Q & A with Steven Hall, DoP
Steven Hall is a director of photography for drama and VFX.
During the course of his career, Steven has helped create stunning film sequences for directors like Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott and George Lucas.
As well as having a successful career shooting VFX work on major motion pictures, Steven is keen to shoot more narrative work and TV Drama. In 2012 he shot the 2nd Unit on 'Ripper Street', 'Peaky Blinders' and Channel 4's 'Utopia'.
What can you tell us about Jack the Giant Slayer and what you did on it?
‘Jack the Giant Killer’ or as it’s now called ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ (slaying sounds much more PC than killing) is essentially a big budget Hollywood Studio re-telling of the classic Jack and the Beanstalk story. I joined the show as the VFX DOP, shooting plates and backgrounds. It is my first stereo (3D) movie. I joined for 2 weeks and stayed for 8, taking on the role of the Splinter Unit DOP when the shooting schedule really came off the rails.
What did you shoot with and do you operate on location or in a Green Screen studio?
We used the RED Epic 3D rigs for this film and I also did a lot of work with the Giant Simulcam system – essentially a live-action, real time pre-viz tool. We shot at Shepperton and Longcross Studios, locations included Wells Cathedral, Norwich Cathedral and The Hampton Estate near Guildford. Most of the sets had an element of green screen work within them, so I spent a lot of time matching to work that the Main and 2nd Unit had already shot – or were about to shoot, which was interesting!
Can you tell us what you are working on at the moment?
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in my hotel room at Saunton Sands in Devon (waiting for it to stop raining) where I’m shooting some VFX plates for 'Edge of Tomorrow' (formerly ‘All You Need is Kill’). We’ve been whizzing up and down a 2 mile long beach all day using the Russian Arm rig and a helicopter – who says that this business isn’t fun?
You work both as a VFX DoP and a DoP. What have you been shooting over the last year?
In 2012 I continued to build on my credits as a conventional, narrative drama DOP and I managed to shoot a couple of shorts – including an interesting film called ‘Belly of the Wolf’. I also shot the 2nd Unit on some really good TV Dramas including; ‘A Mother’s Son’, ‘Ripper Street’, ‘Peaky Blinders’ and the excellent Channel 4 drama ‘Utopia’. As a VFX DOP, I kicked off the year with some enhancements for ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ and then went off to Norway on ‘Thor 2’ to shoot plates, textures and bubbles (360 degree spheres made up of 100s of HDR still images) and I then joined the same film as the Splinter Unit DOP at the end of the year, wrapping on December 22nd. Not a bad year, but with 2 children at University and a third learning to drive, I actually need to work 450 days a year just to break even.
How did you get started in the industry?
I came to Film and TV from being a Freelance Photographic Assistant. Most of my work was with fashion, advertising and car photographers, so I was often around Commercials and Agencies and thought the world of Commercials looked like a bundle of fun. One day I got a call to work with a Stills Photographer who was working on ‘The Shining’ – he needed to shoot some large format pictures and I had a lot of experience of 10x8, so this became my introduction to the Film Industry. I then drove a Winnebago and Camera Car for about a year or so before making enough contacts to get a job as a Camera Trainee.
What advice would you give those who want to break in to the camera department?
This is a tricky one. It’s getting tougher and tougher to get into the business and there’s no recognised way of actually getting in – unless you’re the son or daughter of somebody already in it. With the advent of e-mail and websites it’s now a lot easier to self-market, so it’s just a question of passion, commitment..…and a lot of patience! If I were starting again, I’d harness all the HD technology and post production software and go straight in as a DOP.
You worked on Star Wars 1 & 2. What was that experience like and who do you think should direct episode 7?
It’s nearly 120 degrees, the sun has been burning on us for hours and we’re looking across the endless dunes in Tunisia. Through a megaphone the 1st AD screams “Turn over!” After it seems like we’ve run thousands of feet of film through 3 Vistavision cameras, R2D2 finally appears over the dune in the foreground…..“and….…cut!!” That single cinematic moment made it all worthwhile.
Maybe someone like Tarrantino? I’ve actually heard that JJ Abrahams has got the job and I know he’s a big SW’s fan.
The VFX in War Horse was seamless. Can you describe the sequences you worked on?
I don’t mind admitting that working with Spielberg has been on my wish list for a long time and standing in the middle of a field, being introduced to the great man – “Steven, this is Steven”, is still something of a high point in my career. I was the Element Shoot DP on ‘War Horse’ (you’ll see my credit some way after the Goose Wrangler’s credit) but I also shot a lot of Splinter Unit material; the Cavalry charge, the machine gun sequence etc. etc. Most of the no-man's land sequence is enhanced with elements that I shot on the stage at Longcross. We shot the explosions in a quarry in Wiltshire.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was a technically pioneering film. How was it made?
It was shot like a massive game of Battleships – “Gwyneth, could you move from square T3 to square G6, oh and can you act on the way” The whole of the massive George Lucas stage at Elstree was marked as a blue screen grid and the actors performed everything in a pre-shot CG world. Bearing in mind that this was all shot on pre-Alexa and RED style HD cameras, it still looks pretty amazing.
You’ve worked on the sword and sandal epics ‘Troy’ and ‘Clash of the Titans’ but seven years apart. Are there similarities in your approach to the two films and what are the differences in the technology between those two shoots?
VFX technology has moved on massively in 7 years. There was much more work for me on ‘Troy’ (which was good as that was shot in Mexico) than there was on ‘Clash of the Titans’ (which was shot in Tenerife and in a quarry in Wales).
You worked with the great Jackie Chan on Rush Hour 3. He’s famed for doing his own stunts. Did you pick up any moves?
This was great fun to do and my work involved the sequence where the heroes jump off the Eiffel Tower, cleverly using the giant tricolour flag as a parachute. In practical terms we spent about 10 nights on the top, middle and bottom of the tower shooting 360 degree Vistavision plates of Paris. We extended this across the Seine by matching their route from a 200ft cherry picker – terrifying!!
Do you have a preference for particular cameras and lenses to work with?
I’ve shot a lot of the work that I’ve done on the Vistavision system using Nikon lenses. In fact a lot of the plates in ‘Gladiator’ were shot on my old Nikon stills system. I’m a big fan of HD now and I really love working with the ARRI Alexa and Panavision’s Primo lenses.
What are you never without?
A sense of humour
What’s been your best day at work?
See any of the above references. Doing what we do, in the places that we do it in, it’s difficult to have a bad day. Working on ‘Gladiator’ was pretty special – although I’m not sure any of us knew that at the time.
If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?
That all the studios would get together and shoot one film after the other throughout the whole year, rather than shooting them all at the same time during the same three months of the year.
What do you do when you are not working?
Worry about not working.
If you could work with anybody, living or dead, who would it be?
Actually some of the people I’ve worked with who are living I’d actually like to see dead. Joking aside (if only it were a joke) I’d love to have worked with Steve McQueen and David Lean. Of the living who I haven’t worked with, I’d really like to work with Mike Leigh.
Members can view Steven's profile page here, visit his website here and follow him on twitter