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THEBEALLANDENDALL
DP ZILLAH BOWES - WHOSE PREVIOUS FEATURES,
SHE, A CHINESE AND ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS WON, RESPECTIVELY, MAJOR AWARDS AT LOCARNO AND SUNDANCE - REPORTS ON HER LATEST, A LIVERPOOL-SET “DRAMEDY”
I was sold immediately when I read the script for The Be All And End All, an hilarious and heartfelt dramedy set in
“Liverpool. It is the story of Robbie, a terminally ill 15-year-old who wants to get laid before he dies, and his best friend, Ziggy, who he enlists to help him.
When I met director Bruce Webb it was clear he was particularly interested in drawing out the pathos more than the comedy in the script, which I also thought would make a stronger film. His enthusiasm for the project was infectious and he was also already very committed to shooting on film.
Even before I was on board,
the film had already secured an equipment and film processing package which was bigger than I had expected for such a low budget project. It was a no-brainer and I relocated to Liverpool!
Fujifilm were incredibly supportive of the film and I tested various 16mm stocks. In the end we settled on the ETERNA 500T and the Super F-125T, which is a slightly older stock, but matched the 500T very well.
I used the 500T for most interiors and to squeeze every drop out of the night exteriors, often shot with minimal lighting. I mainly used the 125T on the day exteriors, many of which were wide cityscapes and landscapes, which the stock grabbed in fine detail.
The film starts out in a very light tone, with Robbie and Ziggy on a seaside holiday obsessed with losing their virginity, but takes a very different turn when Robbie collapses and is diagnosed with a fatal heart condition.
From then on the film is a delicate balance between comedy and emotion until it reaches a
moving climax. Although we were aiming for a naturalistic look, I wanted to very subtly underline these changes with the cinematography.
I was particularly inspired by the colours and framing of some of Canadian photographer Jeff Wall’s work.
We created a richer, more saturated look for the opening holiday scene, moving to a slightly muted, darker and contrasty look as Robbie’s relationship with Ziggy strains, as Ziggy himself has to confront issues in his own life. As the film reaches its heartfelt climax I brought a little more warmth back into the film, and used softer, warmer lighting.
The team were all keen to work as hard as possible to create a strong sense of realism and the film committed very early on to shooting entirely on location. Working in Liverpool with mainly local cast and crew was a real delight and I think their warmth and energy added to the feel of the film.
Bruce was keen to shoot in a style that gave freedom to the young and relatively inexperienced main cast. He didn’t want to use track or steadicam so that they could concentrate on their performance and not get distracted by keeping pace with the camera. So we used a mainly static camera and shot handheld whenever we wanted to move.
This simple approach meant camera setups were relatively quick which was useful for the young actors. I love to operate handheld, and have shot many documentaries, so following the boys came naturally to me, and I was happy shooting them with minimal rehearsal.
The main location in the film was an empty ward in Liverpool’s Broad Green, a working hospital, which we
could paint, dress and rig as we wished. We effectively had a set consisting of several corridors, a main ward and a separate area for the ward sister, brilliantly played by Liza Tarbuck. I think shooting in the working hospital environment really helped both the cast and crew set the right emotional tone for these scenes in the film.
For the day ward scenes, we built a scaff rig in one of the hospital courtyards to light through the windows, which were behind one row of beds. I tested various strip blinds as we often needed to shoot towards the windows and luckily found a perfect material that was manufactured locally.
For the rest of the ward lighting we rigged a selection of overheads and replaced the fluorescents with daylight balanced tubes. This meant we could shoot 360° if needed, which was sometimes useful as we also had lots of children as extras.
Shooting in the many other locations often required an enterprising attitude but the crew was great. My favourite was the night exterior on Liverpool docks. We were given access to shoot in the scrap metal processing plant in the heart of the working dockside. We borrowed their cherry pickers for our lights and moved their
halogen towers into positions
that suited us. It was exciting
to be stretching our budget
so easily! ”
The Be All And End All was originated on 16mm Fujicolor ETERNA 500T 8647 and Super F-125T 8632. Shown to acclaim at festivals internationally, and selected for Variety Critics’ Choice, it is due for release in cinemas in December
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