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FEATURE ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
SMOOTH OPERATOR DOP Patrick Stewart is a master of the handheld shot. He’s currently bringing his skills to bear on Season 5 of Arrested Development, making full use of his favoured set of Fujinon Cabrio lenses WORDS TERRY HOPE IMAGES NETFLIX / PATRICK STEWART
Timecode , shot in 2000. The final production was constructed from four continuous 93-minute handheld takes that were filmed simultaneously by four camera operators. Patrick was one of those, and the experience of shooting what was essentially a live production over that amount of time had a huge influence on him and confirmed him as an acknowledged expert in his field. Since then he’s filmed many other productions that have centred on handheld footage, such as Flight of the Conchords and seven seasons of the hit US TV series The League . He’s currently bringing his skills to bear on Season 5 of Arrested Development , the highly influential TV sitcom featuring the dysfunctional Bluth family with a cult following around the world. Originally aired on Fox for three seasons from November 2003
successful handheld shot has a documentary-style vibrancy and immediacy that can sometimes be lacking
in footage that’s fully stabilised, while still retaining enough of a professional feel to make it clear that any movement is intentional. Several highly successful cinematic and TV productions have used this approach and when it works it can be outstanding, becoming an intrinsic and crucial element of the finished whole. There is, however, an art to the process and it takes years of practice to acquire the necessary skills as a camera operator to pull it all off. One of those that has very much mastered the process is DOP Patrick Stewart, whose list of handheld camera credits stretches back some 35 years. One of his landmark successes was the iconic Mike Figgis movie
DEFINITION MAY 2018
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