Titanic Blood and Steel Film Extra
Transcript
00:00Well, gentlemen, one half of our great adventure is over.
00:11We have conceived and given birth to a mighty child.
00:15But as I see her at the quayside, I realize it is not just the ship that has backbone
00:22of steel, but the people who built her.
00:28Good luck to all of us, and God protect us.
00:36I think the great thing about the journey in this series is actually, it's a very emotional
00:40journey because we do dig deep into these characters and we see how the idea of Titanic
00:47pulls and pushes their lives.
00:48My main focus with Ciaran and his as well was, you know, we need to create a story that
00:55people care about and a character that people care about.
00:57Because the audience sees this whole story through Mark's eyes.
01:01Mark sort of travels with the rich, sort of upper class people, and then he's in the bowels
01:08of Belfast.
01:14He plays the role of the metallurgist who is essentially dispatched by J.P. Morgan to
01:18go and work in Harland and Wolfe on building Titanic.
01:22I'd like to introduce someone to you.
01:23This is Dr. Mark Muir.
01:25He worked on HMS Dreadnought.
01:27I was her chief metallurgist, sir.
01:29Big battleship.
01:30I would like to offer my services to Titanic, Mr. Morgan.
01:34I believe you need me to build this ship.
01:38He basically studies the metal, the steel of the ship, and he was the first person of
01:45his kind to kind of come on to a big shipping company and analyze how they're building the
01:52ships.
01:53I play Joanna Yeager, who was a journalist from New York who came to Belfast and covered
02:02the building of the Titanic at the time.
02:04And she was also allegedly a friend of J.P. Morgan's.
02:08We need to make a ship that people are compelled to travel on just so they can say that they
02:14have.
02:15It's an untold story.
02:16The other story, of course, has gotten so much, even when I was a little kid, I've seen
02:20movies about, of course, the voyage and the sinking.
02:23But it's a fascinating history, and the characters involved are many.
02:30And it's a fascinating time in the European and American history.
02:34It's a flawed society that builds a flawed ship.
02:37It is the lives and times of Belfast, the city that built it, the society that built
02:42it, and I suppose the attitude that built the ship as well.
02:45What kind of people could dream up something like that, go and do it?
02:51And then what, ultimately, is the effect of its loss, of its sinking?
02:56It's a beautiful drawing office in Harland and Wolff, in Harland and Wolff, in Belfast.
02:59The original one has a barrel ceiling, which is illuminated with lots and lots of daylight.
03:06So we had a very similar atmosphere in this place.
03:10We built all the drawing tables, again, studying the various reference photographs from Harland
03:16and Wolff from the original place.
03:19OK.
03:24Good morning.
03:25Good morning, sir.
03:26I need someone to draw something for me.
03:28Would you be free?
03:30In this story, there are a lot of challenges for Sophia.
03:34She works, she's a worker, and she's a woman worker, so it's a little bit modern in 1912.
03:43She fights for what she believes, and she's ready to leave everything for a new life.
03:50I take it as a great compliment to appear here before you, the bold working people of Belfast.
04:00The ship was in the middle of a battle, and this battle was a sociological battle.
04:04It was workers wanting unions and rights and information, and health issues were a big concern.
04:12There was a tidal wave of a social movement sweeping across Europe from Russia at the time.
04:16That landed in Belfast as Titanic was being built.
04:19Those who employ you should do so knowing that they have a responsibility to you and your families,
04:26a responsibility for your safety at work, and a responsibility to pay you fairly.
04:35To achieve these ends, you know, through negotiation, through union membership, through politics,
04:42and not go down the route of paramilitary or militant action.
04:49And in fact, you will see that he takes one path and his brother takes another.
04:59The fact it was a period piece I think makes a big difference to me.
05:02There's more lighting opportunities, there's more fun you can have actually in many ways
05:07when you're doing something which is not immediately of the present in a very ordinary way.
05:18I mean, the whole thing about doing period stuff is all about that.
05:21I mean, very often I think you end up with better sets, you end up with more costumes,
05:24you end up with, in many ways, photographically I think more interesting things you can do.
05:29Costumes, the costumes are so sumptuous and they look edible almost.
05:34I remember being quite excited when I met him thinking of how he'd make it look.
05:42I've not been disappointed.
05:45All these clothes were made for me.
05:47If a costume doesn't work and it doesn't feel right on me, he gets rid of it and has another one made.
05:55Even extras, like a hundred feet away, wearing the most beautifully designed costumes and hats.
06:07Even the color of the costume is perfect for the ambience and for the light.
06:13It's a perfect balance around everybody and everything.
06:18I mean, this is a really big story to tell and there's a lot of responsibility to tell it
06:23because a lot of people know it.
06:24There's a real sense of care, responsibility to tell the best story that we possibly can.
06:33Kieran Donnelly, the director, I really take my hat off to him because it is a gargantuan task
06:41and he's fulfilling it incredibly well.
06:54We've built the model of the gantry.
06:57We've built the keel and the double hull section.
07:01We've built the buildings, all the cabins, the people.
07:05So the ship itself that we've built, we've actually built the ship for real.
07:10So she's built in the computer but every plate in there is exact.
07:17The ribs are pretty exact.
07:19So there's a lot of love and attention in there, you know,
07:22as if you're building a physical model of the ship actually for real.
07:33I so hoped that our ship would be a symbol of what might have been achieved.
07:40A unified force, that was my vision.
07:44You're always quoting Brunel, an engineer who never compromised.
07:47Both you and I know that this ship is nowhere near as safe as his.
07:52In eight days' time, we will welcome the RMS Titanic to New York
07:56and when you have seen her, write about her.
08:02As I see her at the quayside, I realise it is not just the ship that has backbone of steel
08:07but the people who built her.
08:09As I see her at the quayside, I realise it is not just the ship that has backbone of steel
08:12but the people who built her.
08:15I'm glad we're sailing together.
08:17Me too.
08:21There's a bigger picture here, bigger than the ships we build.