CAREERS
I t was by pure chance that Reg moved to New Zealand at the age of 14 with his family, where he worked as an electrical fitter. “Friends and I then travelled around Europe in a van,” begins Garside. “When I got back to London, we were involved in exhibitions like Ideal Home Show ; the guys we collaborated with also worked in the film industry.” Spotting an advert in the Evening Standard one day for sparkies looking to work in the film industry, he landed the gig and started work within a few days. “It was mostly with the BBC, where I worked for a few years. Then, I went back to New Zealand where I applied for a job Garside found his way into the film industry. Born in England, he later as a gaffer,” he explains. “I worked for the National Film Unit as their key gaffer, where I did my first film in 1979 (Sam Neill’s On the Road with Red Mole ). In the meantime, I’d been asked by a friend of mine – Mick Morris, who worked for the same company as me in London – to give him a ring if I was ever in Australia. Mick was the first film gaffer I worked with; you could say he was a bit of a mentor. So, I decided to move to Australia initially for six months, but decided to stay.”
Garside’s first gaffer job in Australia came in 1981 on the set of Doctors and Nurses , which also marked his first-ever collaboration with DOP John Seale. Seale won an Academy Award for The English Patient and was also Oscar-nominated for Witness , Rain Man , Cold Mountain and Mad Max: Fury Road . “I’ve had the pleasure of working with John for 11 films – one of those was The Mosquito Coast , which we shot in Belize,” reveals Garside. “That was my first big feature film overseas. I learnt much from him, as well as through making mistakes and inventing things myself. I relied on instincts, the knowledge gained as an on-set electrician and through working with Mick as best boy; it was a lot of trial and error, although that’s how I have learnt my trade.” When it comes to the dynamics between gaffer and DOP, Garside notes the relationship is almost like a marriage. “Their job is to bring a picture to life, so you have to understand how they want to light the picture,” he muses. “It’s a very personal relationship because you are anticipating their needs and what they are thinking. Sometimes, it’s hard because DOPs are under a lot of
ALL ACTION The use of LED and HMI lights in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was pivotal when crafting the film’s larger-than- life action scenes
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