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MOTION PICTURE & PRO-VIDEO
a little when the unit was called upon to shoot a scene in a gents toilet. “That’s where the poster shot
comes from,” Bonnici adds, “the lovely blue image with Sarah on it and a guy over her shoulder. We couldn’t possi-
bly track due to camera reflections, and the only possible dead area for a camera pan was tight up against a condom vending machine.”
With time being of the essence, and money largely non existent, the crucial
“Fellini said it’s easier to be faithful to a restaurant than a woman,” chuckles Hills, “but I’m certainly faithful to Roger. I believe in working with the same people.
thing was planning and preparation. This is where that shorthand comes in useful, and the advantages of working with people you know and trust kicks in.
Hills and Bonnici have enjoyed a fruitful working relationship since they worked together on Boston Kickout in 1996 – which was also the big break for a familiar actor who takes a cameo role in Secrets, Marc Warren.
Most recently, Hills and Bonnici have joined forces on The Poet, a moodily atmospheric thriller starring Dougray Scott. So the relationship is evidently still alive and kicking.
“Fellini said it’s easier to be faithful to a restaurant than a woman,” chuck- les Hills, “but I’m certainly faithful to Roger. I believe in working with the same people.
“There’s a terrible thing, in com- mercials especially, where you’re pres- sured to get someone to deliver you ‘a look’. It’s like: ‘we’ve got a realistic script, let’s get Barry Ackroyd’; or ‘we’ve got a big budget one, let’s get Vittorio Storaro’.
“In both those instances, I’d call Roger. If the cameraman is good enough, as Roger is, then he has the expertise to work in different genres, looks and styles. And Roger is an absolutely 100% reliable ally for me.” ■ ANWAR BRETT
Secrets was originated on Fujicolor F-500T stock, and will be playing at film festivals later in the year. Bonnici and Hills’ first collaboration, Boston Kickout, is released on DVD on May 19
THE DP VIEW
ROGER BONNICI
ith each flashback in the film a sexual encounter is recalled by one of the characters. We had to devote as much care and
attention to each one, as well as try- ing to make them all slightly different.
At one point we had our key light source rigged on the end of a boom pole, and to enable us to shoot scenes quicker we would set up shots on one side of the camera and then quickly spin it round 180 degrees to set up another.
We changed the key light source from the left side, then over the top, then over to the right side. It was a case of keeping it as interesting as possible, so that it didn’t look like we were shooting everything in the same house even though we were.
We had 24 lamps in total, but there was a lot of pre-lighting going onsoweonlyhadsixatmostinany one scene. Our biggest lamp was a 4K par HMI while our smallest was a 25 watt bulb, so there was a huge variety in between.
Our production designer, Rosie Thomas, did a fantastic job, and was instrumental in enabling us to shoot seven or eight of those scenes in less than a day.
Sometimes, we had two rooms being dressed and lit while we shot in another, so that once we’d fin- ished we could move straight onto the next one. That gets the adrena- line going; at times it felt like a real commando mission. ■
Fuji Motion Picture And Professional Video • Exposure • 35