Assignment 2, "The Railway Station", seems to be the favorite of the six assignments. It was well-done from beginning to end
In this assignment, Steel is forced to make a difficult decision. There is only one way to set time back on track, and Steel tells Sapphire, "It must be."
The transcript recounts the final scene between Tully and Steel as follows:
From above Tully heard suddenly the soft whispering that heralded the darkness' approach. He broke out in a light sweat, words he had said earlier passing through his mind - a promise to the devil. Well it was a payment, perhaps, for abandoning them. He looked down at Steel and mustered a smile. "Winning are we?"
This time the shudder that passed through Steel was strong enough to be seen. Somehow it made Tully feel better. "Yes," the younger man answered.
Steel watched Tully mount the stairs, feeling sick to the heart and fighting it with all his might. I don't sleep, I don't cry, he told himself. He is only a human, really. Neither statement helped the moment Tully's horrified death-scream cut the air. Steel stood frozen a moment longer before turning and stepping heavily out onto the platform.
Both men, ethereal and human, must face each other and their decisions. In light of the circumstances, does Steel deserve to be considered as bad or as a villain?
What observations do you have about this assigment? Do you have a favorite scene or special memories associated with Assignment 2?
Daylight ShotPit Cam Shot
4 comments:
From memory this was my favourite assignment.
There was something about the set of the station that looked somehow familiar. I wonder if it was built for the episode or did they use one of the stations from a museum?
Cat, does the DVD give any info?
Hi, Jan,
Oh, wow - what a great question! Thank you for asking.
Assignment 2 really shows off the brilliance that went into creating the series. Of course, I'll give more explanation than needed, because the filming process is so interesting.
To answer your question, I revisited the DVD with the commentary between Shaun and PJ on the the filming process and various aspects of the assignment.
All of Assignment 2 was filmed on the same sound stage. A wonderful part of that particular stage was the pit which created the edge of the platform. To get the interesting visual angles and perspective shots on the platform, the pit camera was used.
Because of the production schedule and the size of this particular set, Shaun directed all of the downstairs footage, then David Foster took over to direct the upstairs scenes.
The entire downstairs filming was completed first. That set was dismantled in pieces and moved away to another location. Then the filming of the upstairs scenes was done.
The stairs were the transition point between first and second floor sets. Shaun said David was absolutely meticulous about the transitions, and would count his steps up or down. When the bridge sequence was repeated weeks later, David was exactly in sync with the way he had traveled the stairs during the first filming.
Shaun does mention on the commentary that people thought the Assignment was actually filmed at a railway station.
When they started the daylight scenes, beginning with Steel's awakening with cobwebs in front of him in the doorway, Shaun said David looked down the railway tunnel and said the tunnel didn't look right.
David got a large sheet of paper or poster board and made a cutout that was pinned to the back drape to show the far side of the tunnel. The white paper arch gave the cliched "light at the end of the tunnel" perspective. Joanna called had great fun he said with "McCallum's Folly", but it was an ingenious touch that added of bit realism since a person would expect to see daylight on the opposite end of the tunnel.
I know I've elaborated more than necessary on this answer, but S&S has the "hands on" pre-CGI effects, the really unique visual processes that called on the inventiveness of the production team.
Thanks for the information Cat. Perhaps the station looks familiar because it looks just like any small station in England and certainly it is very similar to the station in the Manchester suburb where I grew up. I just have this vague memory of visiting a railway museum, York(?) when I was a child where they had a similar station inside the museum.
Jan
Thanks these are all great questions. What struck me whilst watching this particular assignment was the claustrophobic feeling of the railway station
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