KODAK: Shooting the Movies

Richard Greatrex, BSC (British Society of Cinematographers), has received wide praise for his work on the on the Golden-Globe winning romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love. This is his first Academy Award nomination. Greatrex's other feature film credits include Blue Juice, War Requiem, A Foreign Field, and For Queen and Country.

Speaking of Shakespeare in Love, Greatrex says, "The story had very strong elements of theatricality about it. And lots of comedic aspects as well. We wanted the background foundation of the film to have a strong realistic look. So especially in the theater interior, I was very clear it be lit naturally. Those circular theaters were open to the daylight anyway, responding to the movement of the sun and different kinds of weather.

"The other consideration that John Madden (the director) had was that he wanted it to feel as gentle as possible. John is very keen on seeing people's faces and seeing into their eyes. He feels that that helps the definition of the characters. So I always made sure that you could see people's eyes and that they weren't falling away into darkness.

"We used Kodak film; generally the Kodak Vision 500T 5279 stock. It has a gentle look that I preferred. And sticking to the same stock gives you the same grain structure throughout the film."