Billy Williams Receives ASC International Achievement Award

27-Oct-00

Billy Williams, BSC will receive the coveted International Achievement Award from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). The award is presented periodically to a cinematographer outside of the United States who has made a significant and enduring impression on the international art of filmmaking. The presentation will be made at the 15th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards on February 18, 2001, at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California.Williams will also receive the Career Achievement Award at the CamerImage International Festival of the Art of Cinematography at Lodz, Poland, in December. He has compiled nearly 40 narrative credits as a cinematographer during a career that has spanned four decades. Williams earned his first Academy AwardÆ nomination in 1969 for ""Women In Love."" He was nominated again for ""On Golden Pond"" in 1981, and won an OscarÆ the following year for ""Gandhi.""Williams was President of the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) from 1975-77. He has earned BAFTA (the British equivalent of an Oscar) nominations for best cinematography for ""Gandhi,"" ""The Magus,"" ""Sunday Bloody Sunday"" and ""Women In Love."" Other notable films in his body of work include ""The Wind And The Lion,"" ""Voyage Of The Damned,"" ""Eagle's Wing,"" ""The Manhattan Project,"" ""Dreamchild"" and ""Stella."" His most recent film, ""Driftwood,"" was released in 1996.""Billy Williams has earned this recognition from his peers in our organization for his artful and original work that has stood the test of time,"" says ASC President Victor J. Kemper. ""He has compiled an important and diverse body of work. Billy is also a great role model and teacher who has influenced filmmakers around the world.""Williams joins a small and elite group of recipients of the ASC International Achievement Award, consisting of Oswald Morris, BSC, Freddie Young, BSC, Freddie Francis, BSC, Jack Cardiff, BSC, Gabriel Figueroa, AMC, Henri Alekan, Raoul Coutard, and Giuseppe Rotunno, ASC, AIC.Williams was born and raised in England, where his father began working as a newsreel and documentary cameraman in 1910. Williams says there were always camera parts on the kitchen table during his youth. He was in his teens when he joined his father's crew.Williams also worked for British Transport Films as an assistant cameraman. The government agency produced documentaries about England's trains and harbors. After five years, he became a freelance documentary cameraman. He wanted to work on feature films but there was no way to make that transition in those days. During the 1950s, a new wave of commercial directors was searching for fresh talent. Williams was still in his 20s when he began shooting TV spots for Ken Russell, John Schlesinger and other new directors. He earned his first narrative credit in 1965 for ""San Ferry Ann,"" a black-and-white comedy with director Jeremy Summers.Williams believes that his early experiences with documentaries gave him a feeling for natural light. His commercial work was also pivotal, because it enabled him to experiment with lighting and different techniques and technologies while working with directors who had non-traditional perspectives.When he moved into features, Williams recalls having the freedom to break away from the stylized lighting and storytelling that was traditional with the older, studio-made films. He describes his lighting and composition as interpretive and supportive of the intentions of the script and directors. In 1970, Williams worked with Schlesinger on ""Sunday Bloody Sunday.""""He wanted it under-photographed,"" Williams recalls. ""It's an intimate story about the relationships between three characters. He didn't want the photography to be a distraction. On the other hand, ëThe Wind And The Lion,í directed by John Milius, provided a much bigger palette with spectacular scenes that required broader visual strokes.""He photographed ""On Golden Pond"" in 1980 with director Mark Rydell. ""I loved the script,"" he recalls. ""It was both funny and moving and there aren't too many pictures with both of those qualities. It had something for every generation.""Williams used color correction filters and a polarizing screen to achieve the look he and Rydell wanted, adding a fine black gauze on close-ups of Katharine Hepburn and Jane Fonda. He primarily relied on soft light and careful composition to give Rydell what he wanted. He had to be very precise so the characters weren't flat.""I also didn't want Hank (Henry Fonda) and Kate (Hepburn) to seem too young. It was important to the story for them to be consistent with their characters.""""Gandhi"" was both intimate and epic in scale.""There are intimate scenes intercut with shots with thousands of extras in the strong Indian sunlight,"" he explains. ""The hot bright light contrasted with the darker, softer light in interior scenes. I didn't use any filtration, fogging or flashing techniques. It's a clean negative with very realistic images. It was important for the audience to get to know Gandhi as a human being and also to see him in the environment of his culture.""The director was Richard Attenborough. Williams shared the cinematography credit and Oscar with Ronnie Taylor, BSC. ""Gandhi"" earned eight Oscars in all including all major categories-best picture, directing and acting.Williams observes, ""The most important thing is always the performances of the actors. If you can enhance what they are feeling and thinking, you are making a contribution to the picture. The films I'm happiest with are those where everything comes together, the script, the cast, the director and art director. The cinematographer's work is part of that. It takes a team to bring out the wholeness and unity of a film.""Williams began instructing students at the National Film and Television School Beaconsfield in 1978. He has been instructing students for a few days or weeks at a time ever since. He has also taught the Master Class at the national film school in Budapest during three different summers and has frequently participated with students in the International Film Workshops in Rockport, Maine. He also conducted a seminar at CamerImage in 1999.Williams says there were no film schools in England when he began his career. Future cinematographers learned their craft by apprenticing and the emphasis was much more technical. He recorded his first color movie on a 50-speed negative, which required a lot more attention to details in lighting for proper exposure values. He believes cinematographers have more freedom today to concentrate on aesthetic and creative issues.Williams says the script has always been his first consideration. He still asks himself, ""Is this a story I can relate with and want to be involved in telling? If I'm going to spend three or four months of my life, maybe longer, making a film, I want some satisfaction. When I agree to shoot a film, the director is entitled to everything I have to offer.""ASC traces its roots to 1913, when the Cinema Camera Club was organized in New York and the Static Club in Los Angeles, California. The two clubs merged and formed the ASC with 15 charter members in January of 1919 with the sole goal of advancing the art of filmmaking. Membership has always been by invitation based on the individual's body of narrative film work. There are some 185 active members and 104 associate members in allied fields.For additional information about the ASC, visit www.cinematographer.com.

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