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THE RIGHT DEFINITION
THE RIGHT DEFINITION
AN INTERVIEW WITH JERRY KELLY
It had all the ingredients of a classic stand-off. The first-time British feature director battling the fiercest Scottish elements with a distinctly modest budget and schedule, and a couple of American actors rather more attuned to the cosier pace and com- forts of Hollywood.
For DP Jerry Kelly, also making his feature debut alongside his old pal and long-time collaborator, Don Coutts, observing this clash of cultures was fascinating and quite revealing if poten- tially explosive.
“We were obviously trying to get in as many set-ups as possible and you could see quite clearly that they [veter- an Dan Hedaya and Titanic’s Danny Nucci] were used to a whole different way of working in Hollywood.
“After a couple of days, they sug- gested to us that perhaps we were shooting too fast. So we showed them the rushes so far and, happily, they were delighted.”
The eventual result was the enjoyable Glasgow-set, cross-culture comedy-adventure, American Cousins, which last year saw its writer Sergio Casci short-listed for BAFTA’s prestigious Carl Foreman Award (for Best Newcomer).
American Cousins had been the logi- cal, not to mention lengthier, culmina- tion of an already fruitful working rela- tionship between writer, director and cameraman which had been forged ear- lier on three short films.
First there was the award-winning Tartan Short, Dead Sea Reels, starring the late Ian Bannen; then came St Anthony’s Day Off, a football-themed comedy; and finally there was Rose, a supernatural drama set in Glasgow.
In fact, fellow Scots Kelly, 43, and Coutts, by some margin his senior, have now been working together on and off for years. This was ever since Kelly, then a camera assistant, first went to work for the prolific Coutts’ Big Star In A Wee Picture production company which had come to the fore during the early days of Channel 4.
“Over the years,” says Kelly, “we’ve made some beautiful and humane programmes [like BBC’s Clarissa And The Countryman] and built up a relationship of trust and respect – as well as a mutual liking for organic wine. Don has always been willing to let me experiment and we’ve tried to push for a different look all the time, using filters behind the lens, different formats and blown- out exposure.
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