Sunday, March 4, 2012

SWATH STILL PHOTOGRAPHER ALEX BAILEY TALKS WITH NIKON


In an interview with Nikon, SWATH's still photographer Alex Bailey briefly talks about SWATH.  Bailey began taking movie stills over 20 years ago as a freelancer.  His first break was as an assistant photographer for the the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, according to Nikon.

He now has over 60 films under his belt which includes The Iron Lady, Atonement, Hugo and SWATH.

Fans can review his amazing work on his website here.  Below are excerpts of the SWATH portions of the interview.  Read the rest of the interview here.



Do you still get the same thrill when walk onto a set now as you did on that first film?

I don't think you can help being blown away. On the last film I worked on, Snow White and the Huntsman at Pinewood, they built a castle on the back lot that was as big as a real one. There were 500 extras night after night, 30-50 horses galloping through it, explosions… you'd be pretty tired if that didn't whet your appetite.

As a visual person it's an education, as we get access to the most extraordinary places that are usually closed to the public. For Enemy at the Gate, we were shooting in a 50-acre derelict Russian army base in Berlin. It was covered in Russian propaganda posters, and very eerie. It was minus ten, with real tanks, 400-600 extras in fatigues and oil burners to create the effects of battle – it took three showers every night to get the oil and mud off your skin. You really felt you were living it.

Do you have a favourite out of all the films you've worked on?

It's so hard to pick just one. I really enjoyed Enemy at the Gate, and Atonement is pretty high up there – I was shooting both digital and film, which was very rewarding. I also had a great time on the Snow White set – the whole look was amazing. Hanna was good – very varied, as we went all over Europe shooting it. And Gambit was challenging but pretty good fun.



When I first started out, there was a tradition that certain photographers would get called for certain types of jobs – just romances, just comedy, just action. I wanted to do everything. I'd go insane if I only did one genre. There's a great variation and diversity in what I do – there aren't many areas of specialisation that come close to this.


HERE ARE A FEW STILLS FROM ALEX'S WEBSITE












via @robkris13/@KstewAngel/Source

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