Sometimes being morbid in this industry is a plus, especially when working on BBC Pathology dramas like Silent Witness. I helped create dead bodies with and without heads, autopsies, from a variety of different accidents as well as barbecued Transsexuals. This job can be very demanding at times but it sure beats a 9 to 5 doing spread sheets on a computer. (Big Smile)
I was involved with Episodes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 with a number of other talented folk including Conal Palma, Rob Prichard, Tom Carruthers, John Moore and Stuart Conran.
One thing I soon found out when working on Silent Witness was the trouble you can get into when transporting some of the stuff, mainly the bodies. I came away from it with a number of very funny stories which I have tried to include, so scroll down and let the morbid side of you shine, the best part is you don’t need to feel bad for looking as nothing is real, Enjoy.
EPISODES 3-4 (Death By Water)
The foundation of this body was an armature made from fibre glass and steel box section with pivot points, to give a life like movement. It was also filled with foam to add to bouncy, as the body needed to float in the sea.
The armature was dressed in a full body leotard and then skinned with plat gel silicon that had already been prepaid by Conal and Rob from an earlier life cast.
(Left) The body is completely skinned and seemed, all it needs now is a neck stump, penis and paint job. (Middle & Right) The body has now got every thing it needs apart from hair, which will take us another day or so. You will often find in a workshop when you have a sticky plat gel body hanging from the rafters jokes are made. (Middle) Stuart Bray filling up his coffee cup. (Right) Steve Scotton lending his head.
Why you should never listen to anyone apart from the Director. I and Rob Prichard went to Portsmouth to shoot the body at Dell Quay. On our arrival we were told by someone that will remain anomalous that we needed to fit the body with a wet suit, a very small wet suit. We had been told a week or so earlier the wetsuit would not be fully legged. Anyway we were told we were wrong and to put this wet suit on the body, 1 hour later we had managed to force the fit shown in left side photo. It was then that the Director came over and said no that’s wrong, he asked who had told us to do it. Of cause by that time she was nowhere to be seen, slightly frustrated we took the wet suit off as well as a day of hair punching and the paint job we had done to the legs. Thanks.
This was a particularly frightening part, as we had only just hit our dead line to get the body finished; we had no time to see if it floated. The body weighed about 13 stone, and I was sure to see it sink like a stone especially as I was in charge of the bouncy. Luckily enough it floated, if anything maybe a little to much. The best part of this was to watch the other boats in the area pass by with looks of terror on their faces. It must have looked a little weird especially considering it was attached to a fishing rod controlled by a man in the boat in the left photo.
One thing we had not counted on was the water making the body weight about 17 stone. When it came to getting it out of the water it took 3 big guys to do it, as well as almost capsizing the boat.
It was also about this time we had a bit of an incident with the body. Rob and myself had been covering the body over between shots so not to attract too much attention. At the end of the scene above we put the body to one side and went to consult with the Director. Unfortunately this particular time we had left it uncovered and on what seemed to be a public foot path, honest we did not know. Anyhow 2 minutes later a family of 4, mum, dad, 2 young sons came wondering around the corner walking their young Labrador puppy. Aghhh Screams went up and we had one very angry dad two traumatized kids and one inquisitive puppy sniffing the crouch area of what they were convinced was real. Not great, but I could not help take it as a compliment
To finish the episode off, the body was re-painted by Max Payne, John Moore and I to simulate rigamortis setting in. It was then shot back on the Silent Witness morgue set in London.
EPISODES 5-6 (Nowhere Fast)
(Left) Wed clay sculpture. (Middle) Sculpture with flange wall, getting ready to mould it. (Right) First coat of gel resin, this will be followed by fibre glass matting and then repeated on the reverse side to create a two piece mould.
(Left)The Mould is used to create a plat gel silicon head which I have painted up and punched hair into. (Middle) The head is to be fitted to the body used in "Death By Water". I have made it so it has an applying edge, similar to that of a facial prosthetic. (Right) as you can see the head fits over the old neck stump to look almost seamless. The only other changes I must make are, cutting the hands off into stumps and a deep surgical slice into the stomach, which will fit the specifications of the role.
The Finished body is then taken to central London for filming in the Thames, just under Tower Bridge. Once again after shooting on location in the Thames the body is moved to the Silent Witness morgue set and the final shots are made.
It was getting the body back from the pontoon on the Thames that lead to another funny tale. When we first got the body in the water, it was right under Tower Bridge, as the day went on the shots changed and the body was floated to a pontoon 100 metres further down river. We must have finished are scene by about 7pm as the sun began to go down, the rest of the crew made a quick dash to another location to finish off a shot leaving Jason Phoenix and myself alone with the body to deal with. By this time the tide had come in leaving us with one route to get the body back to the van, which happened to be past 3 top end London restaurants that also overlooked the Thames. The bigger problem was that I had nothing to cover it with as some one had taken my cover sheet and the body once again weighed about 17 odd stone. I resorted to asking a member of the Thames River police who where just about to leave for a little assistance, I managed to get a body back to wrap it in and 3 police officers to help me carry it, with Jason carrying the onset equipment. I and the three police officers carried this body bag the 300 metres back to the van. As we passed the restaurants we where given slightly concerned looks by those eating their dinners outside enjoying their spaghetti and the sunset. As I was thinking smugly to myself that I had got away with it I began to notice the expression of people behind me that began to point and go a very pail white in shock. Unfortunately not being that familiar with body bags, I had not secured the bottom section, and both feet of the body where dangling out swinging with the movement of our foot steps. Whoops!!
The following prosthetics where applied by Stuart Conran and myself. They where a mixture of fatalities, including two victims from a helicopter crash to a jockey thrown and crushed by his horse.
