Page 12 - Fujifilm Exposure_4 Samantha Janus_ok

production news
I t is such a great idea, you wonder why no- one has thought of it before. The truth is somebody had, but none had managed to record more than just a handful of the ancient and modern wonders of the world on film. Until now. Producer Philip Morris is well on the way to recording them all.
In conjunction with UNESCO, the ambitious 34 year-old producer and his company WLS, are trav- elling the planet to capture all 547 designated World Heritage Sites in a series of 15-minute films.
The concept of World Heritage Sites dates back to 1959, and the construction of the Aswan High Dam. But this ultra modern project would have led to the destruction of some ancient wonders, in particular the temples at Abu Simbel and Philae.
Only then did the world community work together, raising the money to finance the disman- tling of the temples in order that they might be re- built on dry ground. The idea of these and other locations being
given interna- tional recogni- tion as World Heritage Sites finally followed in 1972, and the list has been growing steadily ever since.
personal point of view.”
Coming from a filmmaking family, Morris’s
father Ernest (The Tell-Tale Heart, Echoes of Diana etc) worked extensively in British cinema and TV during the 50s, 60s and 70s, passing on to his son a legacy of drama rather than documentary.
But this has proved useful in constructing a storyline for the 15-minute films, as they aim to be more than just a bland travelogue, capturing something of the atmosphere and history of a
place as well as record- ing its visual splen- dour. To this end their Edinburgh film utilised former resident Robert Louis Stevenson’s story of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde to sum up the contrasting attractions of an historic but vibrant city.
“On the whole we
try to use local teams
wherever we are in the
world,” Morris explains.
“We send in one or two
of our people to over-
see it, but we use
indigenous teams and
in some cases give them their first experience with
a 35mm camera, equipment and cranes. And the Fuji film we always use is important too, especially if you’re film- ing in Westminster and you run out. Fortunately Fuji rushed some round to us, and saved our bacon that day!”
Which serves to prove that, for all the sedate splendour
on screen, these films
rely on just the same
amount of toil, sweat
and hectic activity as
any other production,
especially as so many of the Sites are major tourist attractions. In these cases filming has to be carefully negotiated and fitted in around that criteria.
“We have our problems,” he
smiles. “When we did the
Stonehenge shoot we started at 5
o’clock one morning, before sun-
rise, so we could get the sun com-
ing up through the stones. We
were still there at 8 o’clock the
next morning wrapping up, hav-
ing done a full night shoot. Then
we didn’t have much sleep before
we had to go to Bath and start filming there too.
“We got special permission to film in the Roman Baths during opening hours, so we had to
“We’ve just filmed our hun- dredth Site,” Morris enthuses,
“which was the threshold figure that we set ourselves, so that we can take it on and sell it through the markets, to generate the capital for the next hundred. No-one’s ever got anywhere near that amount, but now there are more to film because they’ve added another 40 sites. It’s a bit like painting the Forth Bridge, but it’s tremen- dously satisfying from both a professional and a
All The Wonder
EXPOSURE • 12 & 13