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behind the camera
“I chose the Fuji Eterna because it has such latitude that it gives you a huge amount of freedom.”
A t a time when the dream of European union is
being realised more than ever before, it should come as no surprise that a Polish cinematographer should have built his rep- utation in countries other
than his own. But if the career of Wojciech Szepel proves anything, it is that a facility for languages and a love of travel are only the starting point to a successful career.
Above all there is a need to be open- minded, curious and willing to take a risk, together with – appropriately enough given the multinational nature of his CV – an ability to communicate.
“As a cinematographer you’re like the messenger,” the 35-year-old Lodz Film School graduate explains. “I’m connecting ideas from everyone, try- ing to gather them so they can be used in the project. Working with com- pletely different personalities is incredible too.
“Sometimes you meet someone for whom you make almost a whole shot list yourself, which has just been approved and corrected by the direc- tor. Other times you work with a director who will say, ‘the camera stands here and we’ll use this or that lens’. Then you are the person who
corrects it, slightly. It changes your perspective completely and, of course, this is very interesting.”
One of the key collaborations in Szepel’s recent career has been with Briton Emily Young, for whom he shot two shorts including the award- winning Second Hand as well as her prize-winning feature debut, Kiss Of Life, acclaimed at the BAFTAs in 2004. German director Anne Wild was so impressed when she saw Second Hand that she invited Szepel to light the film which would mark the feature debut for them both, Mein erstes Wunder.
Recently Szepel lit Wild’s Hansel & Gretel in Germany, before heading for Ireland to shoot a film that was quin- tessentially British. Whatever Love Means takes its title from the throw- away phrase Prince Charles used when interviewed with the then Lady Diana Spencer shortly after their engage- ment. The film goes on to chart the highs and lows of the marriage, which famously comprised three people.
“It was interesting for me,” says Szepel, “because I really didn’t know anything about this story at all. But
obviously this issue is much more pop- ular than I expected. I met some German ladies who knew every single piece of dialogue from the script with- out even reading it! So I learned a lot, I must say. It was interesting, telling the story of someone I didn’t now, who has such a different life to the one I have.”
Shooting on Fuji’s 16mm Eterna 500T 8673, as he had on Hansel & Gretel, Szepel had only three days to prepare himself for the challenges that lay ahead. Most notably these involved the weather on the Irish
LIGHTING
WITHOUT BORDERS
AN INTERVIEW WITH WOJCIECH SZEPEL
20 • Exposure • The Magazine • Fujifilm Motion Picture