Page 13 - Fujifilm Exposure_1 Michelle Pfeiffer_ok

His subsequent work as an operator has always been solid and, more often than not, spectacular too. There was that remarkable seamless coverage of a city’s forced exodus in The Killing Fields, a tricky blend of population and swooping planes in The Empire Of The Sun (which earned him a kiss from grateful director Steven Spielberg) and triumph out of potential disaster on Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade when 5,000 gallons of water suddenly tipped on a tight set. Not to mention many, many more.
As you read this, Roberts - who’s always
resisted the natural progession to DP because “I’d rather be a good operator thanalousycameraman”-iseffectively‘bangedup’atShepperton forfive months on Lost In Space. The good news is that it’s just twenty minutes from home so his wife and family will be pleased to see their gypsy patriarch.
The bad news is that, as he quite frankly admits, this expensive, star-studded (William Hurt, Gary Oldman, Heather Graham) feature version of the cult Sixties sci-fi teleseries is “not my kind of film at all.
“Lost In Space is all about special effects, com- puters, motion control ... stuff like that, which means that I can’t put quite so
much into it because it’s so technical. In fact it’s a bit like having four directors insteadofjustone,”saysarathermournfulRoberts.Enoughtomakeaveter- an of more locations than Britain probably has embassies go the studio equiv- alent of “stir crazy.” ■ QUENTIN FALK
Photo (B&W): Mike Roberts on location with Evita and (above left) with director Alan Parker.