Murder On The Orient Express

Technical considerations

A huge amount of snow was required for two main reasons, firstly, most of the train sequences were filmed on the huge 500-foot-long viaduct with a 50-foot-high mountainside backdrop, and secondly, significant redressing was required to smooth trampled areas as the actors and crew 'switched' ends continually to obtain shots. The epic derailing and avalanche scenes occurred here.

The winter of 2016 was cold, which introduced other problems. It was important to schedule in extra time to avoid frozen dressing rigs. A heated container was brought onsite for small items of equipment that could be moved each day. Early starts, often 3 or 4 hours before camera, were necessary to run the previous nights anti-freeze through the rig and flush warm water through the lines that then had to be coiled in the sunlight during the day to avoid refreezing on the North face of the set. There was also a second battle with nature to keep the set safe and ice free.

We are set dressers, not set builders and hence work closely with the Art Department on film sets. A part of our role is to second guess what the Art Director wants to see. For example, the visual interpretation of 'icicles' to one person is different to another, so it is important to develop that relationship and an ability to read the situation well.

We also worked very closely with the Art Department throughout to aid contingency. Little details such as using the frost spray between panes of glass enabled us to control and replicate glass frosting. Contingency also required a high level of hand dressing especially around the wooden parts of the track set where space was limited. In fact, the design of the set demanded a lot of planning ahead due to its design.