Publications

British Cinematographer Magazine

Ongoing

British Cinematographer is Europe’s No.1 cinematography magazine, with a growing worldwide audience. Encompassing the beauty of tradition, as well as the shock of the new, British Cinematographer focuses on the art and craft of cinematographers and the technologies they use during production and post-production.

Preserving the Vision

Ongoing

BSC EXPO 2022 SEES THE LAUNCH OF OUR BOOK


PRESERVING THE VISION


Edited and compiled by Phil Méheux BSC and James Friend ASC BSC,

containing over 600 pages featuring the history of the BSC with
photographs and biographies of all members past and present, plus
a selection of their major credits and awards since

the BSC inauguration in January 1949.


BSC Member Price: £75.00 Non-Member Price: £85.00


All pro
fits in aid of The Film and TV Charity


The book can be ordered direct 
from the BSC office by contacting helen@bscine.com

Tim Palmer BSC - Cinematography and Lighting for Television

December 5, 2024

Drawing from author Tim Palmer's 30 years of experience working as a cinematographer for award-winning drama series including Killing Eve, Bad Sisters, and Line of Duty, this book is the go-to guide on how to light just about any scene a cinematographer may face when shooting a TV show.

Focusing on lighting scenarios suitable for the small screen, the book is thematically organised into night and day, exteriors and interiors, and special situations including magic hour, candlelight and firelight, moonlight, torchlight, vehicle interiors, and green/blue screen, as well as providing examples from within the studio for each of these settings. Using the latest technology and developments in the practice, Palmer illustrates how cinematographers can effectively use lighting within a variety of situations. Palmer works through each example by illustrating and describing the setup with the corresponding finished film frames to show the final effect of the lighting achieved so cinematographers can easily apply and translate it to their own work.

Including practical advice for working in the industry and tips for low-budget and student settings, this is an accessible and creative guide to producing visually compelling footage that translates the script to the screen. Ideal for the professional cinematographer and advanced students of cinematography looking to develop their skills.

Cannes Uncut

April 24, 2024

By Richard Blanshard

When 22-year-old photographer Richard Blanshard arrived at the Cannes Film Festival in 1976, he had no idea that he would become an official photographer for the UK and US film industry for the next two decades. His first assignment was to photograph Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly as they promoted their movie That's Entertainment, Part II. It was to be the first of many.

What would be unthinkable today, Blanshard had unfettered access to the stars as they worked, partied and relaxed throughout their time at Cannes. His photographs were designed to document both candid, personal moments together with glitz and glamour to create international publicity.

Featured within are many of the great and established of the ‘Golden Years’ of Hollywood at a time when they mixed with the upcoming stars of the era.

Today, the only images from Cannes come from the red carpet. Through this remarkable collection, Blanshard lifts the lid on what really happened behind the scenes at the world’s most iconic film festival. In an age where actors and actresses are ever mindful of their reputations, we’ll never see another collection quite like it.

The book is available to pre order on Amazon UK and on Barnes and Noble in the US
 

The Art of Film

June 15, 2022

The Art of Film

What do On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Great Muppet Caper have in common - Terry Ackland-Snow!
In The Art of Film, Terry lifts the lid on his extraordinary career. With over 200 images, including set sketches and design plans, this is a book no film aficionado should be without!
Terry Ackland-Snow has worked on film sets since he was 18 and has been the Chair of the British Film Designers Guild and an adjudicator for the BAFTAS. Since retiring in 2001, Terry has turned his hand to teaching, setting up Film Design International at Pinewood Studios to share his expert knowledge with the next generation of film designers.
Wendy Laybourn has worked in the film industry since the 1970s and now spends her time trying to spread her extensive knowledge as far and wide as possible.
Acknowledgements
Robson Green
There is no substitute for experience. I’ve had the privilege and honour to have worked alongside Terry Ackland-Snow for many years. Not only is he a prince among men and a close friend, he is also the design equivalent of Lionel Messi when it comes to creating a world and an environment for actors to do our stuff.
 Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli:
Terry’s first job for us was Draughtsman for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969 and several years later, in 1987, we were lucky to work with him again as an Art Director on location for The Living Daylights, working with the late Production Designer, Peter Lamont.  
We are delighted that Terry’s extensive career has led him to share his film-making passion through his courses at Pinewood Studios, training our next generation of Art Department creatives.

Amazon Link - The Art of Film: Working on James Bond, Aliens, Batman and More: Amazon.co.uk: Ackland-Snow, Terry, Laybourn, Wendy: 9780750997423: Books

Check the Gate

January 21, 2020

CHECK THE GATE
Memoirs of Harvey Harrison BSC
 
For over fifty years Harvey Harrison has been in the film industry, starting at the bottom as a Tea Boy working his way up through the ranks, and ending his career as a Director/Director of Photography.
 
He’s travelled the world many times, witnessed so many experiences of life and been through dozens of highs and lows - mostly highs.
 
There are many tales and stories of the inside of film making, the stars and celebrities and the good humour of all those behind the camera - there is never a dull moment.
 
Films, commercials, sports, Olympic Games, FIFA World Cups, rock concerts, world food, danger, travel and the odd drink - what’s not to like?
 
£25 + postage & packing

Overseas - postage on request
 
Contact to purchase - Check the Gate

The Art of Illusion - By Terry Ackland -Snow and Wendy Laybourn

August 25, 2017

Film production is a highly creative and collaborative industry, full of multi-skilled artists and craftsmen. The fast-moving pace of technology makes it hard to keep abreast of current practices in production design. However, the ethos and skills behind filmmaking remain the same. In The Art of Illusion, renowned Art Director Terry Ackland-Snow shares his passion and knowledge of traditional film design from over fifty years of industry experience, using real-life case studies from some of the UK's most iconic films, including Batman, Labyrinth, the James Bond franchise and The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Additional material includes:

  • The responsibilities of the art department and the wider film crew
  • Set design and construction
  • Scouting and working on location
  • Working with camera angles and perspective
  • Technical exercises designed to enhance draughting skills

Featuring over 100 original sketches, as well as rare behind-the-scenes photographs, storyboards and artwork, this book is exquisitely illustrated throughout, demonstrating the skills and techniques of film design with stunning intricacy.

"To any film student, this book is a must read. Terry's experience is immense." John Glenn, Director of five James Bond films

RRP: £18.99 Site Price: £15.19

E-Book Edition: £16.99 (incl. VAT)

A Passion for Plankton - by Peter Parks

August 25, 2017

For many years, friends and colleagues have tried to persuade me to write a book about the subject that has always interested and inspired me the most, the world of open ocean drifters, Plankton. Who on earth, though, would ever want to read a book about things you can hardly see?

More recently, however, I ventured to suggest to someone steeped in the world of wildlife publishing, whose opinion I greatly respect, the concept of combining an undeniably self indulgent autobiographical account of a life that has been both fulfilling, eventful and enjoyable, in combination with a survey of what most fascinates me about that extraordinary drifting oceanic community.

Intended as a brief summary of what 57 years of film and film making in a field seldom countenanced by any sane individual, this two and a half year, self-imposed sentence of computer-designed and enabled assembly and exhilarating, if unpredictable journey from childhood to the dizzying heights of 3-D Imax Wildlife production, Life on Sir David’s Earth, and a slew of weird and wonderful special effects assignments for Hollywood, via the lifelong passion for a world seldom ever seen, never before fully documented, and yet today so incredibly important and relevant, (if we humble mortals are to survive, for more than a century or two more, on this planet), eventually became a two-book, boxed set, 950 pages long, 4,000 full-colour image account, unlikely to be even thumbed, let alone fully read.

For further information about ordering a copy please contact: office@bscine.com 

Shooting 007

March 10, 2016

In Shooting 007, beloved cameraman and director of photography Alec Mills BSC, a veteran of seven James Bond movies, tells the inside story of his twenty years of filming cinema's most famous secret agent. Among many humorous and touching anecdotes, Mills reveals how he became an integral part of the Bond family as a young camera operator on 1963's On Her Majesty's Secret Service, how he bore the brunt of his old friend Roger Moore's legendary on-set bantering, and how he rose to become the director of photography during Timothy Dalton's tenure as 007. Mills also looks back on a career that took in Return of the Jedi on film and The Saint on television with wit and affection, and Shooting 007 contains many of his and Eon Productions' unpublished behind-the-scenes photographs compiled over a lifetime of filmmaking. Featuring many of the film industry's biggest names, this book will be a must have for both the James Bond and British film history aficionado.

Outstanding Stills

February 10, 2016

Please contact us to purchase this title.     The cost is £40 + £5.50 for standard parcel delivery.

  "It is obvious to say that they are artists with light and that we could not have great films without them, but I’m particularly delighted that this splendid book bears testament to that fact." - KENNETH BRANAGH

"Over the years, members of the BSC have garnered no less than twenty two American Academy Awards, thirty four Academy Nominations and twenty six British Academy Awards for outstanding photographic achievements." - ALEX THOMSON BSC

They say that every picture tells a story so there are quite literally hundreds of stories behind this stunning collection of stills from behind the camera.

This is a unique working history of the British Film Industry and, in particular, the British Society of Cinematographers formed in 1949 "to promote and encourage the highest standards possible in the art and craft of motion picture photography and the exchange of ideas and ideals."

The great stars and directors are here - Marilyn Monroe, Gregory Peck, Sir John Gielgud, Nicole Kidman, Catherine Deneuve, Laurence Olivier, Huston, Hitchcock, Cukor and many more - but the main focus is on the men and women who, as someone once said, "paint with light."

Outstanding Stills handily compiled in alphabetical order - from Remi Adefarasin BSC to Freddie Young BSC - finally puts faces to several generations of outstanding British cinematographic talent at work in studios and on exotic locations around the world across more than 70 years of film-making.

A selection of the stills appearing in this volume are on display in the main corridor leading to the restaurant and café at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath.

Contact - Helen Maclean - Helen@bscine.com

A Story for the Children of Today - By Diana Thomson FRBS

March 11, 2015

You can change the path on which the world is travelling.
 
A boy and his dog go on an extraordinary and enlightening adventure into the past and discover a cleaner and less polluted world, where they meet some extremely intelligent girls with clever and inspiring ideas.
Getting home presents a practical problem, but with the help of the creative Goddess Freya, and his own ingenuity, the boy manages the seemingly impossible.
Featuring beautiful and lively original watercolour illustrations, A Story for the Children of Today will engage, educate and excite readers both young and old.