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David Watkin (cinematographer)

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David Watkin
Born(1925-03-23)23 March 1925
Margate, Kent, England
Died19 February 2008(2008-02-19) (aged 82)
NationalityEnglish
OccupationCinematographer
Years active1963–2001

David Watkin BSC (23 March 1925 – 19 February 2008) was an English cinematographer, an innovator who was among the first directors of photography to experiment heavily with the usage of bounce light as a soft light source. He worked with such film directors as Richard Lester, Peter Brook, Tony Richardson, Mike Nichols, Ken Russell, Franco Zeffirelli, Sidney Lumet and Sydney Pollack.

In 1985, Watkin won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Out of Africa. He received lifetime achievement awards in 2004 from the British Society of Cinematographers and the cinematographic-centric Camerimage Film Festival in Łódź, Poland.

In Chariots of Fire, he "helped create one of the most memorable images of 1980s cinema: the opening sequence in which a huddle of young male athletes pounds along the water's edge on a beach" to the film's theme music by Vangelis.[1]

Early life and career

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Watkin was born in Margate, Kent, England, the fourth and youngest son of a Roman Catholic solicitor father and homemaker mother, and grew up within a well-to-do upper-middle class household. He gained an early enthusiasm for European classical music, which was left to be satisfied only as a passive listener when his father rejected his request for a piano and lessons; Watkin always contended that he would rather have been a professional musician than a cinematographer.[citation needed]

After a brief period in the Army during World War II, Watkin started work at the Southern Railway Film Unit in 1948[2] as a camera assistant. After the unit was absorbed into British Transport Films in 1950, he eventually climbed the ranks up to director of photography at BTF before going off to work freelance in commercials around 1960.

Before working in feature films "as a fully fledged cinematographer", he shot the title sequence of the James Bond film, Goldfinger (1964) for Robert Brownjohn.[1]

Work with Richard Lester

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It was on a commercial shoot that he met Richard Lester, who hired him for his feature film, The Knack …and How to Get It (1965) which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.[1] The two men subsequently worked together on Help! (1965), How I Won the War (1967), The Bed-Sitting Room (1969), The Three Musketeers (1973), The Four Musketeers (1974), Robin and Marian (1976) and Cuba (1979).

Watkin's casual approach

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He was noted for his very casual approach; when asked when he first developed a passion for photography, he answered that he hadn't yet (his main passions being classical music and books). However, filmmaking did have an attraction because, as he said, "I knew filmmakers didn't have to wear a suit".[1]

He also has a rather famous habit of sleeping on-set in between lighting setups, because "it's the only thing you can do on-set which doesn't make you more tired".[1] This habit was humorously referenced in Night Falls on Manhattan (1996), which he shot, where he has a brief cameo towards the beginning as a sleeping judge. In the case of the film of Marat/Sade (1967), problems with a tight shooting schedule and restricted set space were innovatively resolved through the use of one single lighting set-up for the entirety of the film – a translucent wall lit by twenty-six 10 kW lamps as the sole source of light. [citation needed]

Style and technique

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He was generally recognised for the "painterly qualities" in his work with some critics comparing him with Vermeer, the Dutch artist "who often illuminated his subjects with light refracted through windows".[1]

In Out of Africa he broke with tradition and "used fast film for exteriors and slow film for night and interiors. This typically maverick move gave Sydney Pollack's film a lush, soft quality that matched its romantic mood".[1]

Conception of a new lighting technique

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Watkin also conceived the idea for a new light which would tackle the problem of light falloff during night shoots. Because of the inverse square law, light from even moderately strong sources starts to fall off fairly quickly as the subject walks away from the light source. Therefore, films shooting at night had the problem of trying to hide light sources in places which would be out of shot but maintain a fairly constant level of illumination over any amount of distance (and thus not indicate a large lamp as a light source). But this time-consuming approach created problems with multiple shadows of divergent angles.

His solution was to build a large array of tightly spaced Fay lights in a 14 x 14 square (196 lights total), which was then elevated 150 feet (46 m) high on a cherry picker placed roughly a quarter of a mile away. Due to the long distance between the light and the actors and the high luminescence of this light array, the actors could walk across long distances without the intensity of the light hitting them seeming to vary. Subsequently, the array was named the "Wendy-light" in his honour – Watkin, who was gay, used the camp name "Wendy".[3]

Personal life

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David Watkin led a relatively quiet life in his adopted home town of Brighton, East Sussex, when he wasn't working on a "picture". He was highly regarded as a cultured and intellectual man, with an outrageously irreverent sense of humour, and a great love of classical music and literature. He had a personal library of mostly First Edition 18th Century literature.

He was openly gay. [4]

Death

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David Watkin died, aged 82, at his home in Sussex Mews, Brighton on 19 February 2008, having been diagnosed with prostate cancer just six months previously.

Publications

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His autobiographies, Why Is There Only One Word for Thesaurus?, first published in 1998 and the second volume, Was Clara Schumann a Fag Hag?, published in 2008, by Scrutineer Publishing, were both designed by his good friend the artist and designer Rachael Adams.

Awards and honours

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List of awards and nominations
Ceremony Category Year Film Result
Academy Awards Best Cinematography 1986 Out of Africa Won
British Academy Film Awards Best British Cinematography 1966 Help!, The Knack...and How to Get It Nominated
1968 Mademoiselle Nominated
Best Cinematography 1969 The Charge of the Light Brigade Nominated
1971 Catch-22 Nominated
1975 The Three Musketeers Nominated
1982 Chariots of Fire Nominated
1987 Out of Africa Won
British Academy Television Awards Best Film Cameraman 1978 Jesus of Nazareth (shared with Armando Nannuzzi) Nominated

Selected filmography

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Director of photography

Film

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Year Title Director Award Notes
1965 The Knack ...and How to Get It Richard Lester First collaboration with Richard Lester
Help! Second collaboration with Richard Lester
1966 Mademoiselle Tony Richardson First collaboration with Tony Richardson
1967 Marat/Sade Peter Brook
How I Won the War Richard Lester Third collaboration with Richard Lester
1968 The Charge of the Light Brigade Tony Richardson Second collaboration with Tony Richardson
1969 The Bed Sitting Room Richard Lester Fourth collaboration with Richard Lester
1970 Catch-22 Mike Nichols
1971 The Devils Ken Russell First collaboration with Ken Russell
The Boy Friend Second collaboration with Ken Russell
1973 The Homecoming Peter Hall
Yellow Dog Terence Donovan
A Delicate Balance Tony Richardson Third collaboration with Tony Richardson
The Three Musketeers Richard Lester Fifth collaboration with Richard Lester
1974 The Four Musketeers Sixth collaboration with Richard Lester
1975 Mahogany Berry Gordy
1976 To the Devil a Daughter Peter Sykes
Robin and Marian Richard Lester Seventh collaboration with Richard Lester
1977 Joseph Andrews Tony Richardson Fourth collaboration with Tony Richardson
1979 Hanover Street Peter Hyams
That Summer! Harley Cokeliss
Cuba Richard Lester Eighth collaboration with Richard Lester
1981 Chariots of Fire Hugh Hudson
Endless Love Franco Zeffirelli Second collaboration with Franco Zeffirelli
1982 La Cenerentola Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
1983 Yentl Barbra Streisand
1984 The Hotel New Hampshire Tony Richardson Fifth collaboration with Tony Richardson
1985 Return to Oz Walter Murch
White Nights Taylor Hackford
Out of Africa Sydney Pollack Academy Award for Cinematography
1986 Sky Bandits Zoran Perisic
1987 Moonstruck Norman Jewison First collaboration with Norman Jewison
1988 Masquerade Bob Swaim
Journey to the Center of the Earth
The Good Mother Leonard Nimoy
Last Rites Donald P. Bellisario
1990 Memphis Belle Michael Caton-Jones First collaboration with Michael Caton-Jones
Hamlet Franco Zeffirelli Third collaboration with Franco Zeffirelli
1991 The Object of Beauty Michael Lindsay-Hogg Second collaboration with Michael Lindsay-Hogg
The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez Peter Sellars
1992 Used People Beeban Kidron
1993 This Boy's Life Michael Caton-Jones Second collaboration with Michael Caton-Jones
Bopha! Morgan Freeman
1994 Milk Money Richard Benjamin
1996 Jane Eyre Franco Zeffirelli Fourth collaboration with Franco Zeffirelli
Bogus Norman Jewison Second collaboration with Norman Jewison
Night Falls on Manhattan Sidney Lumet First collaboration with Sidney Lumet
1997 Through Roses Jürgen Flimm
Obsession Peter Sehr
Critical Care Sidney Lumet Second collaboration with Sidney Lumet
1999 Gloria Third collaboration with Sidney Lumet
Tea with Mussolini Franco Zeffirelli Fifth collaboration with Franco Zeffirelli
2001 Lover's Prayer Reverge Anselmo

Actor

Year Title Director Role Notes
1996 Night Falls on Manhattan Sidney Lumet Sleeping Judge
Uncredited

Camera and electrical department

Year Title Director Role Notes
1964 Goldfinger Guy Hamilton Cinematographer: Title sequence
Uncredited

Short films

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Year Title Director
1963 The Six-Sided Triangle Christopher Miles

TV movies

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Year Title Director Notes
1966 One-Eyed Jacks Are Wild Franklin J. Schaffner
1977 Jesus of Nazareth Franco Zeffirelli First collaboration with Franco Zeffirelli
1989 Murder by Moonlight Michael Lindsay-Hogg First collaboration with Michael Lindsay-Hogg

TV series

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Year Title Notes
1977 Jesus of Nazareth 4 episodes

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Lensman's ideas changed film: David Watkin (1925–2008)". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2008.
  2. ^ The Exploiter and the Exploited : Railway Filmaking [sic] 1930 - 1949 by Paul Smith
  3. ^ Watkin, David. Why Is There Only One Word for Thesaurus?: Being an Autobiography of David Watkin, p. 235. Brighton: Trouser Press, 1998.
  4. ^ "DAVID WATKIN". www.cinematographers.nl. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
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