A Norfolk carpentry firm has shown that a career in woodworking can have some very glamorous high points, after the company was taken on to build the imposing sets for blockbuster film, Jack the Giant Slayer.
W S Lusher and Son, which is based in Sprowston, was enlisted by international film heavyweights, Warner Bros, to transform the interior of Norwich Cathedral into the fairytale castle that they needed it to be in the film.
The carpenters from W S Lusher spent several weeks working on building and fitting a number of necessary pieces of set, including mock walls and floors, and professionals from the firm were required to be on hand during filming in order to help with any adjustments needed.
Mark Lusher, the managing director of the family-run firm, told the Norwich Evening News that the call from the film company came out of the blue.
“It was really nice to be asked, and we guess that it was because we do quite a lot on work in the cathedral and in the Cathedral Close, and a lot of other ecclesiastical work too,” he explained. “The cathedral obviously needed to be treated with a lot of respect when the filming took place, like, for example, not fixing any of the scenery to the cathedral’s stone work.”
Foreman carpenter, Matthew Daniels, was one of the skilled tradesmen tasked with the painstaking work. He told the newspaper: “It was quite magical how in the space of weeks the cathedral was changed into something completely different.”
Jack the Giant Slayer, which stars Ewan McGregor and Nicholas Hoult, will be in cinemas from 22 March.