Jimmy Coates: Blackout - the book trailer has landed

Here I am on the 'set' of the Jimmy Coates: Blackout trailer shoot. Except it wasn't really a set, it was London's South Bank. I think in this shot I'm either contemplating a particularly tricky stunt or I'm standing still so that Kat Molesworth can test the light or the focus or the temperature or the vibe or whatever else film-makers need to do these days with their new-fangled 'talkies'.

Anyway... this is all about my new book trailer. You're about to see it. But first I thought you'd like a sneaky peek at a couple of 'making of' pictures I took while we were shooting.

First, something for the tech-geeks. Here's all the kit Kat brought with her for the shoot. Hey, I said 'kit kat'. Hehehe.

The only thing she couldn't fit in her bag was the stunt-man/freerunner/parkour-ninja/first-man-to-portray-Jimmy-Coates-on-film - Mat Roberts. Here he is checking out the angle for the opening shot of the trailer with Kat, in Waterloo Station:

Every run, leap & landing was carefully planned and brilliantly executed by Mat. He did quite a few very cool stunts when the camera wasn't rolling, just to 'try things out'. So that was annoying. Just kidding - I think you'll like everything that ended up on film.

He jumped off this:

He climbed up here and thought about jumping off:

And Kat was filming it all in the rain:

The rain became an issue when Mat tested out a couple of stunts, pulled them off perfectly, but it was obvious that it was too wet underfoot to risk them again.

Strangely, the most special moment for me wasn't any of the film-making or the ridiculous stunts that a teenage free-runner was performing all for my benefit, it was this:

Yes, that's a grainy picture of a wet friend making a film for me. But it's also a shot of the underside of Hungerford Bridge. Check out pages 270 to 273 of Jimmy Coates: Power for one of my favourite action scenes in one of my books. It's set right here, under these bridges.

OK. Enough behind-the-scenes. Here it is. The World Premiere of the Jimmy Coates: Blackout book trailer.

I really hope you like it. And if you do, please go ahead and send it on to somebody.