Page 28 - Demo

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2001
“Good photography can heighten things like music can, so that all those emo- tions from the actor are enhanced. But the kind of cameramen I admire are the ones who will underplay things for the sake of the movie.” Denis Crossan BSC
“The cameraman is in a very difficult position. You want and, in a way, need people to look for your credit; yet if they do it’s almost as if you haven’t done your job properly. You must try and sub- due your ego because everything should serve the text.” Andrew Dunn BSC
“I was very satisfied with operating. I enjoyed the experience but it had got to the stage where I thought I wouldn’t be able to get on to my knees and take a camera under a table all my life. And I had a lovely time directing.” Ernest Day BSC (who died in 2006 aged 79)
“I came round the corner on my bike and a as far as the eye could see there were technical trucks, horses, car- riages and about 150 extras. I had to stop, get off and then almost literally threw up. It was a case of ‘My God, what am I doing?’ Suddenly it all became very big and very real. It was the first time I was only lighting and not operating too. I simply didn’t know what to expect.” Sean Bobbitt BSC
“Cinematography is a lifelong preoccu- pation. I still learn a lot every time I go into a new project whether it’s TV or a feature film. I try to approach it as if I’d never done it before so there’s a con- stant freshness. What I say to my stu- dents is, ‘You may finish the course after two years, but your learning curve never stops.’” Ernest Vincze BSC
“The bit I hate is the run-up to a film and all the planning. I’m happiest once I’m on set and we’re shooting. It’s only then I feel at home. I know the lead-up toafilmispartofthejobbutIhaveto say I find it boring. Sometimes there is a location which I haven’t seen and you have to walk in an do it. It’s instant problem solving...” Damian Bromley
“I think my camera work is very sculptur- al. It’s not static frames beautifully lit, it’s more to do with the juxtaposition of the camera, the subject and the light – which is an art in itself.” Barry Ackroyd BSC
“I can remember watching Clapperboard with Chris Kelly, where he had a behind- the-scenes report from The Spy Who Loved Me. They were all running about and all the pyros were going off, and I thought it looked like a good laugh. It was from about then that I knew I want- ed to be involved in films.” Andy Collins
“What I love about this job is working in completely different worlds, not only in terms of geography – one day an opera in Turkey, the next in the East End of London – but especially in terms of the people you work with. They come from different worlds that will never normal- ly meet – from High Art to low-brow comedy.” Robert Alazraki AFC
“I was once asked to do a lighting class. Ossie Morris did it instead and I actually enrolled as a student. Some people can explain what they do very articulately. But, in the same way, I find it very hard to shoot a commercial because I can’t believe in what I’m doing, so I couldn’t really teach because the structure tends to mean you’re in a vacuum. I can’t be driven by a vacuum – only by a dynamo, whether it’s the script, a fine director, the writer or a good actor.” Chris Menges BSC
“As a DP you’re bound to make mistakes every day but surely that’s how you begin to learn, and then to push the lim- its... One of the mistakes I’ve made on the features I’ve done so far is that I probably wasn’t brave enough. A lot of DPs coming from a television back- ground do tend to do their first films as if they were TV. Yes, I’d have to put up my hand to that.” Chris Seager BSC
“The clapper loader can’t give you any bullshit because I’ve put my own film in, and I’ve also been focus puller and operator. That gives you respect from the crew, and you also know there are ways of getting round what may seem a crisis. I have lit shots with car head- lights when the generator has failed. If you’ve only worked in one area, you only think of solving a problem one way.” Lawrence Jones
26 • Exposure • The Magazine • Fujifilm Motion Picture