent making a quick exit?
That believe it or not is the Captain! I am here to tell you that the urban legend of the power of a Captains uniform has a magnetic & hypnotic effect on passengers on cruise ships or planes is absolutely true. Ok so the uniform was purloined for an on-camera cameo, something that we've done to be close to the action for safety many times. Fact is if you study enough productions, you will find us milling around as terrorists on planes, police frogmen, S.A.S operatives, criminals, or just in plain sight.
One such occasion was an episode of Silent Witness, body is reteived from the Thames in London and walked to the S.W team during a long crane shot. Trouble was we were in dry suits from the body retrieval and had to walk it on a Mibs to Emelia and crew for initial thoughts to camera. For the walk the body was an expensive dummy and after a few takes of this crane bearing down to finally catch Emelias' proclamation of deceased, we were caught on camera for minutes. Well as usual someone got up to mischief and it was many takes in when camera asked how come the dummy was giving the finger from a raised right arm...I put it down to rigor when the 1st AD looked at me !
How did all this start ? you ask. We have to go back even further for that particular story. Long, long ago when Tackleberry was a track suited blonde beach adonis, he happened to weald a sledgehammer, long before Chris Hemsworth. I've left a couple of clues....
