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behind the camera
AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT DP John Ward reveals his remarkable shoot and run tactics on Final Cut
OWith less than a fortnight’s notice “before starting principal photog- raphy and then a shooting sched- ule the same length, Final Cut was always going to be a tough movie, both on-screen and off. I’d known its writer- producer-directors Dominic Anciano and Ray Burdis for 15 years having worked for them on a number of pop videos as a Steadicam operator. Then they called me out of the blue and asked, “How do you feel about shooting a full-length feature film in two weeks?”
This ‘rather restricted’ timetable
was dictated by the availability of the actors. Ray Winstone could only commit himself to that particular fortnight and Jude Law was only free for a few days. The budget also had a decisive influence on the length of the shooting schedule.
The script was quite unconventional. Although Dominic and Ray had come up with an excellent story there was only an overall outline of the individual scenes. The dialogue was to be improvised by the cast [which also included Law’s wife Sadie Frost as well as Burdis and Anciano] and the intention was to create a documentary style with the look of a feature film. This meant shooting on 35mm to guarantee picture quality. Because the scenes would be largely unrehearsed, extensive use of Steadicam would be necessary to allow the camera to move freely and smoothly. This severely restricted the lighting so I had to limit myself to half a dozen lamps. The film’s storyline involved Jude Law making a secret film with hidden video cameras. Some of this material would eventually have to be intercut with the 35mm footage which would involve shooting some scenes twice, once on video for the film-within-a-film and then again for the actual film itself.
I decided that the Moviecam SL with Fuji F500 would give us the best chance of successfully shooting a 90- minute feature in a fortnight. and I managed to persuade John Rendall at Sammy’s to rent us their brand new SL for its first full feature film outing. My choice of lenses was dictated by the necessity for a sharp image with good depth-of-field but without excessive contrast. To give me this look, I chose a set of remounted Cooke Speed Panchro Series 3 prime lenses. However my most important requirement was a first-class focus puller. With the promise of an unusual challenge and com- mitment to just a few short
days, I persuaded the high-
ly experienced Danny
Shelmerdine to come on
board with us.
Ray and Dominic have worked together for over fif- teen years and have an
excellent rapport. They asked me to shoot this particular film because of the work I’d done in the past with the late, great Alan Clarke. Alan’s style of filmmaking meant that I, as cameraman and operator, had to use the cam- era almost as another character in the film. This experi- ence enabled me to tune into Ray and Dominic’s concept easily and quickly with no effort.
And all too quickly the first day of shooting arrived. Most of the action was to take place in one large room where the cast is gathered after Jude’s funer- al. With ten actors improvising, I had to be able to move within and around the group and show almost every part of the room. This restricted the lighting to the day- light from three reasonably large windows along one wall and a minimum of reflected fill.
Dom and Ray would discuss the plot line of each scene with the actors, guiding them on their responses as the action developed. With the dialogue being impro- vised the boom operator and I had the additional diffi- culty of having to anticipate who was likely to speak next. It also meant that the lighting had to look good from every angle. And of course it put a huge burden on Danny’s reaction times. Needless to say, he never missed.
Because the main action happens in almost real time, and in the one location, I had to make sure the look was consistent. Shooting in December didn’t help as the short winter days made the task even more diffi- cult - but at least we were able to knock off at tea time! Here again the speed of the F500 was invaluable and yet the look was still remarkably clean. The steeper curve of the F500 gave me the chance to crush down blacks giving a harder image while still retaining good skin tones and highlight detail.
Initially, the plot revolves around Sadie, as Jude’s widow, justifying the presence of a camera crew at the wake by explaining that she’s trying
to complete his last film. This means that the camera is part of the action and the actors are free to react to it - which meant, in a couple of scenes, actually attacking it and the camera-
man. Being charged by an enraged Ray Winstone while trying to hang on to the Steadicam, backing down a flight of stone steps and worrying about the lighting ... well, what more could a cameraman ask for?
As the story develops Sadie shows some of the video footage which Jude had shot with hidden cameras while making his secret film in which he had often set up family and friends. These were flashback sequences, all of which had to look as though they were shot with available
light - and, in fact, most of them were. One particular scene involved a punch-up in a restaurant while Jude’s filming with his secret camera. The action travelled from the main dining room, down a flight of stairs and ended in an almost unlit basement. Here again the Steadicam came into its own allowing my camera to be Jude’s eyes and secret film.
To involve the audience in the concept of the film within a film, some of the flashbacks had to be shot on video as well as film. Both cameras needed to be in iden- tical positions and the lighting had to be matched. It was crucial that the look of the film was maintained across both formats. These technical devices justify themselves as Sadie’s motives for showing Jude’s film become clear and her hidden agenda is finally revealed.
I was very lucky that Dom and Ray gave me such a clear idea of their concept and then involved me so com- pletely in carrying it through. I also had the support of a very good crew, especially the sound recordist John Bird and his boom operator Steve Peckover.
I’ve always admired cameramen who use a very realistic style of lighting. Some of my favourite films, like Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, are from the British new wave of the late Fifties and early Sixties. Other influ- ences include American directors like John Cassevetes and Martin Scorsese. In the future, I would like to be able to develop the experience I gained with Final Cut - but hopefully with more resources”.
Recently Ward joined up once again with Burdis and Anciano, as well as Ray Winstone, Jude Law and Sadie Frost for a darkly comic gangland tale, Love, Honour & Obey. Produced by Fugitive Films for the BBC, it co-stars Kathy Burke, Jonny Lee Miller, Rhys Ifans, Sean Pertwee and Denise Van Outen. As far as more resources were concerned, Ward was rewarded this time round with a five-week shooting schedule. Meanwhile, Final Cut is
er 2.
Love Honour & Obey and Final Cut were originated on Fujicolor Motion Picture Negative
released in the UK on Septemb
Photos top: DP John Ward; above: a scene from Final Cut produced by Fugitive Films.
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