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ROB HARDY
< ence working as an assistant on When Saturday Comes then nearly- but-not-quite worked on The Full Monty before eschewing the tradi- tional camera department route get- ting involved lighting local shorts and promos.
Later, moving to London, in be- tween shooting other people’s films, including some fairly recent features (Jelly Dolly, Exhibit A, Dogging – A Love Story) which have yet to see the commercial light of day, he also directed a trilogy of his own shorts.
Most recently, he and Crowley have completed their first cinema feature together, Is There Anybody There?, once again on Fujifilm. Set in 1987, it’s the Northern seaside tale of a young boy (Bill Milner) who lives in an old people’s home and strikes up a friendship with a retired magician (Michael Caine). The cast also includes Anne-Marie Duff, David Morrissey, Leslie Phillips, Peter Vaughan and Sylvia Sims.
“At the outset they were keen to shoot the whole thing 1:85. I sug- gested that we should do it 2:35 in- stead. It’s a big ensemble piece and a lot of time’s spent in an old people’s home so what I wanted to do was to try and treat the inside of the home as if it were a landscape, and I really felt that ‘Scope would help that.
“It was a much more conven- tional shoot than Boy A. I liked Michael Caine – but I’m not so sure he liked me in the end. There was a shot where he had to hold a coin very close to the lens before we moved away to a wide shot.
“‘We need to see it’s a coin. Just hold it towards the light,’ I told him, to which he finally erupted, “I don’t know where the f****** light is with you – it’s always so f****** dark.’ I think he found my methods un- usual,”smiledHardy. QUENTINFALK
Boy A was originated on 16mm Fujicolor ETERNA 500T 8673 and Super F-64D 8622; Is There Anybody There? was originated on 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA 500T 8573, ETERNA 250D 8563, ETERNA Vivid 160T 8543 and Super F-64D 8522
Photo: Rob Hardy with his recent BAFTA Television Craft Award (© BAFTA/Richard Kendal)
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