ONE OF A KIND Tim Potter, a dedicated camera technician and GBCT chair, was renowned for his kindness, expertise and lifelong commitment to supporting crew. Tributes have poured in for a true gent. Tim Potter GBCT (Bectu camera branch and GBCT chair) joined the Guild in 1991 and was elected to the Board in 2006, … Read more
GBCT Chair Tim Potter reflects on life at the guild in the wake of Dee Edwards’ passing and continuing her legacy of fostering budding talents. Unaccustomed as I am to office work, the last two months have been a steep learning curve. Dee’s passing has left a great hole in the centre of the guild. … Read more
Our work-life balance has been under scrutiny since the pandemic and it’s high time for some productions to start valuing crews’ efforts. The general media is beginning to become very exercised about their perception that the younger part of the nation’s workforce is becoming very ardent in their pursuit of a better work-life balance. Time … Read more
As the GBCT whittles down the hundreds of applicants for its popular traineeships to just a handful of talents, its president Tim Potter explores what makes a successful trainee. One of the interviewees for the Guild’s traineeships asked one of the most difficult questions any interviewer of such a group of equally highly talented applicants … Read more
As the financial structure of the film and television industry has evolved, the need to support indigenous independent productions has grown ever greater. Last year (in issue 108) I wrote of the “New Licence to Print Money”. We are now beginning to see some of the consequences of this change in the financial structure of … Read more
From time to time, work permit applications cross my desk. These days we must call them Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS). They have mostly been from American applicants, but increasingly they have been from Europeans who, pre-Brexit, we would have not needed to hear from. This split from our closest neighbours has brought in more than … Read more
The July 2022 issue of British Cinematographer is now here! You can find out more about the incredible interviews and articles you can expect to find inside our 112th edition now by reading on… MANDY WALKER AM ASC ACS ON ELVIS The Man. The Music. The Legend. In our cover story special, we offer fascinating insight into the creation of Elvis, the electrifying biographical musical that … Read more
From the comedy sector through to the highest quality television drama, our industry relies on technicians of such a quality that they can deliver feature film quality product on a much quicker schedule. These quicker scheduled productions mean that the technicians have no time to be messed around by poor scheduling and underhand jiggery-pokery with … Read more
SEISMIC SHIFTS In the last issue I warned of the impending rises in inflation. Since writing that article the price of a pint of milk in my local corner shop rose 15% in one jump. Towards the end of the last lockdown the supply of bottled water became difficult, but since it has returned to … Read more
TAKING STOCK During lockdown I got used to spending the minimum that I could to eke out my limited resources. The lack of toilet rolls and pasta in the shops helped but the acres of time to spend those resources made life difficult. Retail therapy was not the way to weather the storm. The supermarkets … Read more
BE MINDFUL OF MENTAL HEALTH Are you mad? Are you just as mad as you were before? Or are you just mad as hell? We have all become more aware of the toll that the last year has taken on our mental disposition. We all remember that the best way to get a shot of … Read more
EXAMINING THE IMPACT Signs of life never truly went away. The first three months of lockdown 2020 did close production but not the planning for the future. Scripts could be written, and pre-production management could all be done by home working. When that lockdown lifted, productions tentatively started. Production continued into the second lockdown under … Read more
LOOKING AHEAD When the Brexit vote came to pass and the world did not fall off a cliff edge, the victors gloated over their vindication. Their hubris was the false assertion that the cliff edge would be an immediate plunge into oblivion. The descent was only ever going to start once the full effect of … Read more
Camera loader Howard Colin recently completed the GBCT’s 16mm/35mm film loading course, and wrote in with details of his experience. “It was a frosty start to Monday the 4th of December, I prayed to the traffic gods for an easy journey. I was heading to London to attend the GBCT Film Loading course, hosted at … Read more
Not At Any Rate GBCT News / Tim Potter Not At Any Rate GBCT News / Tim Potter How much are we truly worth? And, more to the point, how do we find out and how do we make sure every one of us knows? When I first started in this business, the hardest piece … Read more
What value a cinematographer? GBCT News / Tim Potter What value a cinematographer? GBCT News / Tim Potter It would seem to be one of those things we take to be self-evident, that the person who creates the image for a visual medium should be the one member of the crew to be of higher … 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
Taxing Times GBCT News / Tim Potter Taxing Times GBCT News / Tim Potter Budgets rarely bring good news. Drinkers often need a fag to calm their nerves and smokers a drink to drown their sorrows. Recent times are little different. The regulars are on trajectories that have been set for some years to come. … Read more
The Plot Thickens GBCT News / Tim Potter The Plot Thickens GBCT News / Tim Potter The rise and rise of streaming and downloading are leading a seismic shift in the demographics of distribution. Their revenue passed those of hard copy media (DVDs and Blu-rays) for the first time last year. The studios are bemoaning … Read more
A fair camera shake GBCT News / Tim Potter We are so often asked to “keep it moving”, or “make it edgy and new”. By ‘edgy’ they mean ‘shake it around so the viewer can’t concentrate on the lack of plot, or by ‘new’ they mean ‘what we have been asking you to do for … Read more