From interview [for the BSC]

 

   


BEN DAVIS   BSC

 

Born: 1961, London, UK, as Benjamin V. Davis.

Career: Started as a camera trainee in the US and then in the UK on the movie 'Insignificance'. Went on to work on the camera floor at Samuelsons. On obtaining his union card he became a clapper-loader, then a focus puller working with doph Billy Williams, Douglas Slocombe, Roger Deakins, Harvey Harrison, a.o. Was c.op working with doph Simon Chaudoir [on music videos]. He started ph short films and then moved into commercials for several years shooting high profile campaigns for BMW, Adidas, a.o.

Ph commercials dir by Danny Kleinman [for Levi's], Malcolm Venville [for MasterCard, Nikon, a.o.], Guy Grundy [for Sony], Steve Reeves [for British Telecom], Paul Shearer [for Volvo], a.o. Ph music videos.


 FILMS

1997

Sleeping with the Fishes [Justin Chadwick] c; short/13m

1998

Words from My Father [Gary Amer] c; short/12m

1998

A Little Faith [Tom Tyrwhitt] c; short/16m; 2uc: Jasper Fforde

1998

That Certain Something [Malcolm Venville] ?; short/?m

2001

Miranda [Marc Munden] s35/c; 2uc: Steve Parker

2003

Layer Cake/L4yer Cake [Matthew Vaughn] J-D-C Scope/c; 2uc: Steve Parker; aph: John Marzano; uwph: Mark Silk

2004

Imagine Me & You [Ol Parker] s35/c

2004

All the Invisible Children [seg (16m) 'Jonathan' dir by Jordan & Ridley Scott] c; 7 seg; cph: James Whitaker; other ph: Philippe Brelot (seg dir by Mehdi Charef), Milorad Glusica (seg dir by Emir Kusturica), Cliff Charles (seg dir by Spike Lee), Vittorio Storaro (seg dir by Stefano Veneruso), Toca Seabra (seg dir by Kátia Lund) & Zeng Nianping (seg dir by John Woo); filmed August 2004-May 2005

2005

Feeder [Camille Griffin] s16/c; short/10m

2005

Virgin Territory [David Leland] c

2005

Hannibal Rising [Peter Webber] s35/c; 2uc: Shaun O'Dell

2006

Stardust [Matthew Vaughn] p (+ D-Cinema)/c; aph: John Marzano

2007

Incendiary/Blown Apart [Sharon Maguire] p/b&w (archive)-c; add unit ph: Howard Atherton

2007

The Tonto Woman [Daniel Barber] c; short/35m

2007

Franklyn [Gerald McMorrow] s35/c; addph: Rob Hardy

2008

Thor/The Mighty Thor [Matthew Vaughn] scheduled as ph during pre-production; dir by Kenneth Branagh and ph by Haris Zambarloukos in 2010

2008

Kick-Ass [Matthew Vaughn] p+s35-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc (+ 2ud): Tim Maurice-Jones; aph: Mark Hryma

2009

The Debt [John Madden] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; remake of film (2007; dir: Assaf Bernstein; ph: Giora Bejach)

2009

Tamara Drewe [Stephen Frears] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c

2010

The Rite [Mikael Håfström] p (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc (Hungary): Tim Wooster; ph Chicago: Jonathan Freeman

2010

X-Men: First Class [Matthew Vaughn] scheduled as ph, but replaced by Ben Seresin, who was replaced by John Mathieson

2010

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [John Madden] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; London ph: Mike Eley

2011

Wrath of the Titans [Jonathan Liebesman] s35+RED Epic-to-35mm (+ IMAX-70bu [also 3-D version] & D-Cinema [also 3-D version])/c; addph (reshoots): Oliver Wood; 2uc: Harvey Harrison; aph: John Marzano (Wales), Adam Dale & Hans Bjerno (Patagonia)

 

[Cap] with Martin McDonagh [right] - "Seven Psychopaths"

Photo by Chuck Zlotnick

 

2011

Seven Psychopaths [Martin McDonagh] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; addph: Karl Walter Lindenlaub; filmed 2011-12

2012

I Give It a Year [Dan Mazer] HD (ARRI ALEXA Plus)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Julian Morson

2012

A Long Way Down [Pascal Chaumeil] HD (ARRI ALEXA)/c

2013

Before I Go to Sleep [Rowan Joffe] s35+HD (Phantom HD)/c; aph: John Marzano

2013

Guardians of the Galaxy [James Gunn] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT Plus)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema [also 3-D version])/c; addph (reshoots in March 2014): Gabriel Beristáin; 2uc: Jonathan Taylor (+ 2ud) & Mike Brewster; aph: John Marzano

2014

Avengers: Age of Ultron [Joss Whedon] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT + Blackmagic Cinema Camera + GoPro HD Hero3)+RED Epic-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema [also 3-D version])/c; uncred 2uc (+ 2ud): John Mahaffie; 2uc: John Gamble; aph: Jeremy Braben; edge ph South Korea (+ c.op 'b' cam): Greg Baldi

2014

Genius [Michael Grandage] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT/p)/c

2015

Doctor Strange [Scott Derrickson] HD (ARRI ALEXA 65, XT Plus & Mini + Phantom Flex 4K)+s35-to-D-Cinema (scope [also 3-D version])/c; 2uc: Fraser Taggart; ph New York tiling unit: Jack Donnelly (array) & Jim McMillan; aph: Phil Pastuhov (New York), Brian Heller (New York tiling unit) & John Marzano (Nepal); filmed 2015-16

2016

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri [Martin McDonagh] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT/p)-to-D-Cinema (scope)/c

2017

Dumbo [Tim Burton] HD (ARRI ALEXA 65)/c; aph: Jeremy Braben

2018

Captain Marvel [Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck] pre-production

 

 TELEVISION

2003

To Kill the King - Playing Macbeth/Macbeth - The King Is Dead [Justin Chadwick] dram doc/20m; ep #7 of 9-part series 'Shakespeare Shorts'

2012

Masters of Sex/Masters & Johnson [pilot dir by John Madden] 12-part series/HD, 2013; for Showtime-tv

 

 MISCELLANEOUS

1984

Insignificance [Nicolas Roeg] camera trainee; ph: Peter Hannan

1986

Hero [: The Official Film of the 1986 FIFA World Cup] [Tony Maylam; doc] co-c.asst; ph: Michael Davis, Alan Hewison, a.o.

1987

Cyndi Lauper in Paris [Andy Morahan; concert film] co-clapper/loader; ph: Daniel Pearl

1987

Eat the Rich [Peter Richardson] 2nd c.asst; ph: Witold Stok

1987

Paperhouse [Bernard Rose] co-clapper/loader; ph: Mike Southon

1988

The Lair of the White Worm [Ken Russell] c.asst; ph: Dick Bush

1988

Rush Live/Rush: A Show of Hands [Larry Jordan; concert film] co-clapper/loader; ph: Crescenzo Notarile

1988

The Rainbow [Ken Russell] co-c.asst; ph: Billy Williams

1988

Mountains of the Moon [Bob Rafelson] co-clapper/loader; ph: Roger Deakins

1989

Lenny Live and Unleashed [Andy Harries; perf film] clapper/loader; ph: Peter Sinclair

1989

Air America [Roger Spottiswoode] co-clapper/loader; ph: Roger Deakins

1990

Rolling Stones - At the Max [loc dir: Roman Kroitor, Julien Temple, a.o.; concert film/IMAX] co-2nd c.asst (as Ben Davies); ph: David Douglas & Andrew Kitzanuk

1991

London Kills Me [Hanif Kureishi] clapper/loader; ph: Ed Lachman

1996

Hard Men [J.K. Amalou] c.op; ph: Nick Sawyer

1996

Wilde [Brian Gilbert] co-add c.op; ph: Martin Fuhrer

1998

Diana: A Tribute to the People's Princess/Diana: The People's Princess [Gabrielle Beaumont; tvm] co-c.op; ph: Michael J. Davis