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THE DP VIEW
JAMES ASPINALL
The references we used for the ‘look’ were quite loose. The script, locations and production design determine it and also the wardrobe was quite important. James wanted to keep a very restricted colour palette, which gave it a ‘look’ as well.
I have been using Fujifilm a lot recently, especially for the period stuff. It has a slightly different feel, which works well for period. I find it difficult to put into words: it’s very subtle. The colours are just a bit softer, more contrasty. It’s more a pastelly feel.
Do I long to get back to doing con- temporary things? Not really, to be honest. I like doing period stuff and particularly enjoy the Twenties and Thirties. At present, I find it more visually interesting. ■
FANNY HILL
“We couldn’t afford to build anything and
that obviously meant the logistics of shooting often became very cramped.”
continued from page 8
“But then, you’re also operating on literally less than half of a BBC One budget, so we had to choose our loca- tions very carefully. We couldn’t afford to build anything and that obviously meant the logistics of shooting often became very cramped. This was espe- cially hard on James.
“You’d find a lovely Georgian build- ing in, say, Spitalfields and because there’s been so much filming there the residents won’t even let you put your lights on the street outside. That’s quite restricting, but I guess it helps to bring a whole new energy to the piece.”
Aspinall, shooting once again on Fujifilm – using it as he has done of late on other period TV productions like Foyle’s War and Under The Greenwood Tree, admits that the pro- duction was “quite challenging.”
Not only were there restrictions on shooting outside in the city and inside some of the smarter old homes out of
town, but the weather was, he sighs, “mixed – one moment sunny, the next cloudy or pouring with rain. We were lucky in that most of it was interiors. If there had been a lot of exteriors, it would have been very problematic.”
Hawes, who was also working again with production designer David Roger, indeed the same design team, from Miss Marie Lloyd, aired on BBC Four earlier this year, said that refer- ences for ‘look’ of the film included the paintings of Hogarth and the film La Reine Margot. “Actually I broadened the whole French movie thing so we also looked at Cyrano, The Horseman On The Roof and Ridicule.
“So much English period stuff, at least before the last Pride & Prejudice, is that usual wide-shot, close-up, wide- shot - just a bit static; if it’s pretty that’ll somehow be enough. Within the strictures of our time, we were trying to make it a bit more energetic and
fun. The French do that awfully well; they have a willingness to be passion- ate and sweeping.
“I discuss stocks with the camera- man, but I usually defer to the DP as
I did in this case. If you look at Hogarth’s paintings of the period espe- cially in darkened candlelit rooms, you see the way the background sort of falls off and lifts the faces forward so you concentrate much more on them.
“James felt that especially where we had the darker rooms you could also do that with the lighting.
The blacks could be denser and could bleed. He did a fantastic job, and I am extremely happy with the resulting ‘look’.” ■ QUENTIN FALK
Fanny Hill was originated on 16mm Fujicolor ETERNA 250D 8663, ETERNA 250T 8653 and Super F-64D 8622
Photo top: Alison Steadman as Mrs Brown in Fanny Hill; above l-r: Rebecca Night on location with DP James Aspinall and crew;
Alex Robertson and Director James Hawes; Writer Andrew Davies; Producer Nigel Marchant, Executive Producer Sally Head and Davies
10 • Exposure • The Magazine • Fujifilm Motion Picture