Page 22 - Fujifilm Exposure_41 Happy-Go-Lucky_ok

MISS AUSTEN REGRETS
“The stock seemed to give you a sense of
being ‘in’ there as a period piece with those characters.”
continued from page 18
flirting session in the maze as they run around with a ribbon trying to find each other. We did that hand-held. It was fine following them where you could see where to turn next, but then we also had to go backwards with them. The whole crew was laughing because you had no chance. I was being pulled by the grip around cor- ners, falling through hedges – all chaos. The scene eventually ends with an over-the-top crane shot.”
Katzelson, who has since shot Faintheart, a new British feature come- dy directed by a MySpace short film winner Vito Rocco, did also have some initial concerns about what he consid- ered another key scene.
“This was a scene where Jane is having breakfast with her brother. We tried out some lighting that was a bit daring; it was incredibly harsh, just one beam of light coming in, with a lot hap- pening in the shadows. I was worried it didn’t do enough story-wise to stay in the final cut. Luckily it did, although perhaps trimmed just a little.”
As for the story itself, screenwriter Hughes felt she couldn’t really claim sole credit for the drama: “The script is very tightly based on Austen’s sur- viving letters to her sister and to her young niece, Fanny. So I must share the credit for quite a lot of the dia- logue with Miss Austen herself.
“And I must say it’s been a strange and humbling experience to feel this genius of English literature peering critically over my shoulder as I write. But I have loved every moment in her company.” ■ QUENTIN FALK
Miss Austen Regrets was originated on 16mm Fujicolor ETERNA 500T 8673, ETERNA 250T 8653 and ETERNA Vivid 160T 8643
BECOMING JANE
DP David Katznelson says of Olivia Williams: “I don’t think I’ve ever worked with anyone who has such screen awareness as she did. She’d know exactly which light was for her... it was amazing, a great help.” Currently at the National Theatre in Happy Now, the 39-year-old British actress, who has appeared in films like The Sixth Sense, Rushmore, Born Romantic, The Heart Of Me, To Kill A King and Peter Pan gives EXPOSURE a fascinating insight from the front of camera.
There are several schools of thought as to whether or not it is cool for actors to be techni- cally aware of what is happen- ing to them while they are
being initially lit and then filmed. When I first stepped on a film set I
had no idea at all about finding light or
even hitting marks. But after twelve “years, I would really have had to close my senses down not to have picked up
needs, and to work my emotional needs around that.
I was very privileged during Miss Austen Regrets to be allowed into the process by Jeremy and David, from the moment they showed me a collec- tion of stills that inspired them at the read-through.
The atmosphere on set was the most creative and collaborative between the departments I have ever known. I found that if I understood what image they were working to create, I could contribute to that, rather than just being a warm prop. And if you understand what is being sought, the endless repetitions of film- making become rich with possibility.
It helps not to be vain, to realise that to a DP, one’s face is just a surface off which light bounces. I hope I am practical about when the lighting is meant to be making me look ten years younger, ten years older... or dead!
Some DPs are made nervous or just pissed off by an actor who has any contribution to make, so I usually keep my head down, but David was welcoming from the start. Equally, actors don’t like DPs telling them what to do, or directors don’t like DPs telling their actors what to do, so this triangle of Jeremy, David and me was very, very rare and very, very special.
Incidentally, David and Otto [Stenov, lighting director] always maintained ultimate control by break- ing into Danish.
I love language, so I find the tech- nical terms of film photography end- lessly entertaining: I love nothing more than a ‘dirty single’ or a ‘dingle’. I can do quite a good impersonation of some one who understands F-stops and ‘crossing the line’.
David’s cinematography gives the finished film an intensely European feel, which is so important for this story. I love that it wasn’t afraid to paint the muted greys and fading colours of the end of Jane Austen’s life, and not just the bright colours of her youth.
I get a kick out of helping to get a seemingly impossible shot as the light goes, or in a horse and carriage, or running backwards up a hill. You often find yourself trapped in hot confined spaces with a DP and a camera for long periods of time. It is a strange way to make friends.
Jeremy and I discussed at length the idea that the film needed to demonstrate how acutely observant Jane Austen was - in her writing she nails detail so accurately - and the camera seemed to be the perfect agent to show this rather than explain it as I am rather painfully doing now. This resulted in some terrifying close- ups, with my forehead literally press- ing against the matte box. It was some- thing I felt really brought Jane Austen to life, using film to reveal the work- ings of her mind. But terrifying to be so scrutinised. You really do need to trust someone to let them that close.
I like to do my own standing in while the DP is lining up and lighting the shot. This can be controversial if there is a stand-in whom you are mak- ing redundant, or if the DP finds the presence of actors inhibiting.
But if you can stand still and not talk (big problem for me), it is possi- ble to learn a lot while you stand there, and it also means that the DP has a chance to really work to your height and skin and angles, instead of what often happens, they line up on a stand in, then have to make all sorts of adjustments when you step back in.
I was deeply involved in this film on every level and worked the hardest I’ve ever worked on it. I care so much about the subject, and I care so much about film. I am so proud of it. The making of it was some kind of
idyll, the best days of summer
spent in beautiful locations
doing what you love with a tal-
ented and entertaining group
of people. Heaven.
something along the way, and I have found not only that I am interested, but I am in awe of the work of the DP.
I am still moved by how the grimy chaotic ugliness of a film set is trans- formed on film into a work of art. David’s lighting is a case in point - still images of a window with a pitcher in front of it, pure Vermeer.
My other favourite shots were his Easy Rider moments - two figures walk- ing in slanting sunshine caught by his running backwards uphill ahead of us, holding the camera at knee level. You have to honour the camera-bearer’s agility as well as technical genius.
Often the DP needs an actor to move into a light, but because of the perceived delicacy of the actor’s sensi- bilities, the message is conveyed via numerous intermediaries who try and give you an emotional motivation for moving two inches to the left. I have just found it infinitely more rewarding to have a dialogue with the director and the DP about what he or she
Photos: DP David Katznelson (Photo: Jay Maidment) and scenes from the BBC One drama Ms Austen Regrets featuring Olivia Williams, ” Hugh Bonneville, Imogen Poots and Jack Huston (Photos: Otto Stenov and David Katznelson and the BBC)
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