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ULAPONTIKOS
BORN: GDYNIA, POLAND
How did you get into this industry, any family connections?
“I have a strong visual background. Back in Poland I studied Environ- mental Sciences but always felt that the
subject would not satisfy my creative needs. In my free time I enrolled into the Evening College of Photography in Sopot, and I have never looked back. Since then I was determined to work my way up to become a photographer and later when I had gained some confidence I went on to learn Cinematography.
I came to the UK about ten years ago and studied at Ravensbourne College.
I then worked for about five years as Cam- era Assistant and Clapper Loader and Focus Puller on films, promos and shorts. Features that I’ve worked on as Camera Assistant to date include Dirty Pretty Things, Thunderbirds and Notes On A Scandal.
I’ve also worked as a cinematographer and shot pop promos, short films and worked as 2nd Unit DP and 2nd Camera on award-winning feature film Outlanders, produced by Sterling Pictures.
In 2006 I successfully applied to National Film and Television School, which I completed this year.
What was your favourite job
to date and any unusual anecdotes
whilst working?
Most of the films I’ve worked on I’ve really enjoyed. There have always been chal- lenges. I remember one time we were meant to shoot aerial footage from a plane near my hometown in Gdansk. A few days before I went to talk to the guys and checked with them what needed to be prepped to get two cameras rigged in the plane, an old Cessna, which was not entirely suitable for aerial shooting. So we took out all the side doors and most of the floor to accommodate the two cameras, shooting simultaneously. I must say it was one of the most exciting and frightening days of my career so far - circling over my hometown and the historic ship- yard of Gdansk on a sunny, freezing cold day strapped inside a rickety old plane with no doors or floor. It made studio work seem positively dull!
Who were the most influential
people in your career to date,
i.e. cinematographer, director, etc.? Working as Camera Assistant to Chris Menges BSC taught me a lot. He comes from
a documentary background and I love his instinctive camera operating and simplicity of lighting he applies. And the way he makes actors skin glow...!
I’ve also learnt a lot from my tutors, at the NFTS, Brian Tufano and Stuart Harris. It was also very interesting to work as an as- sistant on films like Dirty Pretty Things and Notes On A Scandal and seeing the process from script to a final film. Working next to directors like Stephen Frears and Richard Eyre was a film school in its own right.
What were your most recent projects
and what was your job on each?
• Outlanders, Feature film, Sterling Pictures. 2nd Camera and 2nd Unit DP. Directed by Dominic Lees and produced by Michael Riley. Shot in UK and in Poland
• The Girl And A Gun, Short film starring Ian Hart and Paul Freeman. Directed by David L.G. Hughes and produced by Margaret Matheson – Bard Entertainments. It is one of the most successful UK shorts ever for global downloads.
• Close, NFTS. Directed by Theresa Von Eltz and produced by Yan Schoenefeld on loca- tion in Berlin. DP.
• The Butcher, NFTS. Directed by Masako Tomiya and produced by Megan Stuart Wallace. It was a 17min live-action string puppet animation shot on Fujifilm. DP.
• The Space You Leave, NFTS. Directed by Theresa Von Eltz and produced by Gavin Humphres. Shot on a location in Sicily. DP. • China’s Wild West, NFTS and Sterling Pictures. A short documentary about Jade Diggers in a remote part of China,
Xinjiang. DP.
What are your current and
future projects?
Right now I am developing a visual docu- mentary with director Luke Sewell in India. I also have a feature film in the pipeline, as well as couple of shorts. I’m also shooting music promos and getting myself “out there”.
What is your experience of working with Fujifilm stock?
I shot a short documentary in Scotland on Fujifilm stock. It was a personal project, a testimony to the beauty of Scotland, and the 250D was the perfect stock to capture the nuances of colour in the landscape.
Then there was a film called Stranger which we shot on Super F- 64D in Hackney Marshes. It gave us beautiful, grainless
shots, and a rich colour saturation. I’ve also shot a short film called a Special Needs, a dark psycho-thriller, entirely studio-based. We had a huge stage built into a colonial holiday home. I used ETERNA 400T stock, which was perfect. We really made the stock work and with slightly overexposing win- dows to suggest heat but keeping corners dark and creepy.
But it was while shooting my puppet animation The Butcher that I really played with the stock. I needed a strong, punchy
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look but I was initially struggling to find a stock, which was both contrasty and fast at the same time. When I tested the ETERNA 250T and pushed it a stop, I found that I got the desired exposure and at the same time the process gave me very dark,
heavy blacks, with a certain under-
tone which was needed for this
very stylish story. ”