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TV IN FOCUS
ATOUCHOFGRIMM
UNVEILING A FAIRYTALE OF DEATH WISH SIBLINGS
“IT REAFFIRMED MY VIEWS ON TEAMWORK AND HOW IMPORTANT THE PEOPLE YOU HAVE AROUND YOU ARE.”
f there is a fairytale quality to
IThe Continuing And Lamentable Saga Of The Suicide Brothers, re- flective in its playful title, the same might also be said of its choice of cinematographer, John Colley, whose ‘day job’ still remains that of a gaffer.
“I’m quite happy to stay in the lighting world,” he explains, “even after the experience, which was without doubt fantastic.”
That said, this short is sure to draw some serious attention, if for no other reason on account of its cast. Co-written by Rupert Friend and Tom Mison – who play the sib- lings of the title – the film also fea- tures Keira Knightley as the fairy who strives to replace their evident death wish with a reason for living.
With an eventual running time of between 10 and 15 minutes, the film was shot over five days at Greenford Studios, during which Col- ley shot the brothers and green screen sequences featuring the fairy on two subtly different stocks.
“We used the ETERNA 250T for all the stuff with Keira,” he notes, “and the old Fujifilm 250 for the rest of the film. Most of my attention in terms of lighting and shooting went towards her scenes. She was against green screen the entire time, on a wire. It’s quite a complex film, there’s a model unit, live action, ani- mation and the green screen stuff. It’s a very ambitious film.”
Colley was invited on to the project as cinematographer by pro- ducer Jessica Cole, who had no doubts at all that he could rise to the challenge of his first job as a cinematographer.
“John and I had worked together on several projects including The Edge Of Love and The Duchess,” she recalls, “and he’s always such a pleasure to work with because of his positive, can-do attitude.”
She also felt he would work well with Canadian-born, London-resi- dent directors Arran and Corran Brownlee, successful storyboard artists and pop promo directors who brought their own unique perspec- tive to the piece.
“Arran and Corran’s natural in- clination was to storyboard every- thing,” Cole adds “and they were finishing boards up until the day we started to shoot. These would change based on conversations with Rupert and Tom, initially, and then later after input from John, producer Jay Lichtman and me.
“It was a hugely collaborative process. In the end, the boards took on a life of their own but nonethe- less reflected the tone of the writing absolutely perfectly.”
That tone is described as being somewhere between the Brothers Grimm and Tim Burton, a deliciously mordant view of the human condi- tion that has proved popular in the past. But while Colley remains quite content to return to his work as a gaffer he has nothing but very fond memories of his efforts lighting a darkly comic tale.
“It reaffirmed my views on team- work and how important the people you have around you are. I can’t say enough about my operator, John Watters, and focus puller Jennie Pad- don. They were a tremendous help. I couldn’t have done it without them.” Happy endings then, all round.
ANWAR BRETT
The Continuing And Lamentable Saga Of The Suicide Brothers was originated on 35mm Fuijcolor ETERNA 250T 8553 and Super F-250T 8552
Photo main: on the set with Tom Mison and Rupert Friend as DP John Cooley observes; above: Directors Corran and Arran Brownlee; top l-r: animated sequences and the animators at work (Photos: Kate Friend © Beat Pictures 2008)
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