IEC
#1: From interview [Imaginox, 2010]
BRIAN TUFANO BSC
Born: 1939, Shepherd's Bush, London, UK, as Brian Richard Tufano.
Career: Entered the film industry at age 16 as a page boy at BBC's Lime Grove Studios. 'In those days it was a case of if you don't have a union card, you can't get a job, and if you don't have a job, you can't get a union card.' Nonetheless, the BBC's old-fashioned hierarchical structure did present opportunities to those who were prepared to take them. Tufano wangled himself a job as a trainee projectionist, showing the rushes, and began to go out on night-shoots with the camera crews. He started to make his own documentaries with the cameras and old film stock that budding cineastes were allowed to borrow for free at the weekends. The bigger break came when, after getting a job as a fulltime assistant, he was assigned to 'Panorama'. Suddenly the call came through one Monday morning for a crew to head off urgently to Brussels. Again, serendipity, or to be more accurate on this occasion heavy snow, resulted in Tufano being the only available technician with a handy passport [he still lived nearby]. From then on mostly rooted in documentaries, Tufano's work also spanned everything from 'Z Cars' to 'Andy Pandy'. It was a call 'out of the blue' from director Jack Gold which led to his drama 'break'. 'Jack was about to direct a film for 'Omnibus' which comprised three short stories by A.E. Coppard. Because of the restrictions then of not being allowed to shoot everything on film, it had to be made in a format allowing for a presenter at beginning and end. The trick was to make it so when repeated it'd be able to go out without the presenter.' The result, 'The World of Coppard', was, says Tufano, the first all-on-film fiction drama the BBC made. He identifies this early work as a documentary cameraman as one source of the immediacy and resourcefulness that characterize his later cinematography. A long process of self-education was also involved: studying the work of master cameramen such as Jack Cardiff of 'The Red Shoes' fame, or the early landmarks of the French Nouvelle Vague 'to see where the light was coming from'. Having once watched 'The Sweet Smell of Success' and wondered why British films couldn't look as good, he did have the feeling - when he finally got to take his place behind a feature-film camera - that this was his chance to see if they could.' [From articles by Ben Thompson on the Telegraph.co.uk website, 2001, and Quentin Falk in Fujifilm's Exposure Magazine.]
Ph commercials. Ph music videos, e.g. 'Lust for Life' [a: Iggy Pop; d: Danny Boyle].
Is a regular tutor at the Documentary Direction Dept. and Head of Cinematography [succeeding Ernie Vincze] of the National Film and Television School, UK.
Appeared in 'The Work of a Film Cameraman', an ep [March 1975] of the BBC-tv series 'In Vision', and the tv-doc 'The Making of Middlemarch' [1994; d: Edward Barnes; 29m].
Awards: BAFTA TV Award 'Individual Honour - General' [1966]; 'Emmy' Award [1971-72; shared] for 'The Search for the Nile'; RTS Craft and Design Award [197?] for 'Arnhem: The Story of an Escape'; Apex Award nom [1984] for 'Dreamscape'; BAFTA TV Award 'Best Photography and Lighting' nom [1994] for 'Middlemarch'; BAFTA Film Award nom [2000] for 'Billy Elliot'; British Independent Film Award 'Special Jury Prize' [2002]; BSC ARRI John Alcott Memorial Award [2015].
| FILMS | |
|---|---|
|
1964 |
South Bank [Alan Lovell] b&w; doc/14m; cph: Roger Mayne, a.o. |
|
1968 |
Strip Poker/The Big Switch [Pete Walker] c; 68m; as Richard Scott |
|
1977 |
The Sailor's Return [Jack Gold] c |
|
1978 |
Thank You Very Much - 20 Years of Cliff and the Shadows/Cliff Richard and the Shadows - Thank You Very Much [(uncred) Alan Parker] b&w-c; mus doc + perf/51m; cph: Harvey Harrison, Lou Lavelly, Harry Hart, John Stanier & Simon Ransley; filmed 4 March at the London Palladium |
|
1978 |
The Waterloo Bridge Handicap [Ross Cramer] c; short/21m |
|
1978 |
Quadrophenia [: A Way of Life] [Franc Roddam] c |
|
1979 |
Resting Rough [Nikolas L. Janis] c; short/26m |
|
1979 |
Riding High/Heavy Metal [Ross Cramer] c |
|
1981 |
Blade Runner [Ridley Scott] p/c; co-addph; ph: Jordan Cronenweth |
|
1982 |
The Lords of Discipline [Franc Roddam] c |
|
1983 |
Dreamscape [Joseph Ruben] c; spph: Kevin Kutchaver; efx stage ph: Jerome Seven |
|
1987 |
War Party [Franc Roddam] c; 2uc: Patrick Carey; aph: Roger Lee Smith & Jim Roberson |
|
1989 |
Windprints [David Wicht] c; 2uc: Harmon Cusack |
|
1991 |
Ruby [John Mackenzie] c; 2uc; ph: Phil Méheux |
|
1993 |
Shallow Grave [Danny Boyle] c; spec vfx: Tony Steers |
|
1995 |
Trainspotting [Danny Boyle] c; uwph: Mike Valentine |
|
1995 |
True Blue/Miracle at Oxford [Ferdinand Fairfax] c; addph: Ian Jackson |
|
1996 |
Jump Boy [Menhaj Huda] 16mm-35bu/c; short/11m |
|
1996 |
A Life Less Ordinary [Danny Boyle] s35/c; uwph: Gary Shlifer |
|
1996 |
The MatchMaker [Mark Joffe] p/c; addph Boston; ph: Ellery Ryan |
|
1997 |
The Life of Stuff [Simon Donald] c |
|
1997 |
What Rats Won't Do [Alastair Reid] c |
|
1998 |
Alien Love Triangle [Danny Boyle] c; short/30m; addph: Bob Shipsey; intended as part of the feature film 'The Light Years Trilogy', which didn't materialize |
|
1998 |
Virtual Sexuality [Nick Hurran] c; 2uc: Robert Shipsey |
|
1998 |
East Is East [Damien O'Donnell] c |
|
1999 |
Women Talking Dirty [Coky Giedroyc] c |
|
1999 |
Billy Elliot/Dancer [Stephen Daldry] c |
|
2000 |
The Lido [James Reed] c; short/13m; 2uc: Richard Stewart |
|
2000 |
Late Night Shopping [Saul Metzstein] c |
|
2000 |
Last Orders [Fred Schepisi] s35/c; 2uc: Ernest Vincze |
|
2001 |
Man Alone [Françoise Higson] 16mm/c; short/10m |
|
2001 |
Nothing Is Blue [Polly Steele] c; short/10m |
|
2001 |
Once Upon a Time in the Midlands [Shane Meadows] c |
|
2002 |
Rooftops [Françoise Higson] s16/c; short/15m |
|
2002 |
Egyptian Daze [Menhaj Huda] in development; status unknown |
|
2003 |
Nits [Harry Wootliff] c; short/11m |
|
2003 |
Teeth [Nathan Crouch] c; short/9m |
|
2003 |
Poe Purloined [students] HD/c; short/5m; ph mentor; prod by students during a CILECT Workshop (June/July) |
|
2003 |
Millions [Danny Boyle] c; addph; ph: Anthony Dod Mantle |
|
2004 |
Caffalic Educashun [Bronagh Keegan] DigiBeta/c; short/11m |
|
2004 |
Kidulthood [Menhaj Huda] s35/c; addph: Sean Bobbitt |
|
2005 |
I Could Never Be Your Woman [Amy Heckerling] c; 2uc: Jonathan Harvey |
|
2005 |
Featherhead [Tina Gharavi] HD/c; short/11m |
[Right] with dir Noel Clarke [left] - "Adulthood"
Photo by Cuong Dang
|
2007 |
Adulthood [Noel Clarke] 16mm/c |
|
2008 |
The Fifth Beatle [Vivek J. Tiwary] pre-production; in development since 2005; Tufano joined the film end 2008 |
|
2009 |
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll [Mat Whitecross] s16-35bu (+ D-Cinema)/c; cph: Christopher Ross; 2uc: Brian Fawcett |
|
2010 |
Everywhere and Nowhere [Menhaj Huda] ts (+ D-Cinema)/c |
| TELEVISION | |
|---|---|
|
1963 |
The Long Journey [Philip Donnellan] doc/b&w/45m/16mm; c.asst; ph: Peter Bartlett; for BBC-tv (1964) |
|
1964 |
West Is West ['Beyond the Missouri', 'The First Americans', 'Cowboys, Woolies and Sod-Busters', 'Small Town: Laramie' & 'Rodeo' dir by Tim Slessor] 5-part doc series; for BBC2-tv |
|
1964 |
Time Out [various] doc/studio series (weekly program on the expanding world of leisure), 1964-65; cph: Eddie Best, Butch Calderwood, a.o.; for BBC2-tv |
|
1965 |
Cluff [ep #11 'The Pensioner' dir by Terence Williams] 13-part police series; for BBC1-tv |
|
1965 |
Fourth Girl Wanted [prod: John Percival] doc/b&w/30m; ep BBC2-tv series 'Man Alive' |
|
1965 |
Not in Our Class, Dear! [prod: John Percival] doc/b&w/30m; ep BBC2-tv series 'Man Alive' (1966) |
|
1965 |
A Few Castles in Spain [Kevin Billington] doc/b&w/55m; for BBC1-tv (1966) |
|
1966 |
Isadora, the Biggest Dancer in the World [Ken Russell] docudrama/b&w/65m; cph: Dick Bush; for BBC1-tv |
|
1966 |
Marriage Under Stress: The Breaking Point [prod: Tom Conway] doc/b&w/30m; ep #2 of 3-part ep BBC2-tv series 'Man Alive' (1967); other ph: Colin Waldeck (ep #1) & John Pike (ep #3) |
|
1967 |
The World of Coppard [Jack Gold] tvm/b&w (3 seg); ep BBC1-tv arts series 'Omnibus' |
|
1968 |
Mrs. Lawrence Will Look After It [John Mackenzie] tvm/75m; ep BBC1-tv series 'The Wednesday Play' |
|
1969 |
Blodwen, Home from Rachel's Marriage [Alan Cooke] tvm/b&w/75m; ep BBC1-tv series 'The Wednesday Play' |
|
1969 |
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Dream Divided [Fred Burnley] dram doc/70m; ep BBC1-tv arts series 'Omnibus' |
|
1969 |
Take Three Girls [ep #1 'Stop Acting' dir by Tristan de Vere Cole & #2 'Devon Violets' dir by John Matthews] 24-part series, 1969-71; 1st season, 1969-70 |
|
1969 |
Season of the Witch [Desmond McCarthy] tvm/70m; ep BBC1-tv series 'The Wednesday Play' (1970) |
|
1970 |
All My Own Army [Michael Tuchner] tvm/b&w/30m; ep BBC2-tv series 'Thirty-Minute Theatre' |
|
1970 |
Papillons [Anthony Wilkinson] tvm/75m; for BBC2-tv |
|
1970 |
Osterley Park House [Jamila Patten] mus perf/35m; ep BBC2-tv series 'Music on 2', 1965-73 |
|
1970 |
The Lie [Alan Bridges] tvm/90m; ep series 'The Largest Theatre in the World' (part of BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today') |
|
1970 |
A Requiem for Modigliani [Fred Burnley] tvm/75m; ep BBC1-tv arts series 'Omnibus' |
|
1970 |
Sense and Sensibility [David Giles] 4-part miniseries; c.op; for BBC2-tv (1971) |
|
1970 |
Robin Redbreast [James MacTaggart] tvm/75m; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' |
|
1971 |
Orkney [James MacTaggart] tvm (3 seg: 'A Time to Keep', 'The Whaler's Return' & 'Celia'); ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' |
|
1971 |
Walt, King of the Dumper [Jack Gold] tvm/30m; ep BBC2-tv series 'Thirty-Minute Theatre' |
|
1971 |
The Search for the Nile [ep #1 'The Dream of the Wanderer' dir by Fred Burnley (FB) & Christopher Ralling (CR), #2 'Discovery and Betrayal' dir by FB, #3 'The Secret Fountains' dir by Richard Marquand (RM), #4 'The Great Debate' dir by CR, #5 'Find Livingstone' dir by CR & #6 'Conquest and Death' dir by RM] 6-part docudrama/16mm; cph: John Baker (#3-6); for BBC2-tv |
|
1971 |
Still Waters [James MacTaggart] tvm/55m; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' (1972) |
|
1971 |
Stocker's Copper [Jack Gold] tvm/85m/16mm; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' (1972) |
|
1972 |
An Empire in Art [Christopher Martin] doc/50m; for BBC2-tv |
|
1972 |
If Britain Had Fallen [prod: David C. Rea & Christopher La Fontaine] 3-part doc: 'Operation Sea Lion' (48m), 'Life Under the Occupation' (56m) & 'The New Order' (62m); cph: John McGlashan; for BBC1-tv |
|
1972 |
Follow the Yellow Brick Road [Alan Bridges] tvm/68m; ep 8-part BBC2-tv series 'The Sextet' |
|
1972 |
The General's Day [John Gorrie] tvm/60m; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' |
|
1972 |
The Gangster Show - The Resistible Rise of Arturo UI [Jack Gold] tvm/105m; for BBC2-tv |
|
1972 |
The Bouncing Boy [Maurice Hatton] tvm/70m; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' |
|
1972 |
Speech Day [John Goldschmidt] tvm/50m; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' (1973) |
|
1973 |
Morecambe and Wise - Fools Rush In [prod: Ronald Smedley] doc/49m; ep BBC1-tv arts series 'Omnibus' |
|
1973 |
Blooming Youth [Leslie Blair] tvm/75m; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' |
|
1973 |
The Girls in Their Summer Dresses [Clive Rees] tvm/25m; ep #286 of BBC2-tv series 'Thirty-Minute Theatre' |
|
1973 |
On the High Road [Karel Reisz] tvm/47m; ep #22 (item #4) of BBC2-tv series 'Full House' |
|
1973 |
The Withered Arm [Desmond Davis] tvm/50m; ep #1 of 6-part BBC2-tv series 'Wessex Tales' |
|
1973 |
An Imaginative Woman [Gavin Millar] tvm/50m; ep #4 of 6-part BBC2-tv series 'Wessex Tales' |
|
1973 |
Nureyev [Lindsay Anderson; prod: Margaret Dale] doc/50m; ep BBC1-tv arts series 'Omnibus' (1974) |
|
1974 |
The Great Orchestras [ep 'The State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the USSR' dir by Ian Engelmann] mus doc/perf/50m; for BBC2-tv |
|
1974 |
Steven [Brian Parker] tvm/75m; for BBC2-tv |
|
1974 |
The Enemy Within [Leslie Blair] tvm/75m; for BBC2-tv |
|
1974 |
Dial M for Murder [ep #3 'The Vineyard' dir by Gerald Blake] 13-part drama series; for BBC1-tv |
|
1974 |
The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil [John Mackenzie] tvm; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' |
|
1974 |
Robinson Crusoe [James MacTaggart] tvm/100m; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play of the Month' |
|
1974 |
Sunset Across the Bay [Stephen Frears] tvm/70m/16mm; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' (1975) |
|
1974 |
The Evacuees [Alan Parker] tvm//74m/16mm; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' (1975) |
|
1975 |
Taste for Adventure [ep (29m) 'Trapeze, a Flying Start' prod by Geoff Dunlop] 12-part (x 30m) doc series; for BBC1-tv |
|
1975 |
The Five-Minute Films [Mike Leigh] 5 films (x 5m): 'Afternoon', 'Probation', 'A Light Snack', 'The Birth of the Goalie of the 2001 FA Cup Team' & 'Old Chums'; aired by BBC2-tv in September 1982 |
|
1975 |
Autumn Ballet [Alan Benson] ballet/15m; cph: Tim Sesemann; for BBC2-tv |
|
1975 |
Daft As a Brush [Stephen Frears] tvm/75m/16mm; for BBC2-tv |
|
1975 |
Moll Flanders [Donald McWhinnie] 2-part tvm; for BBC2-tv |
|
1975 |
Three Men in a Boat [Stephen Frears] tvm/65m; for BBC2-tv |
|
1975 |
The Liver Birds [Christmas Special 'In Every Street' dir by Douglas Argent] 86-part sitcom series, 1969-79 & 1996; for BBC1-tv |
|
1976 |
Play Things [Stephen Frears] tvm/60m; ep BBC2-tv series 'Playhouse' |
|
1976 |
Blue Peter Special Assignment [ep #5 'Keats at Wentworth Place' dir by Harry Cowdy] 6-part doc series; for BBC1-tv |
|
1976 |
The Release [Rex Bloomstein] doc/80m; ep BBC2-tv doc series 'Inside Story' |
|
1976 |
Rogue Male [Clive Donner] tvm/100m/16mm; for BBC2-tv |
|
1976 |
Arnhem: The Story of an Escape [Clive Rees] tvm/85m; for BBC2-tv |
|
1977 |
The Price of Coal [Ken Loach] 2-part ('Meet the People' & 'Back to Reality') tvm; ep BBC1-tv series 'Play for Today' |
|
1977 |
Rehearsal [Brian Tufano] tvm/30m; ep BBC2-tv series 'Centre Play' |
|
1977 |
Darwin's Dream [prod: Martin Freeth] doc/80m; special for BBC2-tv series 'Horizon' |
|
1977 |
Flamenco - The World of Paco Peña [Herbert Chappell] mus perf/48m; ep BBC2-tv series 'The Lively Arts' |
|
1977 |
She Fell Among Thieves [Clive Donner] tvm/80m; ep BBC2-tv series 'Play of the Week' (1978) |
|
1980 |
The Wall [Robert Markowitz] tvm |
|
1981 |
[Agatha Christie's] Murder Is Easy [Claude Whatham] tvm |
|
1985 |
Trapped in Silence/Silent Rage [Michael Tuchner] tvm |
|
1988 |
The Endless Game [Bryan Forbes] 2-part tvm |
|
1989 |
Riding the Dog [Carina Cooper] doc/48m; for BBC2-tv |
|
1990 |
The World of Jewish Humor [Rex Bloomstein] perf/?m; cph: Ted Haimes, Roger Grange & Michael Fash; ep PBS-tv series 'Great Performances' |
|
1991 |
The Longest Hatred [: The History of Anti-Semitism] [Rex Bloomstein] 3-part doc series; cph: Simon Kossoff, Mike Eley, Mike Spragg, a.o.; for Thames-tv |
|
1992 |
Mr. Wroe's Virgins [Danny Boyle] 4-part miniseries |
|
1993 |
Middlemarch [Anthony Page] 6-part miniseries |
|
1994 |
Common As Muck [Metin Hüseyin & David Evans] 12-part series, 1994 & 1997 |
|
1994 |
The Choir [Ferdinand Fairfax] 5-part miniseries |
|
1995 |
Silent Witness [ep #1-2 'Buried Lies' dir by Harry Hook, #3-4 'Long Days, Short Nights' dir by Mike Barker & #5-6 'Darkness Visible' dir by Noella Smith] series, 1996-present; 1st series, 1996 (4x 2-part tvm); other ph: Witold Stok |
|
1996 |
Element of Doubt [Christopher Morahan] tvm |
|
1997 |
Getting Hurt [Ben Bolt] tvm; left prod and was replaced by Richard Greatrex |
|
1998 |
Tube Tales [seg #2 (7m) 'Horny' dir by Stephen Hopkins, #3 (11m) 'Grasshopper' dir by Menhaj Huda & #5 (10m) 'Bone' dir by Ewan McGregor] 9-part series; other ph: Sue Gibson & David Johnson; for British Sky Broadcasting; also released as a feature-length film (85m) |
|
1999 |
Bristol Spotlights [ep 'Seven Hills' (16mm/3m) dir by Luke Watson, 'Melt' (3m) dir by Tania Díez, 'The Gorals Do Bristol' dir by Philippa Lowthorpe & 'Last Summer' dir by Emma Wass] 5-part series of shorts; for Channel 4-tv |
|
2007 |
My Zinc Bed [Anthony Page] tvm; 2uc: Jonathan Harvey |
|
2008 |
Gymnast/Road to Glory [Anthony Wonke] c; doc/89m; 2uc; ph: Paul Otter; filmed January-July; premiered on BBC2-tv in 2011 |
| TELEVISION AS DIRECTOR | |
|---|---|
|
1977 |
Rehearsal [+ ph] see Television |
|
1977 |
A Little Outing [tvm/30m] ph: Tony Pierce-Roberts; ep BBC2-tv series 'Premiere' |
