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keen for the women to look as beauti- ful as possible.
“I’ve done nude scenes before but this one was different, partly because of the age of the actresses [Julie Walters, Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie et al] but also because there would be a permanent reminder of the scene fore the calendar. But these women were professionals with years of experience and they knew how to look their best.”
Apart from the odd veteran like Charles Dance and Lindsay Duncan, youth is very much to the fore in Rowe’s latest work, Starter For Ten, adapted from his own comic bestseller by David Nicholls with the author’s old student pal, Tom Vaughan, an experi- enced TV director, making his feature debut. Set in the mid-80s and starring James McAvoy, Rebecca Hall, Alice Eve and Benedict Cumberbatch, it’s the story of an undergraduate’s dream of appearing on University Challenge.
One of Rowe’s challenges was using Fuji for the first time: “My old friend Daf Hobson had actually shot some tests on the new Eterna 500T and raved about it so I thought it was time to give Fuji a go. When I spoke to Fuji about it they said they were on the verge of bringing out a new 250D stock but that it’d probably not be available in time.
“In fact, they kindly managed to ship over 40,000-50,000 feet from Japan which I then used for the day- light exteriors, so that was probably the first time it was actually used in this country. I used it together with the Eterna 500T and also the Reala 500D. With the Reala being daylight- balanced, it was particularly great for my focus puller [long-time regular Ian Clark] because he got an extra bit of aperture, an extra stop on the camera.
“We wanted to emulate the kind of look films seemed to have in the 80s. There was a big craze in those days to
use lots and lots of soft light; it was almost as they had only just discov- ered how to bounce light. The only direct source was light falling in through a window; it never seemed to fall on the actors’ faces at all. Because I used daylight-balanced film for all the interiors, whether day or night, all the tungsten lights, household lamps or lights in shop windows, seemed to acquire an extra richness and warmth. It really did have the look of those old 80s still photographs.”
The University Challenge [with Mark Gatiss as quiz master Bamber Gascoigne] scenes were filmed at Teddington Studios – utilising in-house cameras, lighting and vision mixing desk - as well as some judicious use of walls and corridors at BBC Television Centre plastered with suitable Granada TV logos.
Going back to the past isn’t exactly a new experience for Rowe, who also
recently completed Agnieszka Holland’s latest film Copying Beethoven, about the last year in the life of the great German composer, co- starring Ed Harris and Diane Kruger.
Although it only contained one brief-but telling flashback to a brilliant- ly recreated 70s rock concert, Brian Gibson’s Still Crazy, about the fall and rise of a band, has especially fond memories. “I used to play drums when I was a teenager and I’ve always been interested in lighting rock bands.
“For the film we had shoot some six-to-eight gigs in a three week peri- od, going from one to the next. “You know,” Rowe sighs, nostalgically, “it was almost like being on the road with a band.” ■ QUENTIN FALK
Starter For Ten was originated on 35mm Fujicolour Eterna 500T 8573, Reala 500D 8592 and Eterna 250D 8563
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