Students from The Royal Ballet School visit set of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes 2

On Monday 18 October a group of six Year 11 students from The Royal Ballet Lower School, White Lodge had the great privilege of visiting the Richmond Park set of Guy Ritchie’s film Sherlock Holmes 2, accompanied by their drama teacher Mrs Sally Phoenix.

All of the students had had previous experience of making their own films during their course in Expressive Arts - part of the GCSE curriculum at the School - and this unforgettable experience enabled them to witness at close quarters what goes on behind-the-scenes in the making of a major feature film. The students were guided around the set by the film’s Location Manager who kindly pointed out the various pieces of equipment, explained what the various crew members did and answered the many questions posed by the students.

Starting at the catering caravan outside Holly Lodge (The Royal Ballet School’s Richmond Park ‘neighbour’) the group made its way up to the film location and watched several takes of the scene in which Sherlock Holmes arrives in France. This corner of Richmond Park has been transformed into the outskirts of Paris at the turn of last century complete with caravans, horses, geese and dogs.

The highlight of the visit was the close proximity to the famous actors: Jude Law, Robert Downey Junior and Noomi Rapace. Towards the end of the visit Robert Downey Junior spent some time with the students asking them about The Royal Ballet School and thanking the group for visiting the set.

Commenting on the visit, The Royal Ballet School’s Head of Expressive Arts said:

‘Following the visit, the students felt that they had experienced first-hand some of the techniques they had studied during their Expressive Arts coursework and they were thrilled that such an important artist as Robert Downey Junior found the time to chat to each of them. The only disappointment was that although Robert Downey Junior was keen to reciprocate with a visit to White Lodge, he said his next day off was sometime in 2014! Another of the film’s sequences is scheduled to be filmed in January and we look forward to another exciting on-set experience.’

One of the students who visited the set was Paul Oliver, Head Boy of White Lodge: ‘This was an unforgettable afternoon for all of us and it was fascinating to see the acting, filming and directing of Sherlock Holmes 2, as well as seeing all the backstage work such as make-up and props.’

More about the making of the film in Richmond Park can be seen here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1321581/Jude-Law-Robert-Downey-Jr-film-Sherlock-Holmes-sequel-Londons-Richmond-Park.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Students at the film set’s catering caravan. Photo: Sally Phoenix