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| Photo by Jasin Boland/Sony Pictures |
| The first image released of the Hell Cycle, the motorcycle used by actor Nicolas Cage, during the filming of 'Ghost Rider' in Melbourne, Australia. |
Q: How many films have you worked on over the years?
I think I am into the 60's. With film production in the early days when I was working on smaller budget films I could work on up to seven a year, some only had the budget for five or six days. Now with the big productions, one or two a year is it. Since August 2006 I have worked only on The Bourne Ultimatum, Mummy 3 and a small budget Australian film called How to Change in 9 Weeks directed by newcomer Simone North. It is now the end of November and I have had only a few weeks off.
Q: Your £500,000 Valentine's Day gift sure got a lot of attention; I'm guessing shooting for Hollywood can be profitable?
It can be profitable if you invest your money wisely. My father made me buy my first property when I was 15 with the money I earned from my part time newspaper job as a dark room tech, so investing your hard earned cash was instilled in me at an early age, and I guess now it is starting to pay off.
Maria is from Berlin, we actually met during shooting The Bourne Supremacy. It seems most of life's big moments are pegged to a film production; we were engaged during The Bourne Ultimatum and our son was born during Mummy3. We had been looking for a European base for some time and my best friend introduced us to Lower Mill Estate in the Cotswold's. It is just beautiful; lakes and wildlife everywhere plus its ethically and environmentally sound.
Maria's Valentine house is more about a place to grow old and bring up Hunter in a family orientated community than anything else. There are a heap of artists that live in the area and on the weekends the local kids ride their bikes amongst the maze of tracks around the forest. Lower Mill itself has a lake where the owner has re-introduced beavers into the UK. I am really looking forward to spending time there and teaching myself how to paint. I would also like to be able to do some photography workshops and get into bird and wildlife photography.
It will be nice to retire and finally have photography as a hobby. If you think it's hard getting a good action shot of an actor, try photographing a beaver. They are sneaky little critters and very cute!
Q: I'm sure there are plenty of photographers that wouldn't mind having your job! What do you recommend for someone interested in a career in the motion picture industry.
Okay the first step is to go to your local theatre company and film schools and offer to shoot for them for free. Everyone these days seems to think they are owed a living. Actors do plays and films for no budget productions with little or no pay and if you want to be a film still photographer you are going to have to suffer for your art along with the rest of them.
Look for alternative angles. A film gate is horizontal but how many posters and magazine covers are horizontal?
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| Photo by Jasin Boland/Paramount Pictures |
| Charlize Theron in the bedroom set at Babelsberg Studios in Berlin during the filming of Aeon Flux in November 2004. |
Being next to the camera can sometimes be the first mistake. The studio doesn't just want to see a carbon copy of the film they are making, they want a photographer that goes out there and puts their personal style into the mix of the filmmaking process. Many of my best shots you won't see in the film and that's what I mean by having a game park created for you -- you have the whole set to play with, not just the director's vision. When he sees your shot and goes, 'sheesh I wish I had of covered that angle,' that's when you are doing your job properly!
The most helpful thing for me is shooting with both eyes open. I keep talking about being aware of your environment; you need to keep one eye on your frame and the other on what's around it, and that means something about to come into your frame, so you can anticipate when to squeeze that shutter, or knowing when you are about to get in the way of a camera or piece of equipment. Things move fast when a shot is being done and you need to be able to move fluidly. Action film sets are dangerous and you need to be on your game and be aware of every little thing that is going on around you.
I personally believe that being a photographer on a film set is not a beginning point in a photography career. It takes a heap of skill to shoot in low light, and being aware of all the different personalities you encounter is not for the faint of heart. You need to be skillful in the art of negotiation as much as being able to frame a beautiful photograph. You need to be an accomplished amateur psychologist to gauge a person's or the entire crew's mood and you need to be prepared to walk away from a great shot if you have to in order to preserve good will.
Above all you need to realize that without every member of the crew's help you won't get those incredible images. You need to be polite and humble. A thank you for a ladder or an apple box to stand on goes a long way and no one on a set is better than anyone else, we are a team and we need to work as one. Have a big head and you will get shut down, pieces of bounce board will mysteriously be pushed into frame at the critical point or that angle between the tracking vehicles will be filled with some foreground dressing or a 10K light.
My last tip is you just never know where that poster, billboard or magazine cover is going to come from. Every image you take has the potential to be used for the ultimate result so regardless of what you are shooting you should always do your best. There is no reason to think 'oh it's just a snap shot.' That photograph you took yesterday could end up being your most precious possession. Last year I had the cover of Empire magazine's action special with Matt Damon from The Bourne Ultimatum. When I was told about it I looked through my folders for the image to see if they had changed it. I knew it was shot while we were in Tangier but I just couldn't find it anywhere. I decided to go to dinner and while I was walking out the door I remembered I hadn't looked in the wardrobe test folder, only at the unit coverage. I went back and checked and sure enough there it was the first frame. I remember saying to Matty (Damon), let’s not waste it, give me your best Bourne. He did and it ended up as a huge cover!
It's a complicated industry but anyone that tells you it's not glamorous really never made it or just didn't believe in it. It's great fun and I am so lucky to have been able to make it to where I am today. If any of you that read this Q&A have further questions please don't hesitate to contact me. It would be my pleasure to share anything I have learned over the years; besides, I dare say you will be able to teach me a thing or two!
Oh by the way did I mention I LOVE my job!
Read other interviews from the Behind the Lens series
• March 2008: John Moore
• February 2008: Martin Schoeller
• January 2008: Brian Skerry
• November 2007: Norm Barker
• October 2007: Cameron Davidson
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