FILMING has finished in Scarborough on the latest British blockbuster Screwed – a gritty prison drama told from a prison officer’s point of view. Reporter IAN DUNCAN was on set during filming and spoke to members of the cast and crew to find out how they had found working in the town.

FOR about a month Scarborough was transformed into a film set for the latest British blockbuster – Screwed.

As well as a disused Victorian prison in Dean Road the crew used various locations around the town such as Queen Street and Boleyns nightclub.

The film’s director Reg Traviss said working in Scarborough had been “brilliant” and filming had turned out better than he had expected. He added: “We’ve shot a lot of the locations around the town.

“My gut instinct is that the film is turning out good – but you wouldn’t want to say that this early on. The film doesn’t finish until the editing is complete. The film is both cinematic and dramatic.”

He added that the central location of the prison was both “oppressive and impressive”. “There are disused prisons all around the country and we could’ve chosen any of them. But we liked this one,” he said.

“I like the layout, it’s got the traditional layout and original features, it’s not too big. The architecture goes towards creating the atmosphere I wanted to create.”

The 33-year-old director, whose previous films include Joy Division and Psychosis, described the film as a journey for its central character – Sam Norwood.

He added: “It’s an original story. It’s a prison film with quite a lot of differences. The prison is more a character in the story.

“It’s about a guy who leaves the army, when he comes back from Iraq, and becomes a prison officer. It’s about what happens inside a prison.”

Film editor John Palmer said he had already produced a rough cut of some of the earlier scenes and it was already looking good.

He said: “The key thing is the performances are really strong. From an editing point of view they are experienced actors and their performances are exquisite.”

The film is based on the best selling novel of the same name by former prison officer Ronnie Thompson and Mr Palmer said this gave it a sense of authenticity. He said: “He’s been there to advise the actors in situations such as how they should take down a con who’s misbehaving.”

Filming in Scarborough took just over a month before the production moved south so that the remaining scenes, including those set in Iraq, could be finished.

And the final day here was spent shooting what will become the final scene of the film outside the main gates of the prison – which had been transformed into HMP Romwell with fake signs attached to the outer walls.

It featured two of the main actors – Jamie Foreman and James D’Arcy – as they said their farewells bearing the facial scars of the film’s many fights.

Mr D’Arcy, who starred alongside Russell Crowe in Master and Commander, said he was pleased with how the project had progressed.

He said: “It’s been great. It’s really fantastic. We’ve been very lucky to have got this prison to film in because the prison really is one of the characters.

“It has at times really felt like being in a prison.

“The prison itself is claustrophobic, which I think is great, and it’s quite oppressive. You do get a sense of a lot of guys in an enclosed space and you feel all the associated tensions that might come with that.”

He said that some of the situations portrayed in the film had stayed with him once the scene was finished.

He said: “There were two guys smoking crack in one of the cells – they were fantastic. They were in the cell all glassy eyed and they were so good at that.”

Mr D’Arcy said there had also been a lot of fights – including a full-on prison riot – and added: “That was a big day and all the guys who came in as background artists were really fantastic.”

Andrew Shim, a familiar face from the recent TV series This Is England ’86, played the part of fellow prison officer Jamie and enjoyed working on the project.

He said: “The good thing about it is that a film like this has never been done before, about the corruption between prison guards and prison inmates.

“I think one of the things that is doing us a lot of favours is the fact that it’s not just Ronnie, the writer, he’s not just someone who thought of an idea that no one else has ever done before and thought ‘right I’m going to do that’.

“He was a prison screw for quite a long time and 75 per cent of what is in the film actually happened in his own life and experiences of being a prison screw. So that has given it a very real element to it.”

He added that the location was also perfect. “It’s great because it’s an old prison, it’s very real, and it’s got a weird, eerie, feeling about it. To think of how many people have been in here, over the years, and the sort of stuff that’s probably happened within these walls – it’s quite scary really,” he said.

“Someone was telling me that they used to hang people in the courtyard and one of the rooms at the top of the building, on the third floor, was the last room that you were put in before you were put to death. I haven’t been into that room yet – and I don’t think I will.”

Dean Road Gaol factfile:

• It opened in 1866 and cost £8,755 to build;
• The prison contains 36 cells – each measuring four metres long by two metres wide;
• It is fronted by a mock medieval entrance with two stone towers;
• Originally the governor’s lodgings were in the north side gateway tower;
• A week after opening, the prison’s first inmate, William Scott who was waiting to stand trial on a charge of robbery, escaped by removing a ventilation grille and climbing down a rope of knotted blankets;
• 12 years after it opened the prison was closed after the Government declared Scarborough was not large enough to have its own prison – it was one of 30 jails closed following the 1870 Prison Reform Act;
• Since 1899 the site has been used by Scarborough Council and the former cells are used for storage and archives;
• It has featured in a number of television programmes including the 2008 reality show Banged Up and 2006’s Vincent – which starred Ray Winstone.

It’s a fair cop in first film role

IT WAS bizarre that, as a crime reporter, I had to play the part of a police officer in a scene in Reg Traviss’ latest film.

Like many people in Scarborough I responded to the call for extras in the prison drama Screwed but I had not counted on getting up at stupid o’clock to get on set by 7.30am.

I sat nervously with the half dozen other extras on the morning’s shoot in the pub across the road from Dean Road prison.

One girl had even travelled across from Manchester for the chance of a speaking part in the film.

We were each asked upstairs to get kitted out for our various roles as background artists – apparently you need people like us in a film to make it look convincing and natural.

But my first experience with the wardrobe department was that my epaulettes – an essential to make my character completely convincing – would not attach properly. This must be an everyday occurrence for an experienced wardrobe lady and it was soon sorted.

There were a total of seven extras during the first scene who were working alongside actors James D’Arcy and Jamie Foreman – three members of the public and four police officers.

I just had to lean on the counter and occasionally cast a stern glance towards the suspect I was booking in.

The scene was shot from several different angles and after lunch it was just the officers behind the desk to be filmed – it was time for my close up.

Director Reg Traviss put me at my ease and pointed me in the right direction as to what I needed to do for the shot.

I had to pretend to follow the two detectives, who had appeared in the scene earlier, with my eyes – which was a bit awkward because they were not there – but I think I did okay.

And I am assured by the film editor that my part in the scene is not currently residing on the cutting room floor. We shall see – but I am not giving up my day job just yet.

Appeal success for extra help in movie

APPEALS for extras proved very successful with lots of Scarborough people applying for parts in the film Screwed.

The prison drama used the disused Victorian prison in Dean Road as its main location and was based on the best-selling novel of the same name by former prison guard Ronnie Thompson.

Johnny Lynch, the production’s extras coordinator, said it had been one of the most successful appeals he had made. He added: “I couldn’t have done it without the Scarborough Evening News. You made my job so easy.”

A total of 350 people applied to take part and 280 appeared in the film as extras. “They were all from Scarborough,” he said.

And he said that Scarborough had been so welcoming during the filming. “It’s an experience I’ll never forget. Everybody’s wanted to help,” he added.

“We could teach a few people in the south a few things. They could learn a lot from Scarborough.”

One of the extras was Christian Dente, the marketing and PR co-ordinator at the Sands complex, who played the part of a police officer during the first scene which was shot on the first day.

He said: “It was fantastic to experience how they make the magic happen. The day started off pretty early, with a 7.30am call time where we met all the other extras and then had a spot of breakfast.

“Then we were into costume and given our outfits for the day which meant it was officially time to get into character.

“The scene I was in featured James D’Arcy and Jamie Foreman. It was a real eye-opener and great to see the action live.

“I was a police officer and had to do a certain amount of acting. The director, Reg Traviss, was great and told us exactly what we had to do.

“We shot the scene quite a few times from four different angles, so there was a bit of waiting for the cameras and lights to be repositioned but then it was back to the action.”

He added that there was a problem with his costume. He said: “Before we were just about to shoot the first scenes of the film the soles of my shoes fell off, so I was limping around until they brought me a new pair.

“It was very hard trying to walk normally when I didn’t have a heel on my shoes. I would definitely do it again because it was great fun.”

Mark Watkins, a media sales executive from Cornelian Avenue, said it was quite a surreal experience working next to professional actors.

He added: “It was almost as if I was actually watching the film rather than being in it. There was a lot of waiting around with stops and starts.”

But he added that the most memorable part was being told what to wear – something he had not experienced for the past 20 years. He said: “I was a prison officer that had finished his shift. So I was changed ready to go home, and had to wear a hideous shirt and awful jeans.

“I would definitely do it again, and would definitely tell someone to do it if they get the chance. I can’t wait to see myself on the big screen, and to think that millions of people will also be seeing me is quite a weird feeling.”

From The Scarborough Evening News on Thursday, October 28, 2010.