I AM sure many of you enjoy visiting the cinema to see the latest film or maybe just wait for the video to come out. Our speaker on Tuesday, April 5 had the privilege of seeing some of the filming of one film. Diana Rafael was lucky enough to be invited to Pinewood Studios where Great Moments in Aviation was being filmed. Her introduction to this treat came from Rakie Ayola who had been at Drama College with her son. She was taking the lead part in the film and among her fellow cast members were Vanessa Redgrave, Jonathon Price to name but two of them. Diana arrived at the Studios late, due to a puncture, but was welcomed and invited into Rakie’s dressing room which she said had been kitted out like a mini flat. The story was to be filmed on board a ship and therefore this needed a lot of scenery space. Three large hangers were used as the parts of the ship and they delighted in using the buggies to get around from hanger to hanger as they were quite far apart.

Many of the scenes took quite a while to film and between each take Rakie’s costume had to be ironed and new make-up applied. one scene took several hours. Whilst filming the guests had their own directors chair to sit in. The final scene during Diana’s visit was in a pool where the cast were told it had to be done in one take. They had to up turn the boat and the water was cold, so filming does have some down sides. Diana’s visit was interspersed with coffee and lunch and meeting other cast members. Certainly a memorable day, and for us ,a very entertaining speaker. Thank you.

Our next meeting will take place on May 10 [note change of date] at 2pm at The Civic Centre and our speaker will be Paul Harding who will talk on The Victorian Kitchen and we will be happy to welcome visitors and new members.

MARIAN COULTON