Last night, after wandering around Piccadilly Circus for the better part of half an hour looking for the ‘Piccadilly chaos’, I finally found myself looking straight at Greg Richters and the crew of 51 degrees.

The crew were watching about 30 extras stood together with troubled-expressions looking up at the Piccadilly Lights. Nearby I found Alex Souabni who explained to me what was currently happening and he then took me down to the Trocadero underground, a space between Piccadilly Circus and the Trocadero Entertainment Complex where break-dancers come to practise. Among the dancers, I found the make-up department.

Here I met Melissa Kassinen, a 24-year-old living in Slough. I learnt from Melissa that there are 5 make-up artists for the 30 extras here tonight, although most turn up with their make-up already done and only need some basic concealer and blusher. This was Melissa’s first time working with 51 degrees. I met make-up artist Sammy Kininmonth and head of make-up Nicola Moores, who were also new to 51 Degrees. Despite the heavy music and the small work space left for make-up, there was a casual and friendly atmosphere and people seemed enthusiastic about being involved with the film.

Soon after meeting the make-up artists, a few extras came down needing to look like they’d just been trampled, which mostly meant they needed some fake cuts and scrapes. I took this chance to speak to a couple of them.

The first extra I met was Csaba Plob, a 47-year-old Hungarian who had been acting for 4 years now. Csaba told me that earlier when filming, when he was staring at the Piccadilly Lights looking troubled, a man had mistook Csaba’s expression for genuine distress and tried to offer his help by asking if something was wrong – a solid performance from Csaba then. Csaba also told me he was a chef and his love for cooking only came second to his love for acting.

Afterwards, I met Sirle Von Schihver, a 26-year-old actress from Finland. A highlight of her night was meeting four fellow Finns among the extras. She said: “With only 5 million Fins in the world it’s really great to find 4 of them”. Sirle became an extra for the film by following an advert to the 51 Degrees website where she was attracted by the concept of the film and wanted to be involved.

After spending time with the people in make-up and speaking to the trampled extras, there was a real sense of enthusiasm shared between those involved. Although out of the way from the action of shooting the film, the people in make-up made for a really enjoyable night.