On a miserable afternoon in July, I watched as campus was transformed from the peaceful sanctuary I knew into a Hollywood vision of lights, camera and action in preparation for filming for the upcoming television production of Sally Rooney’s first novel, Conversations With Friends.
The scene they were filming on that first day took place outside the Arts Block, so up went the inflatable shields, the light protectors, the mats and the barricades. Two cameramen stood underneath an inflatable shield debating the best way of getting the shot while the actors huddled together for warmth and shelter. Running across campus looking like a drowned rat to buy myself an umbrella as the rain poured down, I felt like I was having my own Rooney moment.
As we waited for the rain to let up, I overheard conversations about the shocking weather, the latest gossip on set and whether or not they had read the book. As with Normal People when I interviewed one of the actors, I figured I should read the novel, so I brought it with me on set. Seeing the actors bring a scene to life as I was reading the words on the page was one of the most exciting experiences I’ve had.
An assistant approached me as I was reading and, in a humorous gesture, asked if I was a Rooney superfan. Anyone who knows me has no doubt heard my rants about Normal People, but I do have to admit that I really enjoyed Conversations with Friends – the characters are compelling, the relationships interesting and Frances has one of the most human personalities of any main character in a Rooney novel.
There’s a lot of people close to us in the arts who haven’t been able to so it’s good that we’ve found a way to do it
One of the most surreal things about the filming was that they used three giant rain towers to emulate rain while keeping the shots consistent. Filming for cinema and television involves a lot of waiting and then filming shots in quick succession, so as the rain ebbed and flowed and the ground dried between takes, the rain machines were set off to get a consistent shot. Watching from the comfort of the Arts Block, I admired the tenacity of the poor actors getting completely soaked again and again between the real and artificial rain.
Just before they began filming a perfectly choreographed walking scene, I was introduced to Maisie McMahon, an 18-year-old extra at the time of filming. Despite being soaked to the bone, she loved watching the rain scene unfold. “Doing the rain scene and getting to see how much work actually goes into setting it up and finding the lighting and seeing the rain machines come on is really cool”, she exclaimed.
She described the first day of filming as “definitely a shock”, with her feet sore from so much walking, “but it’s been really fun and I’ve met so many new people and gotten to see so much interesting stuff going on behind the scenes”.
In a humorous moment, McMahon confessed that, like many of the cast and crew, she hadn’t read the book. She did identify Bobbi as her favourite character as the actress had a spectacular wardrobe. To be fair to her, I hadn’t finished the novel either. After finally getting all the necessary angles, the film crew packed up for the day, and I can confidently say that everyone was relieved to be out of the rain – myself included.
Seeing the actors bring a scene to life as I was reading the words on the page was one of the most exciting experiences I’ve ever had
The following day was bright and sunny, so I was able to appreciate some of the finer choices made by the wardrobe team as colourfully-clad extras made their way around campus. Seeing so many extras with outfits curated to resemble Arts Block chic in the middle of summer was certainly an experience, although the costuming still felt like a very glamorised version of what one would typically find. Indeed, McMahon and her companions had a great chat about the costumes as I sat observing them work.
The same assistant from the previous day approached me again, and I confessed that I was not, in fact, a Rooney superfan, but that I was there to observe the filming for The University Times. He directed Catherine Magee and Jeanie Igoe over to see me just as their lunch break was being called, and I managed to get a quick interview with the two producers. I had chatted to Magee and Igoe before, but I was glad to catch them on their break to get more information about the filming process.
“At one point we were going to shoot before Christmas last year, and then things just kept getting pushed. Then we were due to start in January but the numbers were shooting in Belfast, and in Dublin … and the numbers in Belfast were very, very high. So at that point, we made a decision to push by eight weeks”, Magee explained.
Filming for Conversations with Friends looked very different to previous shoots due to its historic timing. The production was shot in the height of the pandemic, so strict regulations were in place to ensure everyone’s safety. When not filming, everyone wore a mask, even in outside environments. “Everyone’s least favourite phrase is ‘the new normal’”, Igoe joked, but both added that everyone had gotten used to the protocols as time went on.
Running across campus looking like a drowned rat to buy myself an umbrella as the rain poured down, I felt like I was having my own Rooney moment
Despite the thrill of working under historic circumstances, Magee did mention a few things she missed: “normally you’d all eat on a dining bus at lunch, and there’s a nice democracy to that in that everyone just piles on and you could be sitting with anyone, but now it’s all very segregated, you get your lunch in a box and it’s all very separate.”
“I also feel that we’re very lucky to be able to work”, she continued. “There’s a lot of people close to us in the arts who haven’t been able to so it’s good that we’ve found a way to do it.”
I then asked the two producers to share their highlights from filming. Magee responded that Trinity itself is her highlight: “it’s such an association with Rooney, and it was such a big feature of Normal People. As soon as you come here, you feel the atmosphere and it’s iconic. You feel like you’re at the centre of the book.”
Incidentally, the rain scene from the previous day became one of Magee’s favourite moments on campus. “We had a really dramatic scene where Frances is leaving the library and she’s really suffering with endometriosis, she’s in extreme pain, and as she’s walking along, it’s raining. She sees Bobbi in the distance and then collapses and Bobbi comes to help her. Even though it was absolutely pouring with rain, we did still have special effects in to do the rain sequence and it was a big production day for us, so I enjoyed that.”
Watching from the comfort of the Arts Block, I admired the tenacity of the poor actors getting completely soaked again and again between the real and artificial rain
Much like myself, Igoe adores the Ussher library. “I really loved shooting in the Ussher library as well, beautiful space. I can’t imagine being a student here and getting to go study every day and look at the trees.”
Igoe’s favourite moment is one that went off-book. “One of my favourites is actually a scene that we added that’s not in the book, it’s Melissa, Bobbi and Frances swimming in the sea. It just feels like such a key part of Dublin life. Being able to shoot that at Seapoint and then also just having those three characters out in the world was pretty great.”
Their favourite part of the book was the relationship between Bobbi and Frances, but their fondness goes beyond just the two characters. “I love how [Rooney] writes about young women in their twenties and the intensity of those friendships, and the centrality of those friendships in your life. I enjoyed casting it and watching the two of them on screen now”, Magee stated.
Indeed, as I watched them film the final Trinity scene – a perfectly choreographed walking shot across Front Square – I had the chance to chat to some of the camera and sound crew. One of them was another young woman around my age there on a work placement as part of her course, and as we chatted about our life stories, her work on set and where we see ourselves going in the future, it occurred to me these projects have the power to bring people together while also projecting a carefully curated image of the Trinity experience.
Seeing so many extras with outfits curated to resemble Arts Block chic in the middle of summer was certainly an experience
Many of the cast and crew were not Trinity students and only knew of it through anecdotes and Rooney’s novels, and getting to work on campus was a massive privilege. For me, seeing locations that I pass by every day being captured in a new light made me reconsider my own place, and it made me think about just how much I had taken for granted. There’s a lot to criticise about Trinity, but there’s also a lot to love… even the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union tote bag that made a cameo for that truly authentic Arts Block flavour.
