September has been a fun and frantic month of historical period filming here at Centre Screen, as production continues on The Postal Museum’s Mail Rail Experience.
During four days at Malcolm Ryan Studios in Wimbledon, we filmed over 20 actors in period costume – and of course Tibs the cat made his on-screen debut. The entire 1930s background of the film will be created and brought to life in post-production using authentic props, CGI imagery, and original archive photography. At the same time we will develop the music – using a variety of period instrumentation to evoke 1930s London – and enhance it with authentic street sounds and recorded location dialogue, giving the whole piece a rhythmic, industrial sound.
Featuring clever choreography, and a different experience depending on whereabouts on the train visitors sit, the show will be projected onto the walls of the train platform. This means a projection 22 metres in length, using 7 x 16:10 HD projectors to create an image size of nearly 9000 pixels – over double the resolution length of an IMAX cinema film!
We spoke to Andy Richmond (Access and Learning Manager) and Emma Harper (Exhibition Officer) from The Postal Museum about their experiences on set…
What was your favourite part of the week?
Emma: Meeting all of the actors, I think, and chatting to them about what they thought of the filming – the way they transformed once their costume and make-up were on, and how enthusiastic they were about the project. Sometimes when you’ve been working on a project for a long time you forget to get excited about it.
Andy: I liked the choreography [of the platform workers]. It was really good to see Richard’s [Director] vision come to reality right in front of me. That was pretty cool!
What surprised you the most?
Andy: The time it took to do all the different shots, all the different sequences and different cuts. You forget the amount of time that goes into preparation, setting the camera up and so on.
Emma: It also surprised me how quickly you got through everything given that that’s what you had to do for about every shot and it all went so smoothly.
What did you learn from the experience?
Emma: I think I learnt a lot about camera shots and how everything matches together. It was interesting to see all the different techniques especially the flexibility green screen gives you.
Andy: The many varied roles of the team. Everyone had an innate understanding of what needed to be done and when so it all worked very smoothly and efficiently.
What about seeing your objects being utilised?
Emma: When I collected the replica post box for filming I thought – oh this looks a bit the worse for wear and needed a good dust, but as soon as it was on set and the actors were using it it really brought the objects back to life.
What was your favourite costume and why?
Andy: I think Kathleen’s because she just looked like she stepped out of history!
Emma: Yes, all the costumes and the make-up were really good, because they did just transform them. Their faces just looked like they came from 1930s.
Andy: Especially the ladies that were shopping – they definitely didn’t look like they are from the 21st century.
Who was your favourite character and why?
Andy: The Colonel. He was my favourite! His mannerisms and the way he handles himself was excellent– he brought it to life and made the role quite funny!
Emma: Obviously Hector [Tibs the cat]! Also, the old woman, because she was literally in character from the minute she stepped through the door. When she came in and I was taking photos she gave me this piercing stare like she does with Kathleen.
Was there enough cake to eat?
Emma: The food was really good! It does make a difference!
Andy: We always have loads of cake in the office.
Emma: It was up to office standard I think.
Andy: Our nickname should be Educaketion…!
The Postal Museum is a museum and this is an educational experience. Can you tell us a bit more about that in terms of your feeling about this platform and how you have seen this project progress?
Emma: One of the main things we want to do is to inspire people and make them realise how important the postal service was in connecting people – like social media today. It really was a part of everyone’s lives and I think this shoot and the film do that really well. The personal connection really comes across. It was really great that all the people on set were really excited to come and see it next year.
Andy: It’s putting the letters and the objects into the context of history. They weren’t just isolated items; they were studied and looked at and they were part of everyday lives, so it is bringing them back to what they were originally created for. I think it does bring it to life – and we tried very hard to make it fun. You know, it was fun on the set and everyone did a good job and they enjoyed it.
