To register for festival click visit www.edfilmfest.org.uk

Haris Zambarloukos BSC - Masterclass, sponsored by Kodak.

Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos (Mamma Mia!, Venus, The Other Man) will give a fascinating cinematography masterclass, showing excerpts from his films and explaining the artistic, technical and practical choices of cameras and formats.

Thursday 25th June at 4pm in C10

 

Lowry Digital on Restoration

Acclaimed LA specialists Lowry Digital, responsible for restoring motion pictures including The Robe and From Russia With Love, will outline its offerings for the early adopters of digital capture technology and the imaging issues that burden post-production today. Expect an impressive array of before-and-after images, including 3D and large format.

Thursday 25th June at 11am in C2

 

Digital Cinema Exhibition

The Cinema Exhibitors’ Association and UK Film Council, supported by Screen Digest, will set out a shared analysis of the current digital cinema market, plus the opportunities and challenges that digital technology presents.

Friday 26th June at 10:30 in C2

 

Red Digital Cinema

Ted Schilowitz, RED Digital Cinema`s Employee No.1, will give a visual overview of RED`s 4k RED ONE Digital Cinema Camera, its upcoming Scarlet and Epic DSMC cameras, and screen footage from features, TV shows, commercials and music videos.

Friday 26th June at 4:30pm in C2

 

Understanding 3D Stereo Production & Post

The UK`s leading 3D stereo expert, Phil Streather of Principal Large Format, will provide an illuminating insight into how to shoot and post 3D stereo, with plenty of tips, tricks and advice.

Saturday 27th June at 10:30 in C10 - Public Event

 

BSC/Image Forum Debate

A discussion and debate about the choice of camera formats in the modern age. This heralds the forthcoming important BSC Film & Digital Evaluation 2009, comprising 18 different Film and Digital formats, which will be premiered at the NFT, BFI Southbank on 8^th July, followed by future presentations nationwide.
Plus a special tribute to Jack Cardiff  OBE BSC.

Saturday 27th June at 12:30 in C10

 

Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC, in person with Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC

Your chance to hear what Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC, this year`s Oscar-winning cinematographer for Slumdog Millionaire, and who also lensed Lars von Trier`s Antichrist, has to say about his art and craft.

Saturday 27th at 2:30 in C2 - Public Event

 

Painting With Light – Jack Cardiff Documentary

A special screening of the documentary about the late great Jack Cardiff BSC, who shot such acclaimed movies as The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life And Death and The African Queen.

19th 12-noon, Cameo Screen 1, and at The Videotheque throughout The Festival.

 

Cinematography Surgery – with DP Trevor Forrest

Are you making the next film to be shown in Edinburgh, Cannes or worldwide? DP Trevor Forrest, a rising star in cinematography, will show examples from his recent films (Someone Else, Tormented, and Una Noche) to reveal how the collaboration between the director, writer, producer and DP give rise to the cinematic techniques that bring the story to life on screen.  All students or practising filmmakers are welcome. Email... industryevents@edfilmfest.org.uk to book your appointment!

June 26th& 27th at The Sheraton Hotel

Billy`s tall imposing figure,usually in deep conversation with students, has become a feature of the Camerimage landscape for over a decade. He was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for his services to Cinematography in Lodz in 2000.

The following year the ASC awarded him their International Award. This followed a distinguished career which included a shared (with Ronnie Taylor BSC) Oscar Award for "Gandhi" in 1982. Billy Williams also received Oscar nominations for "On Golden Pond" and the film of which he is most proud, "Women in Love" directed by Ken Russell. BSC and BAFTA nominations and awards for "Eagles Wing","The Magus" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Billy`s distinguished career started as an assistant to his father, also named Billy, remaining with him for four years. He later served as a photographer in the RAF and in as a cameraman with British Transport Films. He had a cameo role in "The Wind and the Lion" (1975) playing a British nobleman living in Tangier who is killed in a shoot out with Sean Connery and appeared with singer Cher in "Suspect"(1987).

Since his retirement in 1996 Billy has conducted numerous workshops for students around Europe and has generously devoted his energies to returning to younger generations the benefit of his vast experience.

There was a strong BSC contingent at Cinegear this year where we were cordially entertained by our hosts the ASC. The event took place at Paramount for the first time and was well attended on both days and the British Pavilion was a busy meeting point on Stage 16.


The BSC  presented " Preserving the Future of the Moving Image", on Friday at Cinegear, with an explanation of how we went about achieving our " Camera Evaluation 2009" which included a teaser of the material we will be showing and " The Making Of" film. This was shown in the Sherry Lansing theatre on the Paramount Lot and was well attended 


It was an historic moment for both Societies as the ASC celebrated their 90th Birthday, and the BSC their 60th. To mark the occasion, on Saturday, we took part in a panel discussion called " Dialogue with ASC, BSC Cinematographers" this was moderated by George Spiro Dibie, and was considered the "best" seminar at Cinegear this year. It took the form of a Q & A  and questions from the floor prompted some lively discussion. We covered a wide range of topics from " is there a future for 16mm Film" to " how do you choose the right format for your projects". As far as I am aware this was the first time that both Societies had joined together in this way, and the result was very stimulating.
Sue Gibson BSC President


Pictured here L to R.
George Spiro Dibie ASC ( moderator), Daryn Okada ASC, Dick Pope BSC, Phil Meheux BSC, Michael Goi, ASC, Nancy Schreiber ASC, Sue Gibson BSC, Nic Morris BSC, Allen Daviau ASC, Guillermo Navarro ASC, Owen Roizman ASC, John Daly BSC, Joe Dunton BSC.

BERTRAND TAVERNIER is one of the Great Directors of our time, not just of French Cinema, but with a reputation acknowledged all over the world. 

 

Born in 1941 he has directed over 30 films in his career - although he claims to have lost count.

As a young man, studying for his law exams, he preferred instead to spend his time at the cinema, writing film criticisms and with a couple of friends founded his own cinema magazine, L`Etrave, and the cine-club Le Nickel-Odeon.    He interviewed Jean-Pierre Melville, who was impressed by the young film fanatic, and gave Bertrand a job as assistant director.    Highly versatile, since that beginning,  he has covered many roles in the industry – Director, Producer, Writer, Actor and Press Attache to name a few.  

 

His first film The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974) won international recognition and began an historical career which garnered an amazing amount of awards and nominations including such titles as

Let Joy Reign Supreme (1975),  Le Juge et l`assassin (1976),  Death Watch (1980),

Une semaine de vacances (1980), Clean Slate (1981), A Sunday in the Country (1984),

Round Midnight (1986),   Life and Nothing But (1989),   Daddy Nostalgia (1990),   L`Appât (1995),   Capitaine Conan (1996),   Ça commence aujourd`hui (1999),   Safe Conduct (2002),   Holy Lola (2004).

 

He quotes:  “I’ve been lucky. Almost everything I’ve done I wanted to make passionately”

 

In the Electric Mist, an adaptation from James Lee Burke`s novel "In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead", is his latest masterpiece.  Photographed in Louisiana, by Bruno de Keyser BSC, it stars Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard, and Mary  Steenburgen.  It is a thriller set in the Deep South where a detective is led into a series of surreal encounters with a troop of Confederate soldiers.

 

 

BRUNO DE KEYZER BSC  has made over 40 films as a cinematographer and though born in France is a member of the BSC having lived and worked in the UK.

 

He started his career working as a camera operator on Louis Malle’s   Black Moon  in 1975 and then became apprenticed to the great cinematographers, Sven Nykvist and Pasqualino de Santis.

 

He has worked with Bertrand Tavernier on 5 films including  Sunday in the Country  in 1984 (his first feature) and Round Midnight  in 1986.

 

His credits also include Little Dorrit  (1988) and Impromptu (1991).

For details of post and future presentation - click here

See below  photographs of the final rig of cameras from the BSC shoot incorporating all the cameras used during the week .

On the top row are 435 and 416 Cameras with 2 different film stocks each from Kodak and Fuji with all the digital cameras below which are: 

Genesis

D-21

Red

Sony F 35

Silicon Imaging 2k

Sony 900R

Viper

Panasonic 3700

Sony EX3 

Panasonic HVX 201

Canon 5D Stills Camera

This was the culmination of our evaluation where we shot the Daylight exterior set up simultaneously on 19 different formats. The rig was designed by Joe Dunton and was the culmination of the week. A very successful

and ambitious shoot.

Over the week we shot four different set ups on all the formats seen here, day and night interiors,  close up , and day exterior and just for good measure here is a still taken of the crew that were filming the exteriors on the Friday of the shoot.

On Friday November 12, the BSC held its 57th Operators Night at Elstree Studios. As ever, the bar was packed and there was great conviviality.

 

Guest of honour was Oscar winning screenwriter, Ronald Harwood (The Dresser, The Pianist, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly) made Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1974 and president of the international PEN Club from 1993 to 1997. He was awarded the C.B.E. in the 1999 Queen`s New Years Honors List for his services to literature.

He is the first Oscar winning screenwriter to write a book solely about the craft of screen writing and he entertained the audience with a wonderfully amusing speech relevant to the camera department which was well received.

Among other guests Sue Gibson BSC paid tribute to in her opening speech,  were visiting DPs: Philippe Rousselot AFC ASC and Dion Beebe ACS ASC.

The Bert Easey Technical Award was presented to Stan Miller of Rosco for the LED

 ‘LitePad’ HO system and for the ingenious Rosco View and was accepted by Mike

Hall (ex Rosco) on Stan`s behalf.

John Daly BSC read the citation for The Charles Staffell Visual Effects award which

was presented to Peter Chiang, visual effects supervisor on films such as Stardust;

The Bourne Ultimatum; Flyboys; United 93 and Pride and Prejudice.

The Arri John Alcott Memorial Award was presented to immediate past President, Gavin Finney who, in the last year has contributed most to furthering the Society’s aims and upholding its standards and helping us to understand the jargon surrounding digital acquisition and making it his aim to ensure the cinematographer has a voice when it comes to choosing on which format we shoot.

 

Alec Mills BSC read the citation for the  BSC’s Lifetime Achievement Award which went to Arthur Wooster BSC for his outstanding contribution to Second Unit Photography.    Arthur, though mortified to find himself the centre of attention, bravely walked to the stage accompanied by some of the opening sequence footage from `The Living Daylights`.

Pictured Sue Gibson BSC, Gavin Finney BSC, Ronald Harwood CBE, Peter Chiang, Arthur Wooster BSC.

 

Sue Gibson BSC President presented certificates to new members Robbie Ryan BSC, David Higgs BSC and new Associate member Gerry Vasbenter and Chris Seager BSC some flowers to Frances who was ably assisted on the night by Gemma Davies and Audra Woodburn.  

We are very grateful to all those who donated raffle prizes to raise funds for the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund and Great Ormond Street Hospital, which included a Sony Cyber shot camera, 6 bottles of wine and an ARRI Jacket and Hat from ARRI; a Fuji J10 digital camera from DIRECT LIGHTING, half a case of champagne from DELUXE LONDON, a case of wine from FILMGEAR LIGHTING, another Fuji Digital Camera from FUJI, a Kodak Digital Camera and Digital Picture from from KODAK, a Sony DAB Digital Radio from PANALUX, an amazing hamper of French wine and produce from PETER MACDONALD BSC and MADELYN MOST, `Pinewood Studios` – 70 years of Fabulous Film Making` from Pinewood Studios and a `Glorious Technicolor` book from TECHNICOLOR.

 

After the dinner, all retired to the bar for more conversation.

 

 

The featured films were: -

`A Bedtime Tale` Dir:  George Gannon, Prod: Metehan Yilmaz.   Dop: Diana Vasquez -  from the London film Academy which was a combination of live action and animation featuring a young boy and his grandmother which was an inventive  way of exploring the young boy’s nightmares.

`Cartwheels` Dir/Prod: Esther Hegarty. DoP David Marsh , an independent  comedy about pole dancing.

`Elephants` Dir: Sally Pearce, Prod: Jonathan Lewsley. DoP: Jean-Louis Schuller –This was a stunning piece of work from the NFTS and I’m sure a team to watch out for in the future. It was a very ambitious film which combined animation and live action in a sophisticated way. The NFTS has always been regarded as the top of the ladder for students, and this film did justice to it’s reputation.

`Endstation Heimat` Dir: Jan-Christian-Hesse.  Prod: Luke Plaister.  DoP: Luis Posada  from the LCC. A charming film in German about a young boy and his train set waiting for his father to come home.  This involved model work and a child actor and was very well executed.

`The German Lullaby` Dir: Tess Malone. Prod: Stephen Scammell. DoP: Nic Lawson – another German story, but set in New York, independently funded and shot by Nic Lawson. 

`Historia de Un Letrero`: Dir. Alonso Alvarez Barreda.  DoP: Tono Goona –This film came from Brazil and was found by Robin after winning the Fourth annual Short Film Online Competition- Cannes 2008. Although not a tour de force of cinematography it was such a charming story it plucked the heart strings of everyone there. 

`Into the Light` Dir: Alice Caronna. Prod: Darta Kalnina. DoP: Jonny O`Donnell . A story about fairies in the palm of your hand. Well conceived and beautifully executed,

`Red Letter` Dir & Dop: Edilberto Restino. Prod: Christianne Van Wijk.  A Brighton Film School project, directed and photographed by Edilberto, an enigmatic Brazilian, whose passion for film making really shone out.

 

All the  film makers took part in a Q & A session afterwards and I think they thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to talk about their films. It was very nearly   a full house and turned out to be a great success. I wish more young film makers would submit their films to this event as it really is a great opportunity for their films to be seen by their peers and influential industry professionals. So many people make their shorts only to see them languish on the shelf. Such a lot of effort went into making them, it’s about time they were seen. After all, these are the next generation of BSC members and directors, so if you’re reading this and know someone who has made a short they are proud of please send it in. We need to encourage the Film Makers as much as we can.
Pictured here is,  Sue Gibson BSC President (centre)  surrounded by the young film makers whose shorts were chosen from a myriad of entries  for screening.

Should you wish to send a donation in his memory, cheques payable to the `Buckinghamshire Hospital NHS Trust Charitable Fund` for the Waterside Unit at Amersham can be sent to the funeral directors H.C. Grimstead, Tilbury House, Shepherds Lane, Beaconsfield HP9 2DU. 

 

Les started in the industry in 1935 as a Camera and Labs Trainee at Denham Studios and worked at many laboratories including Olympic, Humphries, Rank and Technicolor where he was appointed Technical Director in 1974.     A tremendous supporter of the Society and a Past Vice President, he served on the board for 20 years.      He will be greatly missed.

The screening was followed by a very interesting and informative Q and A.    A huge thank you to Haris for giving up his time,  to  Zephyr films for providing the print and for Framestore for allowing us the use of their facility.

Freddie is the first cinematographer to be honoured in this way 
a tribute to his long association with the Studio and a celebration
of his first Oscar for `Sons and Lovers` which was photographed there.

The logistics of filming this production, which Henry photographed on both digital and film cameras, culminated in  a fascinating Q and A after the screening.     Our thanks to Henry who drove to Devon and back in a day to attend this screening.

The BSC`s newly elected President, Sue Gibson BSC, welcomed the Society`s Guest of Honour, veteran Producer, Paul Hitchcock (Phantom of the Opera; Mission Impossible 1 & 2; The Man in the Iron Mask, etc.), who responded with some amusing tales from behind the scenes. Paul then annouced the winner of the BSC Best Cinematography Award:


Being one of our busiest and most respected members, Roger accepted the award via telephone link from his home in Santa Monica because he was fully occupied preparing the next Coen Brothers movie, `A Serious Man`; in addition to finishing post on Sam Mendes` `Revolutionary Road` and John Patrick Shanley`s `Doubt`.

Billy Williams BSC, with whom Roger had struck up a firm friendship during their visits to Camerimage in Poland, eloquently accepted the Golden Camera on Roger`s behalf from the Society`s Special Guest, actress Shirley Anne Field who’s first appearance on cinema screens was in Simon and Laura (1955) shot at Pinewood and directed by Muriel Box. Shirley then presented a framed Nomination Certificate to Remi Adefarasin BSC for his photography of `Elizabeth: The Golden Age`. Other nominees for the award who were unable to attend were: Seamus McGarvey, BSC for Atonement; Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC, for Babel; Dick Pope, BSC for The Illusionist and Peter Suschitzky ASC for Eastern Promises.



Among the guests were veteran cinematographers Douglas Slocombe BSC and Wolfgang Suschitzky BSC and film director John Glen; film critics Philip French (The Observer), Angie Errigo (Mail on Sunday/Radio 2/Empire), Matt Wolf (Theatre Critic for the Guardian and International Herald Tribune) and James Cameron-Wilson.

Click here for more photos

The Papers are dated May 2008, but will be updated on a regular basis. Watch this space!