TELEVISION LIGHTING
Whilst my initial ambition in television was to operate a camera, which I achieved at 19 years old, my long term goal was always to be responsible for the creation of the entire picture. So when the opportunity eventually occurred I moved from being a Television Cameraman at ATV Elstree to being a Lighting Director at Central Television in Nottingham, lighting programmes for network and local transmission and after several years there decided to go freelance.
In recent years I created a marketing initiative for Rosco lighting gels. ‘Lighting the Masters’ gave lighting designers an inspirational palette of colours linked to some of the world’s greatest artists such as Van Gogh, Manet, Constable, Rembrandt etc.
Member of the Society of Television Lighting & Design
Shows and Series as Lighting Director
"Album" Six half hour shows with wide ranging popular musical and lighting styles showcasing the talents of; Ruby Turner, T'Pau, Louise Goffin, Nona Hendrix, Natalie Cole and Carmel.
"And There's More!" A comedy series starring Jimmy Cricket, one sketch called for an authentic copy of Rick's Bar in "Casablanca", shot in B&W of course.
"Blockbusters" Gameshow of which I lit the first and several subsequent series of this teenage challenge show.
"Chish 'N Fips" A children's series with actors playing garden gnomes in three times scaled up settings with extensive use of location shooting and chromakey.
"Emu Live" Weekly live programme with the late Rod Hull which had a high proportion of location dance numbers shot, evolved into "The Pink Windmill Show" which I also lit.
"From The Top" This series starred former ‘Goodie’ and subsequent birdman Bill Oddie as an adult student in a children's stage school which location shoots as well as large scale dance numbers in the studio.
"Murphy's Mob" A long running children's studio and location series about a soccer club with the accent on realistic atmosphere, I used an exhibition of the St Ives School of Painters at the Barbican for inspiration.
"The Nineteenth Hole" Sitcom series about a golf club, written by the late Johnny Speight and starring Eric Sykes, a series that I was both location Lighting Cameraman and studio Lighting Director.
"Palace Hill" Children's comedy series about a rebellious school where fictional Royal Princes 'Wills and Hals' were 'educated', a lot of scope as location Lighting Cameraman and studio Lighting Director.
"The Price Is Right!" I gave this gameshow more of a fairground atmosphere and the subsequent series I did for Sky was even more excessive.
"The Upper Hand" This became the highest rated sitcom for ITV and regularly got 10-12 million viewers. I lit thirty nine shows in the studio and on location in the UK and France. Episodes are still being shown on satellite channels.
"Your Mother Wouldn't Like It!" Anarchic children's show of which I lit every series, demanding and budget conscious with many different challenges for each programme, it won the accolade of a BAFTA for ‘Best Children's Programme’.