Scam City: A Spy’s Arrival in Prague

This is a GUEST POST by Scam City camera crew member MEG BARNARD.

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country, so deciding how exactly Conor Woodman (Scam City’s host) was going to “arrive” in Prague in the film needed a little thought. We wanted to avoid using the airport, as airports tend to be faceless, and we wanted the audience to know immediately that Conor was arriving in a city that is still styled by its past.

We therefore opted for an old-fashioned cross-country train coming into the beautiful Hlavni Nadrazi train station. Working out which train we should take—that would allow us enough time to film all the sequences with Conor and crew—took a bit of research, but with the help of our contacts, we found an old, communist-era train, which immediately struck the director as very James Bond. Conor even brought a tuxedo to wear, but as the script meant he arrived in the morning, we decided that a good pair of jeans would be more suitable.

Waking at the crack of dawn, we took the train to Decin, a small town on the border between the Czech Republic and Germany. This allowed us to get the best of the dawn light. The aim of this scene was to install a sense of suspicion within the film, that no one is to be trusted.

Conor walks into a carriage, which is seemingly full of strangers, but as the opening sequence continues, it becomes clear that not everyone is as they seem. Michele, the best actor among us, leads the reveal, and Conor and he discuss the tricks up our sleeves to catch scamsters in Prague.

By Meg Barnard, Assistant Producer, Scam City

WATCH FULL EPISODES OF SCAM CITY ONLINE HERE!

DON’T GET SCAMMED! FOLLOW OUR FULL SERIES OF TIPS & STORIES TO HELP YOU AVOID THE WORST TOURIST SCAMS!