Recollections of filming Dancing on the Edge
Having finally watched all the episodes of
Dancing On The Edge, we now understand where our short sequences with
Ermintrude fitted into the story. At the
time we had no idea of the story itself, let alone what Ermintrude was supposed
to be doing there.
The first shoot was in early December
2011 and Robert Spall and his partner Jo delivered Ermintrude to a spot on the
A25 where I could drive to the location at Addington Palace. On arrival I learned that the shoot would be
after dark and Ermintrude took part in a number of rehearsals before then. All I knew was that I had to drive a short
distance following a vintage sports car onto the forecourt of the building with
some musicians inside the bus.
Various camera angles were tried out
at this stage and in one run Stephen Poliakoff and the cameraman sat perched
above the rear seats in the sports car behind Chiwetel Ejiofor (who was to
drive) and Wunmi Mosaku who were playing playing Louis & Carla. The car had been driven to the location by a
chap who had explained to me that there was a catch that had to be moved out of
the way before reverse gear could be engaged and had to be replaced to prevent
reverse being engaged accidentally. He
positioned the car immediately in front of the bus for each rehearsal and shoot
and on one occasion forgot to replace the catch.
As the word ‘Action!’ came through our
radios, Mr Ejiofor set off briskly in reverse before stopping just as Mr
Poliakoff was about to be inserted into the radiator and the starting handle
was about to be inserted into the sports car.
The look on the upturned face of the famous director will remain with me
for a long time. I was unable to hear
his comments.
We set off home quite late and I
arrived at about 1.00 am having neglected to advise my beloved that my hair had
been cut, my beard shaved off and I was sporting a black thin pencil
moustache. Her screams when she first
saw me next morning could have woken the village.
The next shoot took place on a
bitterly cold day in February 2012. The
location was Whitehall Place not far from Trafalgar Square. It became clear that this scene involved
Ermintrude leaving the National Liberal Club (doubling as the exterior of The
Imperial Hotel) with the band. Again I
had no idea of the storyline. From time
to time we would rehearse a scene which involved the musicians leaving the
hotel with their instruments, boarding the bus and being driven off. There were long periods of complete boredom
and at one point a Japanese lady came up to me and asked what was going
on. I replied that we were making a
film. She asked me what it was about. On reflection, I think it was a combination
of boredom and hunger and the onset of hypothermia that made me reply
“It’s about Winston Churchill”
She thanked me and went off, only to
return a few moments later with a small group of Japanese tourists.
“This gentleman is going to tell us
all about Mr Winston Churchill and his film”, she gushed. I let them have it. I included a reference to a nearby vintage
Rolls Royce as his car and ascribed roles to one or two of the actors who were
in view.
I like to think that when Dancing on the Edge is shown in Japan, a
small group of ladies may sit through five episodes awaiting the appearance of
Winston S Churchill.
