Page 35 - Fujifilm Exposure_35 Miss Potter_ok

PASSAGE
I
“Reala 500D... handled the different colours in the twilight really well.”
THE DP VIEW
DAVID KATZNELSON DFF
was very both hugely excited and very intimidated at the prospect of shooting Jeremy’s first feature film since I knew his brilliant work as writer. I was
aware that I had to work very hard to make Jeremy’s vision and words trans- late to the big screen.
However it didn’t take long for a good creative rapport to build up. We developed a routine during pre-pro- duction: he would come and sit in my kitchen every morning before office hours, so that together we could sketch out a visual approach for the entire film. This meant that not only did we very quickly get to know each other, but also that we were well pre- pared for the shoot, which was very ambitious for its relatively tight budg- et and schedule.
The film was mainly shot in London, where the central character lives with his demanding mother. But we also shot in Scotland for the part of the story where Ben, in the compa- ny of a retired actress goes on his real personal journey.
The Scottish highlands were a huge challenge. Several times we felt that all our preparations had been in vain as, one moment, we’d have beau- tiful sunshine and gorgeous views of the loch and the mountains (as we had planned) and then a minute later we’d be caught in torrential rain and not be able to see further than the length of track we had laid.
On one occasion the sun allowed us to track our two main characters 120ft from the opening of their tent, past
lots of trees and ditches, ending up on a beautiful beach by a loch, while they have a very emotional conversation.
The track had been carefully built by our grip and two local farmers the day before, with steel decks and an array of paganinis and wedges.
Just as we finished filming the scene, it started to rain, and the beach the actors had stood on disappeared, and the paganinis and wedges started to float around the waters of the loch. But we had got the shot!
Another challenging sequence was the final crane shot, where Ben walks down the hill of Primrose Hill, towards London - his ‘new’ and ‘brighter’ future ahead of him. We spent hours building the crane and getting ready, but had to wait till the moment where the sun had just gone down, and the lights had just come on in the park, before doing the shot. We captured the shot on Fujifilm Reala 500D, which handled the different colours in the twilight really well.
The hard work and thorough plan- ning paid off, and I think Jeremy man- aged to get the film he wanted, with some great performances. It is a film that makes you cry and laugh, which waswhatwesetouttodo.Allinallit was a very good experience that made me appreciate Jeremy’s talents even more – now also as a director. ■
Photo main: Michelle Duncan and Rupert Grint in Driving Lessons; above l-r: Writer/director Jeremy Brock and producer Julia Chasman on set the of Driving Lessons; Brock behind the camera; Laura Linney and Julie Walters; a scene from Driving Lessons
Fujifilm Motion Picture • The Magazine • Exposure • 33