Filming a recent scene for Emmerdale

If you have even a passing interest in U.K. soap operas you will
likely have seen the recent dramatic set piece in Emmerdale, where a limo crashes into a frozen lake, leading to the untimely demise of the much-loved character Amy, played by Natalie-Ann Jamieson.

I was fortunate to have been a part of this shoot, and I must say, I am extremely proud of how it all turned out! 

My role on the project was as the lead safety diver in the underwater team. I’m far more used to taking the role of Cinematographer so it was interesting to do something I don’t get to do that much.

The safety side of things wouldn’t come until day four however, first of all we had to build the set.

We filmed the sequence in a small dive training pool based just outside Leeds and to sell the idea we were submerged in a frozen lake; we had to construct a set to be dressed on the day of the shoot. This meant building what was essentially a big black box. We handled the underwater scaffolding, and the topside scaffolders built the support structure and lighting gantry. We also had to build in platforms so talent could access the water and also, in the event of an emergency, exit the water quickly and safely.

When the scaffolding was constructed, we had the task of mounting four huge blackouts to give the pool the feeling of an endless abyss and also to block out any light so the scene could be lit in a controlled environment. 

This process took two days to complete but was actually a lot of fun. I can now safely add “SCUBA Scaffolder” to my list of areas of expertise as well!

Day three of the shoot was all about camera tests and then it was on to the best bit, day four, the shoot.

For the duration of the day my principal role was that of safety for both Natalie-Ann and her stunt double, Tracey. Tracey was a complete pro and a dream to work with, having had prior experience with shoots like this but for Natalie-Ann, this was completely new.

My first priority when working with talent, especially nervous talent, is to build a rapport with them and try my best to put them at ease. It is completely natural to be anxious about being submerged under water for prolonged periods of time so having them feel comfort from me being there with them is vital.

The first thing we did was to have Natalie-Ann breathe underwater from a regulator. If she needed air whilst in the pool, she needed to know how to clear the regulator so she can breathe safely and she picked this up very quickly, gaining more confidence on each try.

I made sure she knew that when she was in the pool, I would never be more than an arm’s length or a fin kick away. If she needed it, I would physically lift her from the water, all she needed to concentrate on was her performance.

Prior to shooting the in-water sequences, I also assisted the production team by dressing the set, this meant adding various props such as twigs, branches, and leaves to the water to give it a more natural look.

The most fun part of this was putting in situ, the dummy dead body of the character Nate, which would form a big reveal moment in the sequence. This was a very heavy prop which, as most things don’t, didn’t quite act how the production team wanted whilst in the water so it took a fair bit of wrangling to put it in place but we managed to, just in time for the main scenes to be filmed.

This was not a straightforward process for Natalie-Ann. It involved me physically dragging her underwater and holding her down while we waited for “action” to be called, in some shots, I literally had to hold her down by her ankles before bringing her back to the surface. She was cold, under pressure, completely out of her comfort-zone and handled it all incredibly well. I would even dare to say she might have quite enjoyed it…Well, at least maybe a little bit.

We managed to wrap dead on time, talent was happy, the director was happy, the crew was happy and we were happy, all a sure sign of a job well done.

Friday was the final day of the job and involved tearing everything down to have the pool back to normal, something I managed to do on my own in only a couple of hours.

Seeing the end result on television was fantastic, the whole crew did an amazing job of delivering such a huge, dramatic sequence and it truly was a privilege to be a small part of it. I also cannot speak highly enough of everyone involved from Emmerdale, they were a joy to work with and I would jump at the chance to work with them again.

If you haven’t seen the episode yet, I highly recommend seeing if you can find it, it’s well worth a look!