FRANK TIDY

#1: 2003

#2: 1996

FRANK TIDY

Born: 17 May 1932, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK.

Died: 27 January 2017, ?, Kent, UK.

Career: Started working as a stop-motion cameraman for an animation studio in London, UK. Formed Valley Films - with Roger Woodburn & doph Peter Biziou - in 1965. Became active as doph of television commercials.

Ph commercials in Great Britain [ca. 150 dir by Ridley Scott] and in Canada [for The Partners' Film Company].

Was a member of the BSC.

Awards: BSC Award nom [1978] & BAFTA Film Award nom [1978] for 'The Duellists'; 'Genie' Award nom [1986] for 'One Magic Christmas'.

'The Duellists' [1976]: 'Spaced evenly throughout the film, the pair's artfully choreographed showdowns are staged in some of the most gorgeous settings ever committed to film. Critic Pauline Kael praised 'The Duellists' for its "Géricault-like compositions," and cinematographer Frank Tidy's lighting would earn the approval of Vermeer himself. During his excellent audio commentary on this DVD, [director Ridley] Scott admits that he operated the camera himself, but nevertheless maintains that Tidy's contributions were equally important. Indeed, he and Tidy had worked together on scores of commercials, so the cameraman was well acquainted with Scott's cinematic preferences. "I had no concerns about how much [of the imagery] was in the shadows," Scott notes. "Frank knew that this was what I liked... I don't mind if windows blow out... [and] I don't mind sometimes if [the frame] goes totally dark. Frank just really knew how far to go." At another juncture, Scott huffs that some critics found the film "too beautiful" and "too gauzed," even though no gauze or diffusion was used during the shoot. In fact, the filmmakers achieved the striking look by staging scenes in authentic locations that they strategically enhanced with grad filters and liberal doses of smoke. Scott also feels that the production benefitted from "overcast but beautiful weather," noting that mist, precipitation and indirect sunlight enabled his team to create dramatic but naturalistic moods. He concedes that working in variable conditions occasionally affected shot-to-shot continuity, but is quick to add that neither he nor Tidy worried about this much. "By the time it's been cut together and adjusted and graded, most of the time you don't even notice," he asserts.' [Stephen Pizzello in 'American Cinematographer', March 2003.]

Obituary: Frank Tidy, the veteran British cinematographer who shot Ridley Scott's 'The Duellists' and five films for director Andrew Davis, has died. He was 84. Tidy died Friday at a nursing home in Kent, England, after a battle with dementia, his son Patrick told The Hollywood Reporter.

Tidy served as Scott's cinematographer on hundreds of commercials for RSA, the director's U.K. production company with his brother Tony Scott, starting in the 1960s. Tidy's first feature credit came on the war drama 'The Duellists'.

Tidy received a BAFTA Film Award nomination for his work.

Tidy first collaborated with Davis on the Chuck Norris action film 'Code of Silence' and then partnered with the American director on 'The Package', starring Gene Hackman; 'Under Siege', toplined by Steven Seagal; 'Steal Big Steal Little', starring Andy Garcia; and Keanu Reeves' 'Chain Reaction'.

A native of Liverpool, Tidy began his career as a stop-motion cameraman for an animation studio in London. In 1965, he formed Valley Films with director Roger Woodburn and cinematographer Peter Biziou, and they worked extensively on commercials.

His son Patrick is a veteran assistant director in Hollywood. Survivors also include his daughter Katharine and grandchildren Sean, Ellen and Amy. [From obituary by Mike Barnes in 'The Hollywood Reporter', 1/30/2017.]

FILMS
1963	From Russia with Love [Terence Young] c; uncred titles ph; ph: Ted Moore
1976	The Duellists [Ridley Scott] c; c.op: R. Scott; see above
1979	The Lucky Star/Le belle étoile [Max Fischer] c; filmed 1979-80
1980	The Grey Fox [Phillip Borsos] c; addph: Tim Sale
1982	Nursery Rhymes [Mike Milburn-Foster] c; live action + anim/60m
1982	Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone/Adventures in the Creep Zone/Road Gangs [Lamont Johnson] 35mm flat (1.85:1) & 35mm 3-D (2.35:1)/c
1984	The Mean Season [Phillip Borsos] p/c
1984	Code of Silence [Andrew Davis] c
1985	One Magic Christmas [Phillip Borsos] c
1985	Sweet Liberty [Alan Alda] p/c; addph: George Silano
1986	John and the Missus [Gordon Pinsent] c
1986	Hot Pursuit [Steven Lisberger] c; addph: Arledge Armenaki; + small part
1987	The Raggedy Rawney [Bob Hoskins] c; 2uc: Petr Hojda
1988	Slipstream [Steven M. Lisberger] c; 2uc: Terry Cole; model unit ph: Leslie Dear; motion control ph: Denis Lowe
1988	The Package [Andrew Davis] c; 2uc: George Kohut & Jimmy Blanford
1990	The Butcher's Wife [Terry Hughes] c; + small part

1991	Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot [Roger Spottiswoode] c; 2uc: Ray Delamotte (Santa Rosa) & Arthur Botham (L.A.)
1992	Under Siege [Andrew Davis] c; 2uc: Gary Holt; aph: Frank Holgate
1993	The Fugitive [Andrew Davis] c; ph b&w flashback footage; ph: Michael Chapman
1994	Wagons East! [Peter Markle] c; 2uc: Angel Goded & Henner Hofmann
1994	Getting Away with Murder [Harvey Miller] c
1994	Steal Big, Steal Little [Andrew Davis] c; addph: Haskell Wexler; aph: Frank Holgate
1996	Chain Reaction/Dead Drop [Andrew Davis] c; 2uc: Michael A. Jones; aph: Frank Holgate; vfx ph: Erik Nash & Russ Lyster
1996	Hoodlum [Bill Duke] c; 2uc: William Birch
2003	Some Things That Stay/Run Away Home [Gail Harvey] c

TELEVISION
1981	The Phoenix/War of the Wizards [ep #1 'In Search of Mira' dir by Douglas Hickox] pilot (1981; ph: Don Birnkrant) + 4-part series, 1982
1987	April Morning [Delbert Mann] tvm; 2uc: Pierre Mignot; ep #270 'Hallmark Hall of Fame'-series
1989	Final Notice [Steven H. Stern] pilot; for USA Network
1989	Sorry, Wrong Number [Tony Wharmby] tvm
1989	Personals [Steven H. Stern] tvm
1989	The Kissing Place [Tony Wharmby] tvm
1990	The Last Best Year [John Erman] tvm
1990	Hitler's Daughter [James A. Contner] tvm
1992	Through the Eyes of a Killer [Peter Markle] tvm
1992	The Women of Windsor [Steven H. Stern] 2-part tvm; 2uc UK; ph: Laszlo George
1992	Medicine River [Stuart Margolin] tvm
1993	Shattered Trust/Conspiracy of Silence: The Shari Karney Story] [Bill Corcoran] tvm
1993	Black Fox [Steven H. Stern] tvm; filmed July-September; aired in 1995
1993	Black Fox: The Price of Peace [Steven H. Stern] tvm; filmed July-September; aired in 1995
1993	Black Fox: Good Men and Bad [Steven H. Stern] tvm; filmed July-September; aired in 1995
1993	One More Mountain [Dick Lowry] tvm
1994	She Led Two Lives [Bill Corcoran] tvm
1995	The Boys Next Door [John Erman] tvm; ep #293 'Hallmark Hall of Fame'-series
1996	A Holiday for Love/Christmas in My Hometown [Jerry London] tvm
1997	[Ken Follett's] The Third Twin [Tom McLoughlin] 2-part tvm
1998	Dead Husbands/Last Man on the List [Paul Shapiro] tvm
1998	My Father's Shadow: The Sam Sheppard Story/Death in the Shadows [Peter Levin] tvm
2000	Jewel [Paul Shapiro] tvm
2000	The Christmas Secret/Flight of the Reindeer [Ian Barry] tvm