Helen Parkinson

Manchester

Journalist at British Cinematographer

Lesser-spotted linguist and erstwhile journo @bcinemag @archant | Croissant aficionado

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Articles

March 2024: Out with a bang

Mar 22, 2024 | britishcinematographer.co.uk | Mark London Williams |Helen Parkinson

In our December column, having just come back from the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA)’s own award gathering, which serves as a kind of “pre-season” event before nominations kick in, even there the story of the soul-wracked scientist who helped beat Hitler to the bomb, won the evening’s top prizes for both its colour grading and editing, which felt, we wrote, “like a bit of an augury heading into award season proper”. And so it was.
February 2024: A dose of cinematic cheer

Feb 28, 2024 | britishcinematographer.co.uk | Mark London Williams |Percival L. Everett |Helen Parkinson

But there the word was, used by Nick Offerman, who continued both his own personal award season streak, and that of The Last of Us in general, winning again for his guest-starring in the show’s “Long, Long Time” episode. In what is becoming the series’ most renowned episode, both he and co-guest star, Murray Bartlett, find love at the end of the world – both the imploding one outside, and, as it turns out, in their own personal one, as well.
Event Review: Creative Arts Emmys and Golden Globes

Feb 9, 2024 | britishcinematographer.co.uk | Mark London Williams |Helen Parkinson

“We were all in the Calvin Klein ad.” As a statement of solidarity, it may not have quite the ring of “Ich bin ein Berliner,” or even “I am Spartacus,’ if we’re sticking to Hollywood fare, but it was precisely the kind of unlikely utterance that the Golden Globes has become famous for. Or perhaps infamous.
Event Review: Mallorca International Film Festival

Feb 9, 2024 | britishcinematographer.co.uk | Zoe Mutter |Helen Parkinson

“I wouldn’t be up here if people hadn’t invested in me, if I didn’t have mentors, if I didn’t have parents who cared for me, and if people didn’t take chances on me as a filmmaker,” Erik Messerschmidt ASC (Mank, The Killer, Ferrari) said in a heartfelt speech as he took to the stage to accept the Cinematography Icon Award at Mallorca International Film Festival. “If you have the opportunity to send the elevator down, please do it.
Matthew Lewis / Boiling Point

Jan 26, 2024 | britishcinematographer.co.uk | Mark London Williams |Helen Parkinson

2021’s Boiling Point successfully mixed two distinct movie genres: The meal-as-revelation film, which includes such wide-ranging fare as Big Night, Ratatouille, and perhaps even The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, along with the “single shot story”, which ranges even farther, from movies like Rope to Russian Ark to Birdman.
January 2024: Chain reactions

Jan 24, 2024 | britishcinematographer.co.uk | Mark London Williams |Helen Parkinson

Of course, Killers of the Flower Moon and Poor Things are right behind in the nominations tally, and so is Barbie, with eight, though the sharp-edged, pink-hued summer blockbuster seems to have lost award momentum, despite its box office dominance, as things look much more “heimer” than “Barben”, after that one brief summer moment where the two equally shared the limelight.
Cathy Ye / Bone Black

Nov 26, 2023 | britishcinematographer.co.uk | Zoe Mutter |Helen Parkinson

As well as being an exciting creative opportunity, shooting experimental documentary Bone Black: Midwives vs. The South was a valuable learning experience for Chinese-Canadian cinematographer Cathy Ye. Her narrative background was one reason she was hired by director Imani Dennison, whose experience has been more within the field of documentaries.
November 2023: The power of community

Nov 20, 2023 | britishcinematographer.co.uk | Mark London Williams |Helen Parkinson

You’re not alone in feeling it’s essentially impossible to keep up with “the news”, on either side of the pond, and the world surrounding it. And most of it these days feels not particularly welcome (though, hey! Strike settlement! Ahead, at least, of next year’s other expiring Hollywood contracts…). And so it was, as we sat down to compose this latticework of a column, an email from the Academy popped up to announce that John Bailey ASC had passed away.
October 2023: Creating a scene

Oct 9, 2023 | britishcinematographer.co.uk | Mark London Williams |Helen Parkinson

“Our lighting approach was in tune with our desire to create a free, open-to-spontaneity guerrilla film.” In our very busy column this month, one of our stops was ICG 600’s recent Emerging Cinematographers Awards, honouring the work of upcoming DPs – many recent graduates – and their short films, all over a big weekend filled with accolades, networking, and a screening of all their shorts.
September 2023: Watching and waiting

Sep 4, 2023 | britishcinematographer.co.uk | Mark London Williams |Helen Parkinson

Here on the Yank side of the pond, this is being written as we head to the colloquial end of summer. On an overheated planet – in many senses of the word, now – that doesn’t come with cooler weather, the autumn equinox, or even the beginning of the school year (which keeps perniciously creeping deeper into August).