HOUSE RED PRODUCTION.
well as Korean and Japanese ones. I had many conversations with Doug on how we could achieve those shots with the limited resources we had.” Greenop and Milsome chose an Arri Alexa along with Cooke S4/i Prime lenses, which he says were more than ideal for the job at hand. “I’ve never been a camera snob and it used to frustrate me when filmmakers would say we have to use certain lenses and this or that camera to shoot a movie,” he explains. “I certainly know from film school that some students will say they need a specific camera to tell the story. For me this is so ridiculous – if you’re a real storyteller, you can tell it on an iPhone. I shot my first film, Wandering Rose , on a Lumix GH2 stills camera. I had the firmware to up the bit rate and used a super-old Voigtlander World War II-era lens I acquired on eBay.” Every piece of kit used in House Red had to be shipped from the UK, which added to the delay. “We were in the middle of Tuscany and the closest place for camera hire was Milan,” says Greenop. “We had no cranes, no giant jibs. We had a Steadicam operator and what was then an 80-year-old Doug running around with a camera and a rig.” THE GREATEST FILM SCHOOL Greenop describes how working with the best people in the industry teaches a lot more than any formal education could. “Going to film school is like getting a degree in finger painting – it doesn’t help you become a filmmaker,” he says. “For
for Full Metal Jacket.” That was just one of Milsome’s several collaborations with the legendary Stanley Kubrick, first as camera operator for most of the seventies and eighties – and then cinematographer. ”But I told Doug that we’ll be getting these aerial shots sitting by the pool, drinking a glass of wine. He likes to be behind the lens – watching on a monitor isn’t really his thing.”
me, working with Doug is the greatest film school. We were there with Tamer Hassan and Natasha Henstridge in this castle in Tuscany. Doug says, ‘So what are we doing?’ I said we’ll set up here, do 50mm there etc. He asked why 50mm, as opposed to 25mm or 75mm? Immediately he was questioning me and my shot list. With Doug, every day it was about why I wanted to use certain lenses.” However, when the idea of drones was raised, Milsome was adamant. No. “He asked, ‘Why can’t we have a helicopter?’” recalls Greenop. “’I want to be up there shooting it.’ He told us a story on day one about shooting in a helicopter
SECURING ACCESS The crew had to tell the castello’s management they were shooting a love film in order to get permission to use the property
“Doug likes to be behind the lens – watching on a monitor isn’t really his thing”
MASTER OF PAIRINGS Director Coz Greenop had his lens selection repeatedly quizzed by veteran DOP Doug Milsome
15. FEBRUARY 2023
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