Silent Witness S25

02/08/2021

Art Department Trainee

I had my first credit in TV with Silent Witness series 25. I was hired as the art department trainee through Screen Skills. My primary tasks were assisting the designer, art director & buyer with whatever they needed. I went through all script amendments and alerted team members to any visual changes that required action. I made hero props, researched scientific equipment (to buy and to demonstrate for the standby art director), organised all product placement technology, assisted in set dressing, and was standby art director for secondary crew filming on 2 days, which involved managing continuity of all set & props.

Ripped out hair strands

Our buyer was going to outsource a prop maker, but I suggested I could trial making it myself with fake hair, a glue gun and red paint. My trial was successful and these were used in the final shot, and saved the department unnecessary expenditure.

Wind & Solar farm model

I was asked to make a model wind and solar panel farm for an office set. I wanted to give it depth and texture, and so I used layed foam board to make a stylized hill, a glossy photograph of a river and then textured grass which i applied using a flocking fun. The designer was really pleased with this prop and it was used for a close-up shot to open the scene in this set.

DNA replicating kit

I constructed the DNA replicating kit which is the catalyst for the crisis of the series 25. After mocking up different versions we settled on a simple mixture of water-based fake blood and vegetable oil (to suggest a form of extracted plasma). I then carved the interior of the holding box out of polystyrene and purchased a cool box & sports freezer bags for the kit to be held in.

Simone Tyler’s ecology lab

Simone Tyler’s ecology lab I was heavily involved in dressing this set from scratch. Researching and sourcing equipment, furniture, setting up lived-in workstations full of labelled samples and making it visually appealing. I proposed and set up using a lightbox for one of the plant station so the light would shine up through the leaves and make for some interesting lighting options.

Skeleton

I accurately assembled this skeleton from loose bags of bones provided by the makeup/body fx department. I researched anatomical drawings to set it out and then dressed the surrounding set for this scene.

Hospital corridor dressing

One of the notice boards I designed and dressed from scratch for SW25, surrounded by other boards I dressed with posters from graphics.

Police Station set

Dressing a police station set, creating paper documents to fill the space to make it feel professional, with personal touches on desks to make it feel lived- in.

Ground Penetrating Radar

I researched the correct equipment that would be used for detecting irregular soil patterns and the correct vocabulary was written into the script. I then liaised with a company to loan a faulty model of a GPR for free. I had a demonstration from one of the operators on how to operate it and the different visuals that could be used on-screen which I relayed to the standby art director.

Shop front

In the final block of filming I was given a shop front to decorate. I was given a very limited budget, but complete free reign and encouraged to make it very “me”. I spray painted 2 recycled flats and 6 A3 panels and decorated them with 3D stars, flower garlands & sprayed plastic chains and electrical tape. I used neon netting to efficiently cover the ground around my mannequins, which I decorated using all clothes I had made (a few pieces I’d altered, but most I made from scratch).