CAREERS
Def: What have been the biggest challenges you’ve encountered in your career? JH: Night work and challenging weather are always difficult – with night work, you’re totally reliant on power. If the power goes, unless you have weather cover on a stage, there’s nothing you can do. It can be very satisfying when you see the result, but it’s also stressful; if something goes wrong, you’re trying to fix it in the dark, which isn’t always possible. I’ve had a few disasters on night shoots! Generators have stopped working which can’t be repaired, and then you have to get another one in. Meanwhile, 600 extras and some highly paid Hollywood actors are standing around – nobody can do anything until it’s sorted. Def: What do you regard as your biggest achievements in your career? JH: The first 35mm film I did as a gaffer was the adaptation of 1984 directed by Michael Radford. It was technically incredibly challenging; we used a bleach bypass process which was interesting – I hadn’t seen it before. It was a long time ago, but it’s still a great film. I had studied
© WARNER BROS
1984 in school and it was amazing to see it coming to life with John Hurt and Richard Burton – I’ll never forget it. I’ve done over 70 films now and still get a feeling of satisfaction when I see it on a big screen, or the big ads going up in Leicester Square. Def: What would your advice be to people hoping to follow in your footsteps? JH: Acquire as much knowledge as possible, you never know what you might need in the future. Talk to people and be curious and inquisitive. There’s no substitute for experience and learning the craft well. A time will come when there are no hiding places, and you have to figure things out yourself. Get as much engineering experience as you can; learn about machines and how they work. There are some wonderful resources out there to help you do this. Also, know your colour mixing for LEDs, and make sure you have a good desk operator. Def: What are the biggest challenges on the horizon for the industry?
LIGHTING THE WAY (Clockwise from top) Higgins’ extensive portfolio includes working on Gravity, Mamma Mia!, 1917 and The Bourne Ultimatum
JH: Getting high-quality films and good filmmakers. An obstacle to this is budget – and streaming services are product-hungry. But nobody can deny the overall quality is improving greatly for TV – look at the shows from the sixties and seventies, then compare them to what’s being done today and it’s a world apart. Of course, there was great stuff being done back then, but the consistent standard overall wasn’t there. It is more so now, which is great to see – but we just need to maintain that standard. Def: What are the biggest opportunities? JH: It is becoming more accessible, which is great, and you’re seeing far more women in key roles like director, DOP, production design as a result. That’s a wonderful thing to see and a good sign for the future.
18
DEFINITIONMAGAZINE.COM
Powered by FlippingBook