Page 22 - Fujifilm Exposure_20 Bend It Like Beckham_ok

IAN WILSON BSC
“I like working with someone who’s interested in my job because then they get what they want.”
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Although the film looks good enough, Wilson still regrets his lack of preparation time on it. For his most recent movie, Below, he enjoyed seven weeks of prep. His director was David Twohy, a man riding high after the success of the sci-fi adventure Pitch Black. Twohy’s bedtime reading, Wilson jokes, was American Cinematographer but this level of interest in his DP’s job did not lead to conflict. Quite the opposite.
“I worked with a director once on a commercial and I asked him how he wanted it to look. He looked me straight in the eye and said ‘Ian, I want it to look nice’!” Wilson laughs. “I mean, what do you do with that? I like to talk about it, the scene, what it’s about and all that.
“I like working with someone who’s interested in my job because then they get what they want. With David, it was an exploration of what we could do, we had four days of tests and shot thou- sands of feet of film in that time. And in the end that makes for a better film.”
After The Crying Game opened, it built up an impressive following and Wilson was offered the chance to light Backbeat for first time director Iain Softley. The story of The Beatles in their pre-superstar, Hamburg days, the film squared a circle for the cinematograph- er who had actually filmed The Fab Four in a documentary years before.
“I shot Hey Jude as they recorded it at Abbey Road. That was for a docu- mentary called Music and the chorus at the end, where they all join in, that’s actually the film unit. Being a young boy of the 60s I thought all that was great.”
With the Dorset filmed, Hollywood funded Emma and the impressive Balkan drama Savior rounding out a collection of diverse international credits, Wilson remains passionate about his craft.
He cites Vittorio Storaro as a mod- ern cameraman whose work he partic- ularly admires, though he says he sees little in modern cinema that really moves him as much as the greats from film history.
“I don’t see a great deal of cine- matography that I really admire these days,” he adds with a shake of the head. “I think lighting should be sur- prising but these days it seems that flat lighting is very much in vogue. That’s because of television and com- mercials I think, and of course it’s quicker. But it’s a cop out.”
Ever keen to broaden his horizons, Wilson has some surprising ambitions left. “I’d like to do a French film,” adding “I like the way the French work. And a Dogme film too. I love all that.” ■ ANWAR BRETT
Wish You Were Here, Dakota Road, The Big Man and The Crying Game were all originated on Fujicolor Motion Picture Negative
Photos opposite page: Ian Wilson; this page from top: Emily Lloyd in Wish You Were Here, Steve Waddington in Edward II, Ralph Brown & Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game, Hugo Speer & Lisa Stansfield in Swing and Gary Bakewell,
Chris O’Neill, Ian Hart & Stephen Dorff in Backbeat (courtesy Moviestore Collection)
EXPOSURE • 20 & 21