LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

A still from the recent Downton Abbey film, featuring actors Michelle Dockery and Matthew Goode. The background musicians were provided by Music in Vision

JAAP BUITENDIJK / FOCUS FEATURES

The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is clearly a perfectionist. After watching the 1997 film Titanic he approached the director James Cameron with a bold observation. He pointed out that on the fateful night of 14–15 April 1912 the star formations in the night sky would have appeared completely differently from how they are depicted on film. My lasting memory of the film was thinking that surely Kate Winslet could have moved over a bit on her raft to stop Leonardo DiCaprio from succumbing to hypothermia. However, Cameron clearly felt the accuracy of this seemingly small detail was important, so he obliged by making the change for a subsequent anniversary rerelease of the film.

As a musician, it’s heartening to see this attitude. We can all bring to mind an example of an actor who has suddenly been given a few weeks (or hours) to learn an instrument, resulting in a cringeworthy screen ‘performance’. There are many videos online dedicated to ‘roasting’ these mishaps; most prolifically, the comedy duo TwoSet Violin have tapped into this subgenre. I’m on a mission to convince every production team that audiences do notice these mistakes, which break the suspension of disbelief. The UK film industry is enjoying a boom at the moment, owing to the popularity of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Production companies have huge budgets at their disposal, and the proliferation of concurrently filming projects means that even finding free studio time for shoots is a challenge. Consequently, there has never been a better time to work in the production industry. Supporting artists, or extras, perform a unique and invaluable role in film and TV productions, and being involved in on-camera work as a freelance cellist myself has led me to create a business out of this niche. I am now trying to ensure that professional musical performers are able to have access to exactly this kind of work.