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MOTION PICTURE • CINEMATOGRAPHY • DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
J ust six months after fire destroyed the Bristol storage building containing Aardman Animations’ “entire history”, including props, sets and films, the company’s latest big-screen triumph, co-directed by Nick Park and Steve Box, was rewarded with top Oscar and BAFTA awards. WALLACE &
GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT, the first full- length outing for much-loved characters that began winning awards on both sides of the Atlantic more than 15 years ago, has since gone on to become a box- office blockbuster. We reflect on the way ahead for one of this country’s most successful filmmaking exports.
More tales from Behind the Camera come from a pair of cinematographers who between them have done their fair-share of globe-trotting down the years. BEN DAVIS, who has just started shooting director Matthew Vaughn’s big-budget fantasy adventure, STARDUST, reflects on a 25-year career which has explod- ed in the last few years following his work on Layer Cake, Imagine Me & You and, most recently, YOUNG HANNIBAL: BEHIND THE MASK, prequel to the chilling Dr Lecter saga. Swiss-born LUKAS STREBEL was first a pho- tography teacher then an artist-in-residence before working his way up in the film and television indus- tries. In this country, he is best known for his work on a number of top TV dramas including Blackpool, Vincent and Wall Of Silence. His latest is likely to be his most controversial yet – SEE NO EVIL, an account of the notorious Moors Murders, co-starring Maxine Peake and Sean Harris as Myra Hindley and Ian Brady.
Talking of prolific cameramen, you just can’t keep Barry Ackroyd BSC out of the picture. Behind Friend And Crocodiles and Gideon’s Daughter, Stephen Poliakoff’s recent high-profile pair of winter dramas for the BBC, Ackroyd now features in this issue for his work on Dominic Savage’s feature debut, LOVE + HATE, and Cannes competition entry THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, his 11th film col- laboration with veteran director Ken Loach, who will be 70 in June. But Ackroyd’s most talked-about cred- it to date may well be UNITED 93, writer-director Paul Greengrass’s account of the fourth hijacked plane on
THE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 34 • SPRING 2006
that infamous date, September 11, 2001. We go behind the scenes of this controversial film produc- tion which opens here next month.
We report on a trio of new productions, which have a decidedly regional setting. To Manchester for a new episode in the life and times of police psychol- ogist Eddie ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald, alias Robbie Coltrane, 10 years after the award-winning CRACKER last graced our television screens. From the pen of the character’s creator Jimmy McGovern, directed by Antonia Bird and photographed by Florian Hoffmeister, this latest tale, co-starring Richard Coyle, Barbara Flynn, Kieran O’Brien, Leo Gregory and Rafe Spall, deals with the violent legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict. The Wyre Forest in the West Midlands is host to STRAIGHTHEADS, documentary-maker Dan Reed’s writer-director feature debut, with Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer. A story of rape, revenge and redemption, it has been shot by Chris Seager BSC. Cardiff, The Isle of Man and Canada double for “Middle-Of-Nowhere, USA” in the black comedy, BIG NOTHING, written and directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea and lit by Richard Greatrex BSC.
Daniel Mulloy, at just 28, has enjoyed a five-year run of award-winning success, currently with ANTONIO’S BREAKFAST, which won the Short Film award at this year’s BAFTAs. Meanwhile, writer-director Oliver Knott has swapped shorts for features and reports on his debut, THE RED KEBAYA, filmed in Malaysia. As exot- ic were the Tony Imi BSC-shot Caribbean locations for THREE, a sexy, violent love triangle, co-starring Kelly Brook, Billy Zane and Juan Pablo di Pace.
All this plus COMMERCIAL BREAK, featuring DP Ray Coates’ on his theatrical ad countering Gun Crime, a Sneak Preview of Kenneth Branagh’s latest directorial project THE MAGIC FLUTE on the occasion of Mozart’s 250th birth centenary, Short stories on GAS and HEAVY METAL DRUMMER, and singer Laura Michelle Kelly’s video debut, THERE WAS A TIME, not to mention a round-up of Fujifilm news in Festivals & Events. ■
MILLIE MORROW MANAGING EDITOR www.fujifilm.co.uk/motion
RACHEL SCOLA • COLIN RICARDO • RUSS GUNN • JOHN GRAYSTON