Page 21 - Fujifilm Exposure_11 Blackadder_ok

bsc-fifty years on
SHEDDING A GOLDEN LIGHT
SHEDDING A GOLDEN LIGHT
T he British Society Of Cinematographer’s 50th Birthday year began with the unveil- ing of a bronze bust at Shepperton in January and will end amid a flurry of awards at its annual Operators’ Night held at Pinewood in December. In
between, this golden land- mark of BSC history has been charac- terised by various events like Question &
Answer Screenings (Firelight with Nic Morris, Oliver Twist with Guy Green among them), the launch of the Society’s own website and, in October, a New Equipment Show at Elstree, which also hosted a special Anniversary party.
Pioneering cameraman William Friese- Greene, whose likeness was sculpted on commission by Diana Thomson FRBS, wife of former BSC President Alex Thomson, died in 1921. Twenty-eight years on, The British Society of Cinematographers was officially born in September 1949 with the 55 original members each issued with a £1 share.
Ten of that original band are still alive -
Jack Cardiff, Chris Challis, Wilkie Cooper, Eric Cross, Guy Green, Erwin Hillier, Bryan Langley, Ossie Morris, Douglas Slocombe and Gil Taylor - though the BSC’s first President Freddie Young died last year aged 96.
TBLANSHARD FILMS CINEMATOGRAPHERS FOR POSTERITY
he work of ten great British cinematogra- Roman Polanski, one of a distinguished line-up of phers comes into sharp focus in a series of contributors quizzed by Blanshard as he also pho- fascinating 15-minute profiles which run tographed the programmes in the UK and Los on BBC2 until Christmas, culminating with Angeles over a four month period earlier this year.
a Yule special devoted to the life and Among the other big names singing the praises career of the late Freddie Young. Behind of these camera wizards are David Lynch, Neil The Camera, compiled for the network by Jordan, Joel & Ethan Coen, John Boorman, Richard
prolific independent producer-director Richard Attenborough, Alan Parker, Anthony Minghella, Blanshard (Billion Dollar Funfairs, For Iris), features John Box, Frank Marshall, John Schlesinger and
Jack Cardiff, David Watkin, Freddie Francis, Roger Pratt, Roger Deakins, Gil Taylor, Alex Thomson, Billy Williams, Guy Green and Douglas Slocombe.
“You can make a film without a director but you can’t make one without a cinematographer” says
Conrad Hall.
As well as being an invaluable record of industry
achievement, a further bonus is that all the material not used by Blanshard for the specific programmes will be lodged in the BSC archive for posterity. ■
Young would receive four of the Society’s own annual Best Cinematography awards, including one “For His Contribution to the International Recognition of British Cinematography.” That record has only been bettered by current presi- dent Freddie Francis with five and Douglas Slocombe with no less than six, including a
Lifetime Achievement award.
The objectives of the newly-formed Society
were fourfold:
1. To promote and encourage the pursuit
of the highest standards in the craft of Motion PicturePhotography.
2. To further the applications by others of high standards of Motion Picture Photography and to encourage original and
outstandingwork.
3. To co-operate with all whose aims
and interests are wholly or in part related to those of the Society.
4. To provide facilities for social inter- course between the members and arrange lectures, debates and meetings calculated to further the objec-
tives of the Society.
Fifty years on, those objectives still hold true.■
Photos: The Board of Governers, Cinematographers and
the bronze bust of William Friese-Greene unveiled at Pinewood Studios, sponsored by Fujifilm.
EXPOSURE • 21