film recreations
Gotherington - 2019
On August Bank Holiday Monday 2019, I coordinated a black and white photoshoot at privately owned Gotherington Station which runs alongside the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. The idea was to recreate the original 1966 film "St Trinian's Great Train Robbery" where a group of schoolgirls rescue the loot from the robbers and take it away by train while using steam engines, a pump trolley and Wickham trolley.
The girls played a vital part in the photoshoot with them as the main focus on the day, their challenge was to look 'in character' as much as possible, so with a bit of research from photographs online from the 1966 film, they managed to pull it off, despite the weather being incredibly warm on the day!
Gotherington Station was a perfect venue for the shoot, it has so much to offer from a photography perspective. Not only do you have the passing trains on the GWSR preserved railway, but in the station garden there's a Signalbox, station platforms, standard gauge railway with a Wickham and pump trolley to use, plus many out buildings and original railway signs.
London - 2020
Shortly afterwards, I thought it would be a great idea to shoot in London and visit the locations with the girls to perform our take on the modern day movies. This project took 13 months to plan and was postponed on three occasions, then finally on Sunday 13th September 2020 the girls marched on to the quiet streets of London!
It was great fun to organise and photograph, my team of 17 were absolutely superb in helping on the run up and on the day itself. Due to covid-19 restrictions, it was sensible to stay away from public transport, so it was necessary to walk inbetween each venue.
The models are a combination of friends and actresses, some of whom have appeared on stage and screen. Each character had their own identity and it was important to keep the theme in line with the films that came out in 2008 and 2010 respectively. The St. Trinians outfits were sourced online over the summer to individually fit each model. The pinafore dresses, tights, stockings, shoes, shirts, jumpers, hair extensions and St. Trinian's badges were sourced from Asos, Ebay, Matalan, Next, Fancy dress shops and Accessorize. The hockey sticks were kindly donated by Tewkesbury School. The whole project cost just under £1000.
The locations used were, Trafalgar Square, 10 Downing Street (actually 10 Adam Street), Millennium Bridge, London Eye and The Globe Theatre.
It was great fun, everyone involved had a laugh and it brightened the spirits of those around us who wandered past as we were shooting.
