Was on set last week for an upcoming feature film, starring a certain Mr Hoskins.It's called Weighed In, and it's about print workers in the 80s. We were involved with the riot scene set outside Fortress Wapping. Spooky things about this was
1, in 1986 our 4 month old Mk2 luton was mobbed on the Highway by print workers. We were working for a company in Wapping Wall at the time, and they thought we were carrying print. So been there, done that!
2, the empty warehouse it was filmed at in Isleworth used to be occupied by Jigsaw, and we delivered hanging garments there many many times throughout the 90s. It was very odd backing up to the shutters again! Same lutons, different job.....
It was a night shoot. Got there at 2pm, and waited for dark. Had lunch (meatballs and rice, yum!). Then prepped the lutons and Bev, Connie the conservatory (the Dormobile bus) was on support. The programme '35 mm' were doing a 'making of' report and Buzz the Lurcher ended up being featured!!
Waiting for dark out of shot
Buzz has his 15 mins of fame!
Backed up to the shutters in the loading bay - First Positions for the lutons
The tension mounts - one luton to another
A view of the picket line through the windscreen.....
Trapped by the pickets and the police line.....
Oh yeah, here's the police
Guess the year it's set in?
Bob's in the back somewhere.....
The sign says it all really!
Bev in full uniform
Sorry about the picture quality, seems me camera on the phone didn't like the dark......
On set - Weighed In
- FredTransit
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:49 pm
- Location: London
- Contact:
Re: On set - Weighed In
I remember those riots very well - I was managing a team of computer field engineers at the time, and Wapping was recruiting for engineers with pay of 2 or 3 times what the rest of the industry was paying, so suddenly I lost about 30% of my team. It was a dead-end job though....
Good pics - thanks for that!
Good pics - thanks for that!
Some people are like Slinkies - they serve no useful purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them downstairs.
- FredTransit
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:49 pm
- Location: London
- Contact:
Re: On set - Weighed In
What I couldn't believe was, given the plant's close proximity to the major tourist attraction that is Tower Bridge, how long they allowed the riots to go on. It seemed they kicked off on a daily basis.
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 23 guests