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Picture in 1986. There followed a diverse but fascinating selection of jobs including Porterhouse Blue on television before he began working with Mike Leigh on Life Is Sweet.
“When I first met Mike we talked a lot about my documentary experi- ence. He felt, and I know, that it helps you to think on your toes and not get too hung up on any tried and tested formula you have in mind. You can be flexible and won’t be easily fazed by the unknown. Those are all the requirements on a documentary.
“On a Mike Leigh film there is no script, I don’t get to see what I’m going to be doing until I arrive on the first day of shooting. I know no more and no less than anybody else on it. It’s not an open ended film, we have a schedule and we have to bring that film in a certain number of weeks but it evolves quite organically.”
While Leigh’s films typically draw critical acclaim and often receive awards nominations one recent credit stands out. Topsy-Turvy, the story of Gilbert and Sullivan’s collaboration on writing The Mikado, offered a break with ‘tradition’ as it was a peri- od drama, with songs, based on the lives of real people. For Pope the challenge was significantly greater than normal.
“I travel with equipment that can cover every eventuality,” he explains. “Obviously on that I knew I was in the theatre and I had pre-lit a lot of it beforehand. I also had lighting plots from 1884 when The Mikado was first presented at the Savoy Theatre, which was wonderful.
“Lots of the filming on Topsy-Turvy was from the point of view of the audience. It may go progressively tighter in but it’s trying to give the cinema audience a sense of what it must have been like to be there.”
A major part of the Leigh-Pope collaboration comes from the mutual trust and understanding that they have built over the years. This is cru-
cial as time is precious on any film.
“Every minute that I spend preparing the set, Mike is busy with the actors. There isn’t any downtime for him, ever. While I’m lighting, he’s rehearsing. In fact what he usually says to me is: ‘how long?’.
“I’m not expected to say ten or fifteen min- utes, because this scene is new to me. It might have 50 shots in it which we’ve worked out, but when I see it we discuss how to shoot it between us and the actors involved. We usually ask the rest of the company togetacupofteaand work it out together with- out the pressure of the whole company watching this procedure.
“I’m then expected to make a very honest appraisal of how long it will take. It’s the big question on the film. So all the time when we’re looking at a scene I’m working that out in my head.
“And while I’m
lighting he goes off to
what he calls his safe
house, a rehearsal
room or a stage with
the gear in that represents what we’re doing, and he’ll rehearse that scene with the actors until they’ve really fine tuned it.”
Most recently, Pope shot All Or Nothing – starring Leigh regulars like Timothy Spall, Ruth Sheen and Lesley Manville - using the Fuji 500 stock, with some F-250 and F-125, though that project remains shrouded in secrecy ahead of its first screenings to
cast and crew. Pope also filmed direc- tor Jill Sprecher’s 13 Conversations About One Thing in New York shooting exclusively on the F-500.
“I don’t use daylight stock,” he explains, “I prefer tungsten stock. I like having the control of the camera, it gives me the flexibility and control to render daylight as I see it. I was a bit concerned about only using the one stock at the start, but I remember hearing about John Seale shooting
DICK POPE BSC
Photos from top: Scenes from Secrets & lies, Topsy-Turvy and The Girl In The Picture (courtesy Moviestore Collection)
EXPOSURE • 4 & 5