Cinematographer Guy Pooles
Over the last few years cinematographer Guy Pooles has become a talent to watch in the American entertainment industry; but he first created his stellar reputation as a creative visionary while still in his home country of England. Before moving to America to attend the prestigious American Film Institute, Pooles made the film Wake with director Monika Chowdhary.
As Wake was one of Pooles first films, it is not surprising that the film had a relatively low budget compared to the resources he is privileged to work with today. About the tools Pooles used to create the lighting and capture the shots for the film, the cinematographer says, “The film was shot on a prosumer Mini HDV camera with a Redrock 35mm adaptor. The lenses were old Pentax SLR lenses. As far as lighting goes, we only had a couple of redheads, some Dedo lights, a 4×4 Kino-Flo Diva, and whatever we could embrace from the cloudy British sky.”
Granted the challenges Pooles and Chowdhary faced in the making of Wake were substantial, however Pooles recalls, “Strangely though, I never remember feeling like we didn’t have the resources to make the film. We just found ways to turn the technical limitations into the visual language of the film.”
Set in the gloomy atmosphere of a seaside British community Wake revolves around the mysterious arrival of an unidentifiable man who washes up on the shore and the relationships affected in the wake of his appearance. On the verge of death the man is taken to a local hospital where a policeman named John attempts to decipher his identity, however due to the man’s inability to speak John calls in his girlfriend Anna who specializes in interpretation and communication to assist him in solving the case. A silent but deep connection forms between Anna and the unknown man over the course of their time spent together, and as a result of the bond formed between them causes Anna and John’s relationship to unravel.
Pooles’ ability to ‘make lemons out of lemonades’ if you will, is one of the characteristics that makes him such a sought after cinematographer today, for instead of letting challenges overwhelm and drowned out his potential vision he uses them to his advantage. “To this day I think back to [Wake] whenever I am faced with a technical limitation, and use the memory as inspiration to always search for a way to embrace limitation as a chance to be innovative,” explains Pooles.
Guy Pooles’ experience with working through challenges and using them to his advantage when creating a film’s visual language has provided him with a broad skillset for achieving his goals on each and every one of his projects. Aside from the film Wake, Pooles has also worked as the cinematographer on the films Jobe, Chronophobia, What Must Be Done, Martha, You’re A Little Late, Open 24 Hours, Martha and others.
In 2010 Pooles served as both the cinematographer and director of the film What Must Be Done where he used his abilities to think outside of the box turning challenges into strengths once again. Pooles admits, “There were a lot of limitations. The film was black and white, it was entirely non dialogue, and mainly set in one bedroom. The most challenging aspect was the location; it was a very small white cube of a room with no windows, really every cinematographer’s nightmare. I tried to embrace this as a visual element, utilizing the claustrophobia of the space and having it heighten the tension of the film.”
The film revolved around Amanda and Matthew, a young couple who fall on extreme financial hardships. As a result of their inability to make ends meat Amanda turns to selling her body in order to support them both, a decision that wreaks havoc on their relationship. Although the film does not verbally spell out the situation to audiences Pooles used his ability to infuse the film with expressive visual language that spoke louder than words about the couple’s tumultuous situation making it easy for viewers to understand.
Guy Pooles is currently slated to begin shooting a feature film in China later this year and although that is all we currently know about this specific upcoming project, we couldn’t be more excited for him as he continues to expose international audiences to his unparalleled work as a leading cinematographer.