Shining a light on… Gaffers ‘R’ Us / Chuck Finch Shining a light on… Gaffers ‘R’ Us / Chuck Finch Fact file Born: Westminster, London Education: St Michael’s School, Sloane Square, London Lives: West Sussex Hobbies: Fishing, golf and family time Selected filmography Dumbo (2018, pre-production) Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) Miss Peregrine’s Home For … Read more
Flower Power Eigil Bryld / Tulip Fever Flower Power Eigil Bryld / Tulip Fever Evoking the time of Vermeer’s 17th century Holland was one of the key challenges facing cinematographer Eigil Bryld and director Justin Chadwick for The Weinstein Company’s historical drama of Tulip Fever. However, whilst the soft purity of the lighting in artworks … Read more
Gothic Horrors Simon Dennis / The Limehouse Golem Gothic Horrors Simon Dennis / The Limehouse Golem BY: Michael Burns Given the popularity of Victorian London for drama settings, bringing a new look to a period film is getting ever harder to pull off. Yet this is a challenge that held no fear for cinematographer Simon … Read more
ARRI: 100 Years Young Munich Diary / Ron Prince ARRI: 100 Years Young Munich Diary / Ron Prince BY: Ron Prince In celebration of its one-hundredth birthday, ARRI invited British Cinematographer Magazine editor Ron Prince and co-publisher Alan Lowne, for a behind-the-scenes tour of its Munich headquarters during flaming June. Here’s a journal about what … Read more
Cold hard crash Mandy Walker ACS ASC / The Mountain Between Us Cold hard crash Mandy Walker ACS ASC / The Mountain Between Us BY: Trevor Hogg While attending the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival to promote The Mountain Between Us, Mandy Walker ACS ASC acknowledged that she comes from a country known for producing … Read more
Invention and Re-Invention Across The Pond / Mark London Williams Invention & Re-Invention Across The Pond / Mark London Williams “It all used to be countryside around here,” Leonard Chapman tells us, pointing to the surrounding factories, stores, railroad sidings and lumber yards in the industrial area of North Hollywood where Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment … Read more
Subjects matter GBCT News / Tim Potter Subjects matter GBCT News / Tim Potter Much has been said by many a pundit in recent months that the great success of our industry is skewing the market for film and television production in the UK. Success is definitely true. Feature film production crossed the £1bn mark … Read more
All the world’s a stage Spotlight / A.C. Entertainment Technologies All the world’s a stage Spotlight / A.C. Entertainment Technologies BY: Michael Burns Once upon a time, a teenage business supplying pub and club gig lighting for the flower-power generation grew into a multinational entity offering a vast range of cutting-edge lighting and entertainment technology, … Read more
What politicians can learn from filmmakers GBCT News / John Keedwell What politicians can learn from filmmakers GBCT News / John Keedwell This is not a party political broadcast. It is an observation about how the film business can teach politicians, and other businesses, some essential lessons about making a success. On the June morning … Read more
Going Global Post-It Notes / Pinewood Digital Going Global Post-It Notes / Pinewood Digital James Corless and Thom Berryman, who head-up Pinewood’s digital operations, are no strangers to jet-lag these days. Since setting up a simple digital dailies service five years ago, based out of Pinewood Studios in the UK, the facility has grown into … Read more
The swirl of award fever Across The Pond / Mark London Williams The swirl of award fever Across The Pond / Mark London Williams It’s not only crisis and calamity (and in L.A., ash!) in the air this fall, but around town there’s already the swirl of award fever, as showbiz heads to one of … Read more
Shining a light on… Gaffers ‘R’ Us / John ‘Biggles’ Higgins Shining a light on… Gaffers ‘R’ Us / John ‘Biggles’ Higgins Fact file Age: 64 Born: Athlone, Republic Of Ireland First job: Samuelson Group Training: Electrical engineer Early career: Shell UK Lives: Kensington, London Big Break: 1984 (dir. Michael Radford, DP Roger Deakins CBE BSC … Read more
Preserving the image President’s Perspective / Barry Ackroyd BSC Preserving the image President’s Perspective / Barry Ackroyd BSC We all know that cinematography is a brilliant career. It’s an art form that we all love and, as I’ve often said, cinematographers play a pivotal and primary role in creating cinema. What’s not to love about … Read more
Never surrender David Higgs BSC / Churchill Never surrender David Higgs BSC / Churchill The historical thriller Churchill, directed by Jonathan Teplitzky and shot by cinematographer David Higgs BSC, is an intimate portrait of Winston Churchill in the 96 hours before D-Day, which took place on Tuesday, 6th June 1944. The $10m production opens with … Read more
Miniature Magic Clapperboard / José Granell Miniature Magic Clapperboard / José Granell BY: Michael Burns V For Vendetta, Enigma, K19: The Widowmaker, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, the Harry Potter series – watch the films, then view the showreel of the Magic Camera Company and prepare to be amazed. You’d never guess where models and miniature work … Read more
Grumpy customer Göran Hallberg FSF / A Man Called Ove Grumpy customer Göran Hallberg FSF / A Man Called Ove BY: Kevin Hilton An impression of a country can be heavily influenced by film portrayals. Which is why outsiders might justifiably believe the USA is populated by superheroes and mutants, while the UK is full of either … Read more
Shooting from the hip Meet the New Wave / Ruben Woodin Dechamps Shooting from the hip Meet the New Wave / Ruben Woodin Dechamps Filmography (so far): DP on A Second World (2015), My One Demand (2015), We Love Moses (2016), plus second unit DP on Kicking Off (2014) and The Hippopotamus (2017) When did … Read more
Basic instincts Letter from America / Roy H Wagner ASC Basic instincts Letter from America / Roy H Wagner ASC Roy H Wagner ASC says cinematography is a discovery process, and it’s the cinematographer’s duty to rely on their intuition and be able to turn on a sixpence. Years ago, while observing my mentor discussing … Read more
The need to greet the future Across The Pond / Mark London Williams The need to greet the future Across The Pond / Mark London Williams We caught up recently with ICG President Steven Poster (whose epistles from these same shores also appear in British Cinematographer), he of ASC, Testament, Rocky V, Big Top PeeWee, … Read more
Kick-ass collaborations Matt Jensen ASC / Wonder Woman Kick-ass collaborations Matt Jensen ASC / Wonder Woman BY: David Wood Think of DC Comics’ character Wonder Woman and most people would picture Lynda Carter’s iconic 1970s TV portrayal of the proto-feminist heroine. But Warner Bros. and director Patty Jenkins seem to have changed all that with … Read more