If you are watching The Great War – An Elegy programme on BBC2 let me introduce you to those who took part in the filming in Etretat. Can it really have been over a year ago?
Here we are with the Porte d’Aval in the background which was a favourite subject for Edie’s sketches; see particularly Volume 3 of the diaries. That’s the director, Zoë Silver, on the left peering into the monitor to check the last bit of filming. In the background is Simon Armitage reading extracts from the diaries. With his back to us is the cameraman, Nik Porter, and, on the right, the sound man, Andy Boag.
It was a delight working with them; they were endlessly patient and so meticulous and professional, determined to make the film beautiful. So it was.
It was cold on that beach and they wouldn’t let me have a crib above the camera when I was reciting Simon’s poem for Edie, Sea Sketch – the rotters! However, we found a wonderful boulangerie and here’s the evidence. Yummy.
Here we all are at the house where we did the indoor filming:
Simon, Zoë, Dick, Andy and Nik.
Thanks team, it was a great experience.
A Vimeo version, which includes Simon’s poem for Edie – Sea Sketch – can be seen here.
DR
PS: yes, we got on very well!
