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FUJIFILMSHORTSWINNERS STUARTBENTLEYANDRICHARDSTEWART GOFROMSTRENGTHTOSTRENGTH
SHORTS FEATURE
Cliffs of Moher. They set off from a place called Doolin in County Clare, three of them piled onto one jet ski and they have about a 45 minute ride around the coast until they get to this 700 foot cliff. Then at the base of the cliff there’s this slab of rock that sticks out into the ocean, and when the swell hits it jacks it up. Between The Eyes wanted to make a documentary about it, it’s the first part of a feature film called The Lives Of Artists.
“It was a really great experience actually, we shot lots of bleak,
early spring landscapes and a lot of unusual little details of what we saw along the way.
“But it’s really a film about the friendship between these three
guys who are basically putting their and each other’s lives at risks every day to go and fulfil this need to surf these big waves in crazy conditions.”
Shot on a combination of 16mm Fujicolor Super F-64D, Fujicolor ETERNA 250D and Fujicolor ETERNA 400T, the footage has already been a big hit across the surfing community. Further instalments, which Stewart has not shot, involve snowboarding in Greenland and more surfing in Tahiti. By the time these were shot Stewart was on to other things, shooting commercials across Europe for products includ- ing Toyota, Johnny Walker and the NSPCC as well as pop promos for Eric Prydz and The Stereophonics.
There was also a widely seen viral ad for Samsung, Extreme Shepherding, in which farmers kitted their sheep out in coloured LED lights and recreated the arcade tennis game Pong on a Welsh hillside by having their dogs herd the animals in sequence.
“I also did a cinema commercial which Fujifilm were very helpful with, for the Theodora Children’s Trust who provide clown doctors to go into hospitals to help treat terminally ill kids.”
Yet when it comes to using the prize stocks he won earlier in the year, Stewart has no doubt which project to use it on.
“I’m making a film for the charity Surfers Against Sewage,” he explains, “a portrait of what it is to be a British surfer at the moment.
I suppose it’s a celebration of the beauty of the British landscape and the home of the British surfer.
“In the end it’s a combination of my two great loves outside of my family, nature and the ocean. If I’m standing on a cliff for two months then I’m a happy man.” ANWAR BRETT
Photos from left-right: Stuart Bentley, DP on the Winner of Fujifilm Shorts 'Best Film' 2009 for Outcasts; a scene from Outcasts; a scene from Bentley’s latest promo by Kid British;
DP Richard Stewart - Winner of Fujifilm Shorts 'Best Cinematography' 2009 for Leaving, on location and with his Award; a scene from Leaving
Fujifilm Shorts 2010 is now open for entries: www.fujifilmshorts.com
FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE • THE MAGAZINE • EXPOSURE • 13