"There are two versions of 'Into the Fire: Making of FOF' - American and European. I never saw the European version until I got the FOF DVD a few months ago. The American version shows a nameless tall thin short haired lady following Michael all over the place but never identifies her. However, the European version has Michael introducing her as his bodyguard, Priscilla. LOL. For years people have been wondering who that woman is and she was once the subject of a chat room discussion that went on all evening - most people assumed she was one of Michael's new girlfriends!

Did you notice the dog running through the hangar? That was one of many animals that showed up for rehearsals! Most of them ran too fast to be easily caught. The hangar was also visited by birds of all kinds, some of which liked to fly over the stage during rehearsals. There were even bird nests up in the roof beams and rafters. (The hangar had huge doors that were always open to allow trucks and equipment to get in and out.)

The video was made during the 5 days before the show and on the day of the show. Michael did not arrive until the Monday before the show, the same day as the final rehearsal before the set was taken apart and moved to Hyde Park. The white blouse worn by Bernie [Flynn] during various scenes was worn by her only on the day of the rehearsal and during the rehearsal. Same for Gillian's [Norris'] white top.

The video was NOT shot in chronological order! The announcements about '10 days before the show, 8 days before', etc. etc. were added after the filming and don't relate to what was shown in the video! The T1 dancers and the dancers hired for the show had been rehearsing for several days before T2 arrived. John [Carey] was already there because he had been rehearsing 'Dance of Love' with Bernie for a few weeks and was in the Dublin shows at the end of June.

T2 arrived July 13 from NY and had a day off before starting to rehearse on Wednesday - that was 11 days before the show. The scene with John dancing with Kelly [Hendry] in Dance Above the Rainbow (also Areleen [Ni Bhaoill], Fiona [Harold], Jim [Murrihy], and rest of T2) was taped on the Monday before the show. (If it had been taped 10 before,as the video says, the T2 dancers wouldn't have known the steps yet!)

All the scenes with Michael criticizing the sets, costumes, etc. were contrived (staged) for the video.

All shots of Michael walking in Hyde Park with Martin Flitton were taped during one afternoon.... that's obvious because Michael is wearing the same pants and shirt in every shot.

When Michael arrived at the hangar, he made everyone go outside while he rehearsed his new solo. Of course he allowed the cameramen to stay.

Michael's comment about how the dancers didn't know each other yet wasn't quite true. By the time that scene with Steve Brunning singing was shot in the bus and when they gathered together in the hangar, they had been rehearsing together and socializing for several days!

It was obvious in many scenes that Michael was 'acting' for the camera people! His lack of spontaneity was also obvious. (When he was gushing over Helen's acting I wanted to barf!)

By the time they were at Hyde park for the final dress rehearsal and performance, Michael didn't have much interest in the 'making' video so all of his appearances were natural and spontaneous. With one exception--the scene where he has a towel wrapped around his head and he's "directing" the 'high priest' rehearsal!

The actual FOF video is a composite of the performance and the dress rehearsal of the previous night."

Thanks so much again, Henri!