Miss Behaviour Ben Davis BSC / Tamara Drewe Miss Behaviour Ben Davis BSC / Tamara Drewe As a recent Guardian review observed, “Like the filthiest possible feature-length episode of The Archers, and with a tiny conceptual dash of Straw Dogs, Posy Simmonds’s graphic novel series Tamara Drewe has been converted into a fantastically mad and … Read more
Artistic Eye Clapperboard / Freddie Francis Artistic Eye Clapperboard / Freddie Francis The late Frederick (Freddie) William Francis was born in Islington, North London in March 1917. After leaving school he went to a technical college to study engineering. Whilst there he wrote an essay on film and was given the chance to visit the … Read more
Circus Act Rodrigo Prieto AMC, ASC / Water for elephants Circus Act Rodrigo Prieto AMC, ASC / Water for elephants Growing up, Rodrigo Prieto AMC ASC was never a big fan of circuses. He says that it was the nuanced relationships among characters that drew him to Water For Elephants, his latest assignment. “Of … Read more
Brightest day Dion Beebe ACS ASC / The Green Lantern Brightest day Dion Beebe ACS ASC / The Green Lantern The Green Lantern was first brought to life in the pages of 1940s comic books, published by DC Comics, best known as the home of Superman and Batman. The character was a human test pilot, … Read more
Remarkable Creatures Tim Cragg / Flying Monsters 3D Remarkable Creatures Tim Cragg / Flying Monsters 3D Around two hundred million years ago there was an extraordinary development in the history of life on earth – an ancient group of reptiles made a giant, evolutionary leap into the skies. Known as pterosaurs, these flying monsters evolved … Read more
Ivy League Isolation Jeff Cronenweth ASC / The Social Network Ivy League Isolation Jeff Cronenweth ASC / The Social Network This year marks the 25th anniversary of the ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards. Jeff Cronenweth ASC followed in his father’s footsteps by earning ASC Outstanding Achievement Award and Oscar nominations for The Social Network, as did … Read more
Fresh Powder Ed Wild / Chalet Girl Fresh Powder Ed Wild / Chalet Girl Ed Wild is a man on the move. He moves side-to-side, from commercial to music video, and up and down from feature to short. Most recently he’s been moving up, way up, both in the British film industry and the mountains. … Read more
Q & A with a True Brit Roger Deakins BSC ASC / True Grit Q & A with a True Brit Roger Deakins BSC ASC / True Grit BY: Bob Fisher True Grit is the 11th collaboration for Roger Deakins BSC ASC with filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen. Deakins earned four of his eight Oscar nominations … Read more
Suited & Rebooted Claudio Miranda / Tron Legacy Suited & Rebooted Claudio Miranda / Tron Legacy Disney’s 1981 sci-fi adventure Tron secured its place in film history as a pioneering visual effects undertaking, widely recognised as one of the first films produced with extensive use of computer graphics. It was reportedly made for $17 million, … Read more
Heightened reality Danny Cohen BSC / The King’s Speech Heightened reality Danny Cohen BSC / The King’s Speech Period films are a standard entry on the filmographies of most cinematographers these days but few have spanned the centuries like Danny Cohen BSC. From Revolutionary America through the austere years of Britain in the 1940s and … Read more
Subtle Dance Matthew Libatique ASC / Black Swan Subtle Dance Matthew Libatique ASC / Black Swan BY: Robert Allen After seeing Black Swan at the Telluride Film Festival, a New York Times critic enthusiastically described it as a supernatural thriller filmed against a ballet world backdrop. It can also be thought of as a hybrid … Read more
Extreme precision Edu Grau / Buried Extreme precision Edu Grau / Buried BY: Ron Prince It’s hard to imagine that a 110-minute film based completely around a man buried alive in a coffin would keep the attention of audiences for the entirety of its duration. But Buried not only succeeds in doing this, it’s also … Read more
Close Connections James Friend / Ghost Close Connections James Friend / Ghost Principal photography on Ghost (working title), the feature film debut from writer/director Craig Viveiros (Vengeance) completed recently in London. The film stars an award-winning cast led by John Lynch (Sliding Doors, Mo), Martin Compston (Red Road, Sweet Sixteen), David Schofield (Pirates of … Read more
Against the tide Philippe Ros AFC / Océans Against the tide Philippe Ros AFC / Océans Capturing marine life across 54 countries in three and a half years with the aim “to be in phase with the animals, a dolphin among dolphins”, Océans is an ecological drama/documentary. The film boasts incredible shots topside by … Read more
Fragmented Framings Natasha Braier / La Teta Asustada, The milk of Sorrow Fragmented Framings Natasha Braier / La Teta Asustada, The milk of Sorrow If you were lucky enough to catch La Teta Asustada, The Milk Of Sorrow at the cinema recently, then the textural, painterly quality of the imagery will be something that will … Read more
Enemies Unite Steven Poster ASC / Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore Enemies Unite Steven Poster ASC / Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore You don’t need all of the fingers on one of your hands to count the number of cinematographers who have shot films with dogs and cats in … Read more
Crack Commandos Mauro Fiore ASC / The A-Team Crack Commandos Mauro Fiore ASC / The A-Team Avatar took audiences on a surrealistic journey to a future world where humans invade an alien planet and engage the natives in a desperate battle for survival. The film broke box office records when it was released in 3D … Read more
Journey of Discovery Robert Richardson ASC / Eat Pray Love Journey of Discovery Robert Richardson ASC / Eat Pray Love Bob Richardson ASC had just completed shooting Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds back-to-back when his agent asked if he had read a book titled Eat Pray Love. Richardson said that he … Read more
Suburban Childhood Erik Wilson / Submarine Suburban Childhood Erik Wilson / Submarine Cinema fans enjoy the obvious and not so obvious connections between films. The links between two greatly anticipated productions – coming-of-age comedy Submarine and the gritty tale of redemption Tyrannosaur – are more intriguing than could be hoped. Each, respectively, is the … Read more
Encore Performance Wally Pfister ASC / Inception Encore Performance Wally Pfister ASC / Inception Christopher Nolan, Wally Pfister ASC and producer Emma Thomas have collaborated on the creation of another breathtaking motion picture. Inception follows in the wake of Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight. The Warner Bros. film revolves around … Read more
