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<channel>
	<title>David Watkin</title>
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	<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk</link>
	<description>David Watkin: Oscar-winning Cinematographer</description>
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		<title>Yellow Dog</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/yellow-dog/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/yellow-dog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:26:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Feature Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yellow Dog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/?p=1976</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From Time Out Film Guide The script credits list Kurosawa&#8217;s writer Shinobu Hashimoto, Professor Alan Turney, and John Bird &#8211; which just about sums it up. This is a highly eccentric spy fable about a &#8216;yellow dog&#8217; (Japanese private eye) who comes to London on a mission, only to find himself working in rather strained tandem with MI5. Kimura is given to making rice balls, moving into his superior&#8217;s garden shed, and running round (literally) in small circles. The film is directed with much amiable if incoherent humour by Donovan, image maker of the &#8217;60s, who apparently gave in to his passion for things Japanese and even financed it himself; but somewhere along the line the original thread of Hashimoto&#8217;s story seems to have got lost. Which doesn&#8217;t help anyone follow the plot, but does make for a strange experience. Director: Terence Donovan Cast: Jiro Tamiya, Robert Hardy, Carolyn Seymour, Joseph O&#8217;Conor, Hilary Tindall Cinematography: David Watkin Production Designer: Roger Burridge Producer: Terence Donovan Screenwriter: Shinobu Hashimoto Editor: Fergus McDonell Music: Ron Grainer]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/yellow-dog/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>The Knack&#8230; And How to Get It</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/the-knack-and-how-to-get-it/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/the-knack-and-how-to-get-it/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:05:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Feature Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Knack …and How to Get It]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rita Tushingham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Knack... And How to Get It]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/?p=1970</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The film depicts the sexual competition between three roommates — the aggressive, womanizing drummer Tolen (Ray Brooks), the shy, paranoid schoolteacher Colin (Michael Crawford), and the neutral artist Tom (Donal Donnelly) — when a young girl from out of town, Nancy (Rita Tushingham), enters their London world.   Directed by Richard Lester Produced by Oscar Lewenstein Written by Charles Wood Starring: Rita Tushingham &#8211; Nancy Jones Ray Brooks &#8211; Tolen Michael Crawford &#8211; Colin Donal Donnelly &#8211; Tom John Bluthal &#8211; Angry Father Wensley Pithey &#8211; Teacher Timothy Bateson &#8211; Junkyard Owner Peter Copley &#8211; Picture Owner William Dexter &#8211; Dress Shop Owner Bruce Lacey &#8211; Surveyor&#8217;s Asst. Dandy Nichols &#8211; Tom&#8217;s Landlady Kenneth Farrington &#8211; Guardsman Music by John Barry Cinematography David Watkin Editing by Antony Gibbs Distributed by United Artists Corporation Release date 3rd June 1965 Running time 85 minutes Making the film immediately after working with The Beatles on A Hard Day’s Night and just prior to Help!, Lester made major changes to the play, adding his own touch through direct address, unexpected oddly-edited sequences, humorous subtitles, and a Greek chorus of disapproving members of &#8220;the older generation&#8221;. The film had Lester&#8217;s distinctive visual look. Talking about [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/the-knack-and-how-to-get-it/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Bed-Sitting Room</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/the-bed-sitting-room/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/the-bed-sitting-room/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:48:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Feature Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Bed Sitting Room]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/?p=1962</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Bed-Sitting Room is a 1969 British comedy film directed by Richard Lester and based on the play of the same name. It was entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival The film is set on the third or fourth anniversary of a war which lasted two minutes and twenty-eight seconds, including signing the peace treaty. Three years after the nuclear holocaust, several survivors wander amidst the debris of London. Penelope is 17 months pregnant and lives with her lover, Alan, and her parents on a tube train in what remains of the London Underground. Other survivors include Capt. Bules Martin, who holds a &#8220;Defeat of England&#8221; medal, as he was unable to save Buckingham Palace from disintegration during the war. Lord Fortnum (Richardson) is fearful that he will mutate into the &#8220;bed sitting room&#8221; of the title. Mate is a fireguard, except that there is nothing left to burn. Shelter Man serves as a regional &#8220;head of government&#8221; over a decimated population. Similarly, the &#8220;National Health Service&#8221; is the name of a male nurse, although overwhelmed by the extent of the past war. Finally, there are two policemen, who hover overhead in a badly damaged Panda car that [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/the-bed-sitting-room/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How I Won The War</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/how-i-won-the-war/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/how-i-won-the-war/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:37:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Feature Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[How I Won the War]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[How I Won The War]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Lennon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Richard Lester]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/?p=1959</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From David&#8217;s autobiography, Was Clara Shuman a Fag Hag? The preparation for the Lodz Festival in 2004 was the first time I’d thought to give a non-flippant answer to the question “What are your favourite films?” They are of course the four anti-war pictures, and favourite for no reason other than what they are about. How I won The War is perhaps the best. Charles Wood and I certainly think it is Richard Lester’s best. He chose Charles Ryan’s book because he couldn’t get the rights to Catch 22 (which, oddly enough, I ended up doing as well). In it Michael Crawford leads a platoon of soldiers through World War II getting one of their number killed in each campaign. Contemporary wartime black and white newsreels were cut together with our own material and the completed scene was then tinted a specific colour (Dunkirk – yellow, Arnhem – blue and so on). Instead of disappearing, the dead soldiers keep their places in the platoon, never speaking, and each in battle-dress dyed the colour of the scene in which he was killed. How I Won the War is a black comedy film directed by Richard Lester, released in 1967. The film stars Michael Crawford as bungling British Army Officer Lieutenant Earnest Goodbody, with John Lennon (Musketeer [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/how-i-won-the-war/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Help!</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/help/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/help/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:30:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Feature Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Help!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Richard Lester]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Beatles]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/?p=1955</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Help! is a 1965 film directed by Richard Lester, starring The Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — and featuring Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill. The soundtrack was released as an album, also called Help!. Directed by Richard Lester Produced by Walter Shenson Written by Charles Wood Marc Behm (story) Starring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, John Bluthal, Patrick Cargill, Victor Spinetti, Roy Kinnear, Mal Evans Music by The Beatles George Martin Ken Thorne Cinematography David Watkin Editing by John Victor Smith Distributed by United Artists Release date 29th July, 1965 Running time 92 min. original running time 111 min.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/help/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Delicate Balance</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/a-delicate-balance/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/a-delicate-balance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:22:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A Delicate Balance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Feature Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Katherine Hepburn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tony Richardson]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/?p=1950</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A Delicate Balance is a 1973 drama film directed by Tony Richardson. The screenplay by Edward Albee is based on his 1966 Pultizer Prize-winning play of the same title. The film was the second in a series produced by Ely A. Landau for his American Film Theatre, a subscription-based programme of screen adaptations of notable stage plays shown in five hundred theatres in four hundred cities. Directed by Tony Richardson Produced by Ely A. Landau Written by Edward Albee Starring Katharine Hepburn, Paul Scofield, Lee Remick, Kate Reid, Joseph Cotten Cinematography David Watkin Editing by John Victor-Smith Distributed by American Film Theatre Release date 10th December, 1973 Running time 133 minutes]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/a-delicate-balance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Used People</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/used-people/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/used-people/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:15:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Feature Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Used People]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beeban Kidron]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/?p=1946</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Used People is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Beeban Kidron. The screenplay by Todd Graff, adapted from his 1988 off-Broadway play The Grandma Plays, takes a humorous look at a highly dysfunctional family living in the New York City borough of Queens circa 1969. Directed by Beeban Kidron Produced by Peggy Rajski Written by Todd Graff Starring: Shirley MacLaine, Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Marcello Mastroianni, Marcia Gay Harden, Sylvia Sidney, Joe Pantoliano Music by Rachel Portman Cinematography David Watkin Editing by John Tintori Studio Largo Entertainment JVC Entertainment Distributed by 20th Century Fox Release date 16th December 1992 Running time 115 min]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/used-people/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Photographing Frank</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/photographing-frank/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/photographing-frank/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:05:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Remembering DW]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/?p=1932</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Frank took to Mountainboarding when he was twelve &#8211; practicing in Stanmer Park, just outside of Brighton. One chilly Autumnal morning David and Jozef came to watch, and to attempt to photogarph Frank as he whizzed past&#8230;]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Trip to Prague</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/trip-to-prague/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/trip-to-prague/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:38:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Remembering DW]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jozef Stremen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Lafferty]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/?p=1919</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[David Watkin on a trip to Prague with his chums Scott &#38; Jozef, 2006]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Trip to Amsterdam</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/amsterdam-trip/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/amsterdam-trip/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:33:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Remembering DW]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amsterdam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/?p=1907</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[David Watkin on a trip to Amsterdam with his chums Scott &#38; Jozef, 2006]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2010/08/amsterdam-trip/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>David Watkin and his rugs</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/12/david-watkin-and-his-rugs/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/12/david-watkin-and-his-rugs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:04:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris Mullen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[David Watkin at home...]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Remembering DW]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Antique Rugs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brighton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jill Palmer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/new/?p=1638</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[About twenty years ago in the morning the front door bell rang. At the time I was living in a Brunswick Road, a barrel fronted Regency terrace just off the sea front in Hove. It was a blustery day and as I opened the door I was confronted by a slightly scruffy  individual, wearing an old raincoat and plimsoles. &#8220;Hello I&#8217;m David , Jill recommended you, she said you sell Persian rugs&#8221; &#8220;Er Jill?&#8221; I said. &#8220;Yes Jill Palmer in The Lanes (Brighton), the antique dealer&#8221; &#8220;Oh you had better come in&#8230;&#8221; That was how I met David Watkin. He proceeded to come in, go through my stock and select the better items. Not necessarily those in the best condition but certainly the best aesthetically &#8211; completely untutored in rugs, he certainly had an eye.  Thus I was taken rather aback, as people are usually phased when presented with an array of obscure Oriental carpets. Just a tinge worried that this likeable but completely unknown guy wanted to cream off my better items, I suggested we immediately adjourn for a &#8216;fitting session&#8217; to his place, to which he happily agreed. At the back of my mind I wanted some re-assurance [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/12/david-watkin-and-his-rugs/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>The Fourth Conductor &#8211; Sir Henry Wood</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/10/the-fourth-conductor-sir-henry-wood/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/10/the-fourth-conductor-sir-henry-wood/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:52:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris Mullen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sir Henry Wood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Watkin Classical Conductors]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/new/?p=1575</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There is a fourth conductor that David would have added to this list that of Sir Henry J. Wood. In his teens and until he was called up to serve in the British Army David joined the audience at London&#8217;s Queens Hall for the Henry Wood Promenade concerts each summer. It was a musical education for David (as it was to be for me 30 years later when &#8220;Flash&#8221; wielded the baton at the Proms, by then moved to the Royal Albert Hall). Wood&#8217;s clear beat from a long stick he held and his fearsome eyes produced astonishing performances from under rehearsed orchestras.Adrian Boult another long stick conductor was also held in high regard by David except for Tchaikovsky, a favourite  composer for Boult, but certainly not with David! One day I drove David to meet a record collector friend in Dulwich. Sat in my friend&#8217;s lounge completely dominated by an EMG  gramophone with a 3ft diameter horn, David listened to early acoustic recordings made by Wood. My friend then produced the full orchestral score of Sibelius En Saga and David eyes lit up when he found it contained the blue pencil marks of Sir Henry for it was Sir  [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/10/the-fourth-conductor-sir-henry-wood/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Southern Railway, from 1948 to 1952</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/10/southern-railway-from-1948/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/10/southern-railway-from-1948/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:21:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris Mullen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[British Transport Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Southern Railway Film]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/new/?p=1552</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;&#8230;my uncle Laurie found that there was a small unit of four people making documentary and training films in the nether regions of Waterloo Station, well beneath the notice of a trade union. My father set up his Blickensderfer (the oldest typewriter in the world) on our dining-room table and dashed off a letter to the company chairman. &#8220;I can get you in there&#8221; he said, &#8220;you might as well learn something while you are waiting&#8221;. I think it was the first time I saw him put himself out for me, and was really touched by it. So began a very happy first year; there was Basil, a busy but sensible boss, a gay script-writer, and best of all, old Tom Heritage. He was well named. The only real railwayman among us, he had started on the Brighton line as a boy in the uniform grade, i.e. the lower orders. He finally landed up as our projectionist and used to travel all over the system showing training films to staff in a railway carriage that had been converted into a cinema. This was known as the cinema coach and in it Tom took a jealous proprietorial interest.&#8221; (Clara) Photography was [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Account Book, 1962 to 1976</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/10/account-book-1962-to-1976/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/10/account-book-1962-to-1976/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:33:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris Mullen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Feature Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/new/?p=1450</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Surviving in David&#8217;s papers was this account book which gives a detailed list of the feature films and TV commercials he worked on after leaving Transport until the height of his early career in 1976 and Joseph Andrews. It contains only one reference to London Transport, in 1962 , undoubtedly acting as a freelance.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Long Night Haul, 1957 for BTF</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/the-long-night-haul-for-btf-1957/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/the-long-night-haul-for-btf-1957/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:29:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris Mullen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BTF in the 1950's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[British Transport Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Long Night Haul. British Transport Films]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/new/?p=1374</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Although the film isn&#8217;t mentioned in David&#8217;s two memoirs, The Long Night Haul (19 minutes) is an ambitious and complex film celebrating the foundation of the British Road Service&#8217;s general haulage truck service. Sometimes perhaps David shot a film which was without any notable anecdotes and thus passes without notice in his canon of work. This film is notable for a range of photographic challenges in black and white &#8211; shooting at night, sympathetic portraiture without condescension and an opportunity for showing the heraldry of the highway. Some of the landscape photography over the Channel  appears to refer ahead to  what he was doing in 1966 on Mademoiselle. Perhaps the subject matter overloads the concept. Perhaps it is two films, at home and abroad. Like Blue Pullman it was directed by Jimmy Ritchie with music by Clifton Parker Here are some characteristic stills that may persuade you to make your own exploration.]]></description>
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		<title>The Travolators, 1961 for BTF</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/the-travolators-for-btf-1961/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/the-travolators-for-btf-1961/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:51:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris Mullen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BTF in the 1960's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[British Transport Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Travolators]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/new/?p=1361</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This a short, nine minute film to commemorate the construction of the Travolator between the Bank and Waterloo stations in London to supplement the long walk required of City commuters and nicknamed The Drain. The otherwise exemplary box of DVDs, The British Transport Film Collection does not identify any credits. For the only time that I am aware of, the credits of a BTF production were merged in a democratically alphabetical list without designation of jobs. Can this be any other than David Watkin? It is an odd carelessness to get his name wrong. Apart from its historic value, and evidence of the balance of surface and underground excavation and construction, the film culminates in a sequence of the opening of the Travolator by the Lord Mayor, uneasy in his ceremonial role pressing the button as hordes of merry-makers gather to be the first to use the facility. There seems a deliberate attempt in the editing to stress the Commoners ribaldry at the face of Officialdom, all set in a most brilliantly lit white tube, an apotheosis of reflected light.]]></description>
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		<title>The England of Elizabeth, 1957 for BTF</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/the-england-of-elizabeth-for-btf-1957/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/the-england-of-elizabeth-for-btf-1957/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:55:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris Mullen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BTF in the 1950's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[British Transport Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1957]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Taylor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The England of Elizabeth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Moley Men]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/new/?p=1350</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Edgar promised Ritchie, who was getting restless, a break to direct and so I took over The England of Elizabeth with John Taylor again. It is nice to have one&#8217;s name on the same picture as Vaughan Williams although on the only occasion when I should have met the great man I was sent off to get a shot of a train at Woking. Par for the course (I don&#8217;t play golf but learned this expression from my electricians who all do), but VW was one of my heroes. It is part of the price one pays for going up in the world; if I&#8217;d still been chauffeuring people to music recordings I&#8217;d have seen him. It appears to have been quite a session as at one point the old man, who was no lightweight, tipped too far back in his chair and was only saved from disaster by Edgar making a dive and grabbing him. Somebody that I did meet on the film was the founding father of documentary himself. John Grierson was married to John Taylor&#8217;s sister and we drove down to their farm, Tog Hill in Wiltshire, to shoot a fiery beacon for the Spanish Armada. I [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Care of St.Christophers, 1959 for BTF</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/the-care-of-st-christophers-for-btf-1959/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/the-care-of-st-christophers-for-btf-1959/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:33:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris Mullen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BTF in the 1950's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[British Transport Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1959]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Care of St.Christophers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/new/?p=1336</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Happily I was now able in small measure to repay some of my debt to Jimmy Ritchie. The next film for me after THE ENGLAND OF ELIZABETH was his first picture as a director, and it turned out to be a very charming one. It was about a railway orphanage in Derby run by a lady who reminded you of Margaret Rutherford. She truly understood us all, children and grown-ups alike, and loved the children as they did her. I had never found myself in such a happy place and when I said so to Jim it must have stayed in his mind because THE HAPPY PLACE became the working title (though it finished up as CARE OF St CHRISTOPHER&#8217;S). She encouraged the children to keep their own pets,&#8221;It&#8217;s very good for them to manage things entirely on their own and I try never to interfere. There was a boy who kept pigeons, a bright nice boy. After a time he started to sell them to people outside &#8211; nothing wrong in that at all but then they started to come back &#8211; pigeons do you see, and then he would sell them again. I thought well if people are foolish [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Mademoiselle, 1966 for Woodfall</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/mademoiselle-for-woodfall-1966/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/mademoiselle-for-woodfall-1966/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:39:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scrutineer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Feature Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mademoiselle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jean Genet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oscar Lewenstein]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peter Handford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tony Richardson Woodfall 1966]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/new/?p=1321</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;My first picture with Tony [Richardson] was made in France with an entirely French crew, apart from myself and an editor I didn&#8217;t like. Oscar Lewenstein had uncovered a screen-play by Jean Genet written many years before, to while away one of his sojourns inside a French prison, that Genet himself had forgotten about…. It may have been this wildness in the place that caused Tony to decide quite early on to have only the actual sounds of nature, and no music. These was done for him by a very special recordist, Peter Handford, and led at one point to a typical exchange between them. Tony had asked for the sound of bats to be laid over one scene, and Peter explained that the frequency of bat sounds is outside the range of the human ear.&#8221;Well I’m most disappointed in you, Peter, why can&#8217;t you invent something?&#8221;… Quite early on Jocelyn Herbert, George Devine&#8217;s wife, arrived on a visit. It was a day when some farmers were doing something not very nice to an ox (I don&#8217;t know the specifics). The creature was cased in a heavy wooden frame where it couldn&#8217;t move, and Tony had set up close on [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Snowdrift at Bleath Gill, 1955 for BTF</title>
		<link>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/snowdrift-at-bleath-gill-1955-for-bft/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://davidwatkin.co.uk/2009/09/snowdrift-at-bleath-gill-1955-for-bft/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:36:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris Mullen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[BTF in the 1950's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[British Transport Films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bob Paynter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Watkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hugh Raggett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kenneth Fairburn. John Legard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Snowdrift at Bleath Gill]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://davidwatkin.co.uk/new/?p=1317</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Snowdrift at Bleak Gill, 1955, directed by Kenneth Fairburn, edited by John Legard and photographed by Bob Paynter. David Watkin was an unacknowledged assistant on this film. The film is 10minutes, largely devoted to the single task of freeing a goods engine and carriages from snowdrifts using a mechanised snow plough and gangs of diggers, mainly by the light of the Moon and huge Tilly lamps. “Ken Fairbairn was a nice man. Known as &#8220;Twitcher&#8221; because of a tendency to be hyper-anxious whenever you were sorting out the necessary things for the shot to be useable. He was also small in stature, resulting in most of his set-ups being done on the baby-legs, which was a bit trying. He wrote his own scripts for the most part; one that I did for him about the lost luggage office was called A DESPERATE CASE. Another about incoherent station announcements had a similarly apt title to begin with: GET LOST! But Edgar made him change it. A phone call about about 9.30 one freezing evening  asked would I collect some camera gear with Bob Payntor and travel up to Barnard Castle in Yorkshire. There we bundled ourselves inside a snow-plough and set [...]]]></description>
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