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The Earth, which earned him a BAFTA nomination.
In the 2006 version of Sweeney Todd, directed by Dave Moore, with Ray Winstone as the epony- mous Demon Barber of Fleet Street, taking a supporting role was rising star Tom Hardy, who by design or by good fortune would be photographed by Brantås on two subsequent productions, HBO’s Stuart: A Life Backwards, and now, Wuthering Heights, in which Hardy plays the moody foundling, Heathcliff.
Wuthering Heights, ITV’s first big period drama for early 2009, teamed Brantås up for the first time with British director Coky Giedroyc (Oliver Twist, The Virgin Queen).
“Coky loves Fujifilm and I was more than happy to try it for Wuther- ing Heights,” explains Brantås. “She has a very strong opinion about dif- ferent colours in the costumes and production design and has a good eye when it comes to combining the work of all the different departments into one image; for example how a certain cream-coloured dress would
look up on the moors when next to the grey-green heather.
“I was interested in using Fuji- film stock for the wide range of emulsions, where there is an oppor- tunity to combine lenses and stock for the most optimal results.
“I have used Fujifilm before but merely for shorts and commercials, not on any major TV dramas or fea- tures, and I’ve never had until now the opportunity to use the wide range of stocks which I think is the big advan- tage with Fujifilm. That is, to be able to work on basically the same stop and
without a package of NDs in front of the lens to make the image in the eye- piece and what hits the emulsion as undistorted as possible.
“Originally my plan on Wuther- ing Heights was to use a stock for each different situation as I was so pleased with our tests, but out of consideration to the schedule we re- duced that number. In the end, we used the ETERNA 500T, ETERNA 250D and ETERNA Vivid 160T.
“A few weeks into the production we decided to bring in a camera oper- ator to give me more time to super- vise the lighting,” continues Brantås.
“We chose Lucy Bristow, who I had previously worked with on Low Winter Sun and of whom Coky had the highest regard. Lucy added just the skill needed, which counts for all my crew really,” Brantås adds, un- derlining the essential team work forming the foundation of any cine- matographer’s creation.
“I had the fortune to work with some truly excellent craftsmen: focus puller Joe Maples, clapper/loader Ben Appleton, grip Mark Jones and gaffer Bill Astin who was an absolute gem!”
Now back home, Brantås has fond memories of England’s north- ern countryside, a modest offering compared to his native Sweden; a land of mountains, vast forests and desolate moors reminiscent of Emily Brontë’s tragic novel.
“We had the opportunity to shoot in some amazingly beautiful locations in and around the York- shire moors, and it is hard to pick one day or a specific location that was my favourite,” Brantås recalls. “There were quite a few moments when I was sincerely telling myself to try and do justice to it all.” NATASHA BLOCK
Wuthering Heights, to air on ITV 1 early in 2009, was originated on 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA 500T 8573, ETERNA 250D 8563 and ETERNA Vivid 160T 8543
Photos above l-r: Ray Winstone in Sweeney Todd; stills from Ulf’s films and TV work including (right): Benedict Cumberbatch in To The Ends Of The Earth
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