Page 45 - Fujifilm Exposure_50th AWARDS ISSUE FULL PDF - cropped

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“THE ETERNA VIVID 160T IS VERY COLOURFUL STOCK AND I REALLY LIKED THE DENSITY AS WELL AS THE CRISPNESS AND CLEANLINESS OF IT.”
experience, especially working with such a formidable line-up of British character actors.
“If you think of a ‘Jason Statham film’, these are not the kind of people you usually think of. One of my duties to my star was to surround him with the best talent possible on both sides of the camera.
“We wanted to be as unconven- tional as possible but still try to create an impression of London. We’re good in Britain at making great period piece, but not so often doing this kind of thing. Jason at least ensures the film will get seen.
“When it came to picking a cameraman, I needed someone who was going to be ballsy, a British ver- sion of someone like Harris Savides. Rob Hardy came in and was fearless from the start. He introduced me to films I’d never seen; I introduced him to films he would probably never watch. We had a nice creative tension going on between us.” Hardy, whose recent non-stop schedule has included features The First Grader and The
Forgiveness Of Blood as well as Whistle And I’ll Come To You and Stolen for BBC TV, said he was impressed at the outset with the script, “which had a slightly bleak flavour that I liked. All the characters seemed misfits and a bit screwed up. Nobody was particularly redeemable.”
For a cameraman who claims he’s “happiest when there’s just one cam- era in a room”, Blitz was clearly a serious sea change. “We had car chases, helicopter shots and 2nd units shooting all over the place – which was one of the reasons I decided to do the film, to see if I could execute all that sort of stuff, though I have to admit that one of the hardest things was letting go sometimes.”
The 45-day schedule was packed with London-wide locations ranging from former RAF West Drayton and Camberwell New Cemetery to Smith- fields and the Gatwick Express train depot at Battersea.
Apparently author Ken Bruen had no-one particularly in mind when he first wrote the character of Brant but,
enthuses Zygi Kamasa, “after seeing Jason on set, Ken sent us a note saying: ‘Jason is perfect: I am now writing my next story with him in mind’. If we can make this a success, the idea would be to make one every other year or so. The trick, though, is to make the first one work.”
QUENTIN FALK
Blitz, which opens in the UK on May 6, was originated on 35mm Super F-64D, ETERNA 250D 8563, ETERNS Vivid 160T 8543 and ETERNA Vivid 500T 8547
THE DP VIEW
ROB HARDY BSC
I am happy to shoot any format
but, to me, this screamed “‘Anamorphic’. “One thing I tend to notice in a lot of generic British Films - and whether this is location driven issue I am not sure - is that there never seems to be a sense of depth or scale.”
I thought we probably end up walking into some quite tight places so if we shot ‘Scope at least we’d have a chance of some depth using anamor- phic lenses with a very short focus. That way, you get a sense of scale al- most immediately.
My main stock was Super F-64D in very low conditions, using the ETERNA 250D as backup. I love the F-64D and know exactly where I am with it. It gave me what I needed which, at times, was an almost otherworldly feel.
When I needed that little extra bump I would switch to the Vivid 160T and make it a 100 ASA stock, and the results were good. It’s a very colourful stock and I really liked the density as well as the crispness and cleanliness of it. You felt, along with a smattering of ETERNA Vivid 500T, you could take it anywhere.
One of the things our producer
said up front – and if fact, couldn’t
stress enough - was how important it was that Americans wouldn’t think this was just another small British
movie. They were on a bit of a
mission, which made me feel
really challenged. I liked that. ”
FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE • THE MAGAZINE • EXPOSURE • 43
Photo main: Jason Statham gives chase in Blitz; Top left: Statham with director Elliot Lester; bottom left: Statham with co-star Paddy Considine