Film-set assistant
A film crew turned-up in the area, getting use of National Trust land
to film a scene from a re-make of "The Wicked Lady" directed by
Michael Winner.
They needed labourers, and us locals pitched-in.
The whole preparation of the set and filming was an interesting
experience.
I was present in the making of cinema history, as this was the first
mainstream-release film that had a female "topless" (no attire above
the waist) whipping scene.
That in itself had its technical interests. They had three levels of
whip.
-
the real one which swings and "cracks" in the full way but would do
serious harm if it contacted a person
-
an "intermediate" whip providing fairly realistic motion and would do
only limited harm if an action were misjudged
-
a "stunt" whip which could not do harm to a person but its movement
capability was limited
and the use of the three levels of whip had to be carefully cycled
through creating the single flowing story told from the various
distances and viewing directions.
The real actress receiving the whipping had to perform, as she faced
the camera, but a stuntwoman stood in for the lead actress to perform
the whipping. She had an obvious expertise and enthusiasm for the
activity.
Details of the film including the cast can be looked-up on-line if of
interest.
(R. Smith, 30Dec2017, 02Jan2018)