 |
Debbie
Ward has spent more than 15 years
as a journalist, several as Features
Editor of Travel Trade Gazette.
She now works freelance.
|
|
|
| |
When
Keira came to Clandon
Surrey Life - September 2008
Picture the scene: you're in elegant surroundings, tucking into
a fancy meal and trying to concentrate on your conversation
and all the while there's a man hovering round the candelabra
with a fire extinguisher and a woman at your back checking you
don't spill any wine or scrape your chair. It's not the kind
over-attentive service you'd welcome in a restaurant, yet when
Hollywood stars Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes got this treatment
in Surrey they took it in their stride. That's because it was
all part of the process when they came to shoot a film here.
Clandon Park, a National Trust property near Guildford, doubles
for former aristocratic residence Devonshire House in London
in the newly released film The Duchess starring Keira Knightly
in the title role, Ralph Fiennes as her husband and Hayley Atwell
as his mistress.
The film is based on the novel Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire
by Amanda Foreman and tells the story of an ancestor of Princess
Diana who married from the Spencer family into the Devonshire
family in the 18th century. Like Diana years later, Georgiana
was a celebrated beauty, fashion icon and campaigner and, unhappy
in marriage, she and her husband both had affairs.
During November last year three dining scenes for The Duchess
were shot in Clandon Park's magnificent 18th century Marble
Hall and a scene with musicians playing was filmed in the adjoining
Saloon.
Property Manager Julie Lawlor was part of the National Trust
team involved in making sure things ran smoothly. "We had to
check no damage was being caused and to help facilitate any
requests the crew had," she explains.
Before the filmmakers arrived, extensive preparations had to
be made to safeguard Clandon Park. Floors, walls and furniture
had to be protected not only in the rooms being used for filming
but others that were needed for first aid facilities and the
storage of equipment.
One of the National Trust team's more unusual tasks involved
photographing the floors inch by inch. "We had to map all the
marble slabs in the hall and saloon. If there was any damage,
how could you say otherwise?" explains Julie. "Some of the damage
goes back a hundred years or more."
While having stars to visit was a thrill, it was also a nerve
racking time for Julie and her colleagues who, even after their
precautions, had to remain vigilant to make sure nothing was
damaged.
The use of candles, for instance - essential for an evening
dining scene in The Duchess - was a potential hazard that necessitated
a National Trust 'Hot Works' permit. "Candelabras have
to be a certain distance from the wall, non drip candles have
to be used and you have to have an accredited fire safety person
with a fire extinguisher." says Julie. "And I had to make sure
that they were all properly snuffed. " Julie also had to use
a laser device to check that the heat given off by the film
lights wasn't exceeding a safe limit for Clandon's delicate
plaster ceilings.
The floor of the Marble Hall was a particular concern as it
could have been permanently stained by the dark juice the actors
were using as wine, especially as their glasses had to be emptied
and refilled for continuity purposes between every take. "They
had to be careful as marble is particularly porous. We actually
have weddings at Clandon and we don't allow red wine or tea
at them for that reason, " says Julie.
And Julie wasn't too embarrassed to tackle one of the stars
if she thought a piece of Britain's heritage might be at stake.
"Keira Knightley had this part where she needed to respond
to someone off set yelling and as she did so her chair was going
S-C-R-A-P-E." says Julie. "We'd been very careful and put plastic
coverings on the feet but I had to run in between takes and
say 'I'm really sorry I just have to check your chair!'"
Luckily the stars remained patient and professional throughout.
"It must be really difficult for them," says Julie. "I have
admiration for what they have to do going back and forth and
chopping between different scenes out of sequence, because they
don't film it consecutively."
Julie can't reveal whether Hollywood's finest look as bad as
the rest of us first thing in the morning because the actors
arrived every day already made-up and costumed. "You just get
snapshots of people really and they're keeping in character,"
says Julie. But she adds: "I was a particular fan of Ralph Fiennes
in The English Patient and in terms of how he sounds and looks
in real life he didn't disappoint. And Keira Knightley was just
as lovely as she appears on screen."
One of the biggest challenges for the actors, it appears, came
not from the rigours of filming, or the hovering of heritage
watchdogs but the food they had to eat.
Pigeons with their heads and feet still on were an 18th century
delicacy Hayley Atwell could have done without. "She went through
the rehearsal with the pigeons and said 'couldn't you
just make me a vegetarian?'" laughs Julie.
Visitors to Clandon Park should have no trouble recognising
the Marble Hall and Saloon from the film because, thanks to
their authentic 18th century looks, changes for The Duchess
were minimal.
"They covered up everything that didn't
fit with the 18th century, so they made radiator covers, which
were very nice, and they covered up the light switches. We had
lanterns that had been converted to electric so they simply
had to take the bulbs out," says Julie.
Two distinctive pictures of birds that grace the hall, though
of the correct period, weren't considered the right look for
the production so were replaced with tapestries.
Courtesy of clever lighting, the biggest makeover was to the
weather. "There's one scene where it looks like a nice spring
morning, it was about 4 O'clock, pouring with rain and, dark!"
says Julie.
"It looks to be a very lush film," she
adds. "I hope more people will be interested in Clandon having
seen it on the big screen."
An exhibition on the filming of The Duchess is on display at
Clandon Park throughout September. A visit to the property can
be combined with a meal in its restaurant where, we're advised,
the menu does not feature whole pigeons.
Clandon Park was built in the early 1730s by Venetian architect
Giacomo Leoni for the second Lord Onslow. As well as the two-storey
Marble Hall, highlights include a Maori meeting house in the
grounds which was brought over from New Zeeland in 1892. Clandon
Park is also home to the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment museum.
Weddings and private functions, which include use of the Marble
Hall, can be arranged.
The property is open to visitors from 11.00 to 16.30 between
March 16 and November 2. For more information on visiting Clandon
Park call 01483 2220482 or see www.clandonpark.co.uk
and www.nationaltrust.org.uk.
Return to top
|
Click here
to read the article on the Surrey
Life Website |
|
 |
|
|
|