Nominated in the Director of Phorography TV category
What camera did you use to shoot ‘My Civil War’?
We shot ‘My Civil War’ on a Sony PDW-700 which is a digital production camera that records onto removable XDCAM discs. Far better than the diesel models.
What do you prefer to use, digital or film? And why?
Even though the look of properly shot film is fabulous ,digital is much more flexible, faster and cheaper. So unfortunately film loses out. Also a fully digital file-based workflow has huge advantages in post-production.
Can you give an example where your cinematography alone was used to tell a part of the story in ‘My Civil War’?
I suppose one of the scenes that most relied on our pictures was shot around a now inaccessible sea cave at the bottom of cliffs in Clashmealcon in County Kerry. This is where an incident took place in 1923 during the Civil War. Apart from landing at the cave by sea we used a moving cherry picker arm to shoot down from the top of cliffs onto the rocks and sea below. This technique gives the viewer the sense of shape and scale of the area around the cave.
Can you tell us one trick of the trade that only cinematographers might know of that you used on the ‘My Civil War’ shoot?
We used chroma key at specific points in the story behind our three main contributors. The director, Brian Hayes, wanted to change the backgrounds from the present to a fleeting glimpse of the Civil War period. Archive footage from the Civil War era was sourced for the production.
Can you outline the differences in shooting these kinds of scenes, which consist of historical documents, with modern day scenes, such as interviews? (i.e. do you use lighting in a different way, is there more work required to shoot archive footage which may be faded, grainy, damaged, compared to shooting a person in daylight today?)
Newsreels were in their infancy at the time of the Civil War. My understanding is that a lot of the footage was stage managed for practical reasons. I suppose just like in certain wars today. We used no special techniques for shooting ‘My Civil War’ other than trying to keep the framing as simple and elegant as possible.
Many people refer to cinematography as being an art form. What does that reference mean to you and do you agree with it?
I think the word art can be over stated in our business. Most of my work involves trying to illustrate a story in the most appropriate and sympathetic way possible. Apart from the director's requirements, there is also a whole team that contributes to the final work. Hopefully I will achieve a few pretty pictures along the way. I will let others decide if any of it is art.
What new technological developments are you looking forward to in the field of cinematography, and what new developments would you like to see?
I would like to see the development of digital imaging at its present pace for as long as possible. Like everyone with an interest in picture-making, I look forward to seeing cameras with increased flexibility, light sensitivity and higher resolution, but I'm not sure how much progress the laws of physics will allow. Developments in faster and cheaper computers combined with the easy availability of huge hard drives will allow more common use of RAW files.
What other profession in the film & TV industry would you like to try?
If I had to choose another profession I would like to have given editing a go. A lot of magic is created by some brilliant editors I know.
What would winning the IFTA Award for Best Cinematography mean to you?
Just to be nominated in the first place means a lot.
