British Cinematographer issue 51 - Imago

British Cinematographer
Covering International Cinematography
www.britishcinematographer.co.uk
Issue 051 ––– May 2012 42
43
Morris wasn’t the only expert on set – Philippe Ros
AFC and Sherlock DP Steve Lawes also shot material
using the F65 in the Lake District. “Steve came up for
a day and did some really nice time-lapse shots with
mist moving off the hills - it really showed off the quality
of the light,” says Morris. “Philippe, although he’s an
extremely respected DP in his own right, very graciously
volunteered to take a second unit for some landscape
shots and some of the close up work, but he was also
there for his own experimentation with the camera.”
Morris and Ros conferred on how best to use
the camera, as well as discussing the possible postproduction
routes and choices to be made in terms
of colour space, which Morris describes as still an area
open to experimentation.
He’s also of the opinion the 4K workflow is still finding
its way in general. “That’s an awful lot of data that needs
wrangling,” he says. “You’re also moving in and out
of a colour space that’s a tried and tested HD route,
pathways that have been there for a while now. You’re
going into a rather interesting new area. But the F65 is
absolutely suited for high-end 4K production, that’s what
the beast is designed for. I think in the next year or two
the whole 4K world is going to mature dramatically and
it’s going to be mainstream, absolutely.”
Also with Morris was 1st AC Robert Dibble. “He’s
so solid and meticulous and he ran that camera just
as he’d run a film camera,” says Morris. “I can see
[the F65] being a bit alien - only at first - to somebody
from a video background, but crews coming from a
film background are very at home with it very quickly.
The way the eyepieces, the matte box and focus rigs
work are exactly the same. It would fit right into a film
workflow. I don’t see any problems that a TV Drama
crew would have either, as they’re used to shooting on
film anyway.”
There are two shots Morris particularly loves in the
final film. “There is a shot in the mist with a drystone wall
running down the left hand side, when you see that
projected it’s just delightful. There’s a real sense of being
there. The other shot is a close up of a boy’s face. That’s
a key thing about this camera - the skin tones are really
really beautiful. His face is just alabaster, it’s very special.
When people in the know see that they’ll know what
fantastic flesh tones the camera is capable of.”
Morris has two commercials coming up and a film
later in the year. “It’s with a producer I’ve made films
with before and we’ve been waiting a long time to get
the next one off the ground,” he says. “So it’s something
I’m really looking forward to - and I think it’s got F65
written all over it.”
Detail... Morris was impressed by
F65’s level of detail on drystone
walls and rural vistas.
Lining up... Nic Morris BSC get
the F65 camera ready for a dolly
move.
British Cinematographer
Covering International Cinematography
www.britishcinematographer.co.uk
Issue 051 ––– May 2012
Meet the New Wave
–––James Martin
Cinematographer
Filmography (so far):
Payback Season, The Secret Life Of Butterflies (short),
Dance With The Devil: The Cozy Powell Story
When did you discover you wanted to be a
cinematographer?
When I went to film school, I was unsure whether I
wanted to be a director, writer, cameraman or editor.
At the time I thought it was possible to do all of them,
and well. Paul Wheeler BSC made a massive impact on
me. I forged an excellent tutor/pupil relationship with
him that has grown into a brilliant friendship and he
continues to be an inspiration to this day.
Where did you train?
The Met Film School, as part of their first ever BA course.
What are you favourite films, and why?
Oddly, I don’t think I’ve ever recommended a film to
someone on the basis of the cinematography, but my
choices are…
RoboCop (1987, DP Jost Vacano, and Sol Negrin
uncredited) – for its unflinching violence and scathing
social commentary, in what could have easily been a
“silly comic-book movie”.
Independence Day (1996, DP Karl Walter Lindenlaub)
– had a big impact on me as a young man in that,
clichéd as it is, it showed me the importance of polish
and scale in involving an audience.
John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982, DP Dean Cundey)
– a brilliantly simple concept, executed perfectly and
with gory SFX that actually serve the story. The sense of
tension in the film permeates from the screen.
What’s the best advice you were ever given?
I learned very early on the importance of keeping
one’s opinion private, unless it was asked for. Too often
I’ve seen people wade in with suggestions about
how their bosses should do their job, only to see how
unpopular it makes them – regardless of whether they
were right.
Who are your industry heroes?
Paul Wheeler – he has been a total inspiration for me
in the type of person I hope I can one day become, and
is a source of great help to so many others.
Dean Semler ACS ASC ¬ – I’m particularly fond of
Dean’s work (Mad Max 2 is a stunning debut). I was
overjoyed when I got the chance to speak with him last
year and found out that not only is his work stunning, he
is also the most down-to-earth guy you could imagine.
Robert Richardson ASC – I strongly admire his ballsy
lighting style.
What’s you proudest moment?
Either the first time I saw some film I’d loaded and
exposed come back A-OK, or the first time I bought a
ticket to something I’d shot!
Tell us about your best/worst moments on set?
Best moment – pulling off a remote head move using
wheels, which I so rarely touch, and as the camera
settled having the sun cut through some leaves to
produce a beautiful flare. I can’t imagine how many
people wait days for a shot like that, but it was waiting
for us. Worst moment – going on to a music video shoot
and realising the longest BNC we had was 1m long!
Your biggest challenge on your latest project?
Lighting the slow-motion sequence for Payback Season
was particularly intense, as we had something along the
lines of 30KW of tungsten light burning about fifteen feet
away, and my crew and I were right in it for most of the
day! I felt drunk afterwards, it was totally bizarre – I must
have been high on light!
Tell us your most hilarious faux pas?
I got a job doing pick-ups on a 16mm feature and
was really keen to use some new 85 filters I had been
given. I’d gone through the kit list and wiped all of the
other filters from the list, but my heart stopped when the
director turned up with ten cans of daylight stock. Never
have I been so thankful for inclement weather.
Away from work, what are your greatest passions?
I am a petrol-head and motorsports enthusiast. When
the weather is good, I like to enjoy classic motorbikes
and country roads. I am bit of a geek too and enjoy
firing through video games.
What one piece of kit could you not live without?
My Leatherman. There is hardly a shoot I haven’t used it
on and the countless household tasks it has done mean
it was a worthy investment.
Tell us your hidden talent/party trick?
On a feature I AC’d we did a focus pull on a macro
lens with about five rotations from start-to-end. To get a
perfectly smooth pull, I coiled myself up like a spring and
did a bizarre dance to untwist and twist my arms again. I
looked like a cat chasing it’s own tail, but it worked.
In the entire history of filmmaking, which film would
you love to have shot?
Grand Prix (1966, DP Lionel Lindon) by John
Frankenheimer. It’s a film they could never make now,
but they were inventing the art of shooting cars as they
went along. It’s also an era of racing that fascinates me.
Frankenheimer’s Ronin (1998, DP Robert Fraisse) also
proved the quality of the sequences was no fluke!
What are your current top albums?
Don’t laugh – the soundtrack of Ashes To Ashes, Def
Leppard’s Mirror Ball and Duran Duran’s greatest hits.
What is your greatest extravagance?
I like to carry a bag of “magic and happy”, which is
usually full of childish things like sherbet dabs and so on...
when a shot’s trying to beat me down it’s a fantastic pick
me up. I don’t drink or smoke, so that’s my on-set vice.
Give us three adjectives that best describe you and
your approach to cinematography?
Flexible. Story-driven. Efficient
If you weren’t a DP, what job would you be doing now?
I came extremely close to studying law at Cambridge,
so possibly in a courtroom or an office somewhere!