CAREERS
THE LIGHT FANTASTIC On Dumbo (below), Higgins worked his magic for Tim Burton; while Empire of Light (left) saw him reunited with cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins
problems with the product, and we’ll debug them on-set. Def: What are your favourite bits of kit? JH: I like the Fiilex range of LED fresnels: the Q range. They’re very nice pieces of equipment, well designed and thought- out – but there are plenty of others on the market. The role of LED lighting has been the big thing over the last few years; ARRI’s SkyPanel range was the first efficient LED soft light, which has proven so successful, and there are now lots of alternatives. With each new release, things get a little better. Def: Do you have any industry heroes? JH: I have huge admiration for the DOPs I’ve collaborated with, like Roger Deakins ( 1917 , No Country For Old Men ) and Sven Nykvist, both of whom were great to work with. There are so many others out there that I have the utmost respect for though – and it’s great to see a lot of women DOPs coming through now. I did some work with Charlotte Bruus Christensen who is extremely talented and so much fun to collaborate with. It’s an ever-changing industry; the only thing that doesn’t change is the long hours, but I can’t see that ever being any different because of the pressures and schedules. If you want a typical nine-to-five job, the film industry is definitely not the place to be, especially on the technical production side. You’ve got to embrace it though, or search for another job – but you likely won’t find one that you enjoy as much as this!
skills and be able to communicate clearly too. You also need an understanding of photography – which I didn’t when I started. I didn’t understand the photochemical processes and lenses and all that, but if you put yourself out there, you learn. It’s so much easier these days: if you’re unsure about something you can find a YouTube video explaining it. There’s a mountain of knowledge out there that you can acquire very easily. It wasn’t so easy when I was starting out – all the books on filmmaking were very niche and expensive, so it’s much more accessible now and there’s no excuse for not researching something. You should ask questions too, most people will take the time to explain a process; but you have to keep up with it, because it’s constantly changing. Def: How do you stay ahead of the curve and keep learning? JH: I go to any shows that I can – especially BSC each February, which I find great. You can explore new products, some of which are groundbreaking. You have to stay abreast and know what’s out there, and most technical companies will let you try out their latest releases to get the hands-on experience with the product. It’s a good test base for them as well, to see if there are any inherent
YOU’VE GOT TO EMBRACE IT OR search for another job – BUT YOU LIKELY WON’T FIND ONE YOU enjoy as much as this! ”
17
definitionmags
Powered by FlippingBook