Arriving on the trenches was a surreal and brilliant experience. I have always personally had a great interest in The Great War and to step into a historically accurate dug-out was just mind-blowingly cool. After we got our actors into wardrobe and make-up it almost became uncanny. Just seeing all our pre-production work come to life was hugely rewarding.
One of the days highlights came while I was holding a pillowcase full of dirt. We were filming our first scene where our characters were interrupted by a distant shelling, I recommended a little filming tip I learnt while making 'Hungerford' which was to sling some gravel into a sheet and chuck it over our actors after the supposed boom goes off. We had our trench supervisor rig up some pyrotechnics and we were good to go. Me and another production assistant stood high above the scene with our little pillowcase waiting for our que. We were waiting for a long old time though as several things caused the shot to muck up and reset. When the explosion went off for real though, everybody had a heart attack since we forgot it was happening. Our dirt cloud just went everywhere as a result - we panicked upon hearing what might as well been the end of days.
During a break in the filming I inadvertently observed the whole process from a different pair of eyes. Instead of seeing the set and characters I saw the passionate crew behind the film-making process. I had an overwhelming sense that I was amongst some exceptionally talented people who were all performing their roles to the best of their abilities to make something special.
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