Life transition

 How does a young boy, ill educated and who left school at 14 who  became a Deep seam coal miner at 15 get to be one of the top DoP's in the UK TV industry..  Tavelled the world in First Class..5 star accom in some of the most desirable locations in the world..How did he do that?

I did..

Perhaps it was the terrifying daily drop into the bowels of the earth in a tiny compartment called a cage..it had four layers.  Four men crammed into each layer squatting, knees interlocked..in that confined space and when the 'cage'  was fully laden  the wireman took off the brakes and it plummeted 400 metres down a ten foot wide hole in the ground..The Shaft.. at freefall speed..It automatically slowed down when the brakes came on as it reached its unloading point.  I was claustrophobic ..the drop was horrendous..and when we alighted we then had to walk a mile or so down dark damp tunnels to reach the coal seam  which was just over 3 feet tall. Once in there it was impossible to stand up for the entire shift.

Some years of this convinced me I had made the wrong career choice and so I decided to change tack. I wanted to travel t around this beautifiul Planet..make a lot of money and hopefully meet some pretty girls..  It was a major leap...almost impossible..But I did it ..More on this in the next post..stay with it.

Contact the author: Richard Dodd.. Director of Photography.

 Contact...The contact details for Richard Dodd,,  the Author and owner of Chelsy Swann blogsite

Tel: 07860  555  794

E mail: r.jdodd@outlook.com

Please feel free to make contact if you need more info..thank you.

HATRACK

 HATRACK Is an new streaming drama pitched at the younger viewer..and the main protagonist is a 17 year old who is almost a dropout from school and society.  A total waster. whose familt despair for his future. Until the family move to an old property with many rooms..Then the fun begins..  Pacy.. slick..clever.. educational and it involves the viewer...and there will be a game spinoff.  Watch this space.

 

 

The Stack by RJ Dodd Synopsis

Robbing a Turkish bank of its gold on the war-torn peninsula of Gallipoli was not the uppermost thought in the minds of two young men from Cumberland when they joined the British Army in 1915.

After their return from the war, via a spell in the trenches of France they cannot settle back into the lifestyle they once had and they decide to return to Turkey to recover the gold they had hidden and then proceed to a new life in Australia,

They buy two large adjoining tracts of timberland, The Stack and Wongon, both are one million acre estates, they settle down, have families and prosper

Then the dark secret that they left in the Turkish bank vault comes back to haunt them and their families.

This saga covers three generations with numerous strands as the families expand grow and involves the start of the second world war, it is full of danger, travel, romance, misplaced love, treachery, greed, infidelity, tribal humour and is based on two real life stories.

 Read about me filming on the USS Nimitz..Now being called into station near the Gulf states...It can actually stay at sea for 20 years..Just scroll down the list.

Directors..

 Over the years and dealing with hundreds of directors.,a great number of them have argued about various procedures..The favourite on is 'When you shoot on film rain is not seen..so why have you stopped shooting when its raining.?

I have no idea where they got that message from but they firmly believed it..until I pointed out a number of rainy scenes ..mainly in major movies. All filmed on 'Film'...it gave them food for thought.

Another favourite is for them to shoot 20 takes or more on the same shot..without giving directions to the actors..or anyone else..Apparently they think the actors will' up' their game..The truth is the Editor usually picks the 3rd take..mainly because the actor goes into robot mode....and it shows...If you go past seven takes you have lost the plot..and the performer...believe me.

More soon.

Close encounters of the Director kind.

A giggle for Christmas:

I have met and worked with literally hundreds of Directors..They come in all sorts of colours, gender, ability and occasionally ..Talent.

An awful lot of them think they are God and tell you thats the way it is..unfortunately it is not borne out by their ability...simply their inflated EGO.

This is an example from a recent assignment..I got a call from a producer who asked me to shoot two episodes of a very popular TV Drama 

series in the UK..Millions of viewers every week and very well established..Format TV really..

On this occasion the Producer said the company wanted to try out a very inexperienced Director..Only three half hour shows to her credit but they wanted to groom her for the major series..so they asked if I could undertake the task... as I had already filmed over two hundred one hour eps of the programme..

Reluctantly and rather foolishly I accepted

UK TV shows are run to a very tight schedule..not a lot of thinking time  Ten days on set for one hour episodes..Thats it.. You have to hit the ground running..everyone has to be up to speed.

Recce day:..I was introduced to the Director  A young woman, very pleasant..we went through the scripts briefly., whistled round the sets..A quck meeting ..then lunch where she informed me that I was not her choice of DoP..The Broadcaster wouldnt let her have the person she wanted to shoot her eps as they considered he didnt have the experience..Their money  their call.

Me: 'Thats fine, I dont get to choose the Directors'

Shoot day one: The opening scene was a wide shot showing the very large set which was a Hospital ward..Lotsa beds.activity, nurses ..trolleys moving etc.At the far end a patient was moved from a trolley onto a bed and was quickly joined by Medical staff who gathered  around and talked the scene through..The Wide shot

'Cut..got it..move on for the Close ups'..

I had some lights to tweak as the camera dolly and crew moved in around the bed.When I got there the Director had re-arranged all the doctors and placed them in different places...Are you still with me...?

Me: You've moved the actors.

Dir: Yes, I didnt like the way they lined up.

Me:  OK..but we have to do the Master shot again.

Dir: Why.?

Me: Well it wont cut.

Dir: Who cares..who will even notice?.

Me: Me...and someone else.

Dir: Who?.

M:The man in charge who will be on the set in the morning with two pieces of paper..torn up.

Dir:( Blank stare) 

Me:Our contracts..we'll be fired.

After calling me old fashioned..  a Fuddy duddy ..Prehistoric..etc, she reluctantly agreed the actors should take up their wide shot positions.

And then it got worse.

We moved on from that scene to another one in his huge set..On the way she said that as Director whatever she wanted she will get..and told me she didnt like my lighting and wanted harsh strong lights to sweep across the entire ..massive..set.

She didnt get them. The set was on the 7th floor of an old office block..It would have meant encasing the entire building in scaffolding and would stop the filming through the windows. The cost and the restrictions on shooting were not what the Production company wanted.  Grunmble..grumble..onto the next scene.

This one comprised of two elements One part was to be filmed in a long hospital corridor and the other around a ward bed. Two set ups in the corridor and three around the bed,The corridor ones showed worried family members dashing to the ward where their sick relative was

The ideas was to shoot the two corridor scenes then move to the bedside for the rest including the family arrival...Oh no..

As we walked through the set the Director said she had been out the previous evening with her old film school mates to celebrate her move up into serious TV and they had discussed this particular scene and how to shoot it. They thought it would be great to make the second visit to the bedside a dark scene..  to be a night scene..are you still with me..amazing..

Out come the scripts for the days shooting..All the component parts were covering a period of about four minutes just after one pm..and she thought it would be great to make the middle one a night scene...She went apeshit when I told her it wasnt going to happen..screaming and shouting...and we were still halfway through the first morning.. it boded well.

Part two soon....