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About: Reviews & Comments

Comments & Reviews

“Depending on one’s point of view, this stunning dramatisation of the words of St John (spoken by David Harewood) works either as a re-creation of the miracles and sacrifices made by the Son of God that led to the birth of Christianity, or

as a fascinating insight into how one man could start a personality cult that so threatened the prevailing religion of the area that he was executed for it. Kudos to the BBC for having produced such a fabulous piece of work, which succeeds visually and dramatically...” Reviewed by The Sunday Times

“The cinematography is simply stunning in this movie. There were a few times I realized I was paying more attention to what was being acted versus what was being said.  That's a visual learner for you!” - Reviewed in full by Michelle

“The cinematography is lush, the cast fits the Middle Eastern origins of scripture (as opposed to more familiar westernized versions of biblical characters), and a lot of time has been devoted to historical research to present the most accurate picture of ancient Israel as possible.” Reviewed in full by Kristine

@BenHodgsonDOP

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Mark

Coming soon: The Gospel of Mark is currently in post-production

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Matthew 11:2-11

Jesus & John The Baptist

Running time: 02:00 mins View: Matthew 11:2-11

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

In this scene we first see John The Baptist in a prison cell. The shot is taken from asequence which shows him being cast into prison where he’ll later be executed

In this single shot I wanted to establish John The Baptist in a dark place spiritually as well as physically. He is isolated and facing death. But he is also there with his belief and hope in God.

Dark & Light

I used two lights in this shot: one small tungsten Kinoflo to give a very subtle base light in the darkness and then I had a hole about the size of a dinner plate punched into the roof through which I shone a mirror. I had to get the shot at the right time of day in order for the angles of sun/mirror/set to work in my favour but then I just added a little smoke (made with incense by the art Dept.) and had them drop some dust through the hole so that the shaft of light becomes visible.

'John The Baptist thrown into the cell' from the storyboard (Illustration courtesy of Jesse Hodgson)

We see Jesus and the Disciples walking through fields and I used a little jib to give the camera some movement and height. Without a wind machine I just got lucky with the wind which gave the foliage a ruffle as the shot developed. The conversation around the fig tree was one of the first scenes we shot in the whole filming process and I was keen to establish an informal, everyday, casual feeling for the camera which David the Director and I came to call ‘The Thirteenth Disciple”.

Biblical CGI

After the blind man is healed we then see Jesus preaching to a crowd. I had a Tulip Crane that day so I used it to give a hint of grandeur with an establishing wide shot which brings the camera down into the crowd – inviting the audience to get closer and listen. We also shot a reverse wide shot of the crowd. In fact we only had twenty or thirty extras for the crowd usually and this was no exception so we had to spend an hour or so shooting and empty landscape plate-shot in which we moved our little crowd around until they had populated the whole landscape. Trying to make a ‘crowd’ of twenty or thirty extras look like a crowd of hundreds or thousands was a constant challenge. Once the camera brings the viewer down into the crowd I always tried to get a few ‘13th Disciple’ shots as if you the viewer are sitting in the gathering looking over someone’s shoulder.

We then see Jesus meeting John The Baptist in the river – where else! Which I shot at around 30fps to give it a slightly heightened feeling, and then Jesus’ baptism by John is taken from an extended sequence that I shot at around 100fps.

Shimmering Heat In A Cold Desert

Finally we see John the Baptist back out in the freedom of the wilderness. I used a 250mm lens with a doubler and, because it was early morning and the desert hadn’t yet had time to get up to temperature, I had the art dept. rig up a heat plate in front of the lens to try re-create some desert shimmer.

@BenHodgsonDOP

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About Cameras, Lenses, Lights & Grip

Epic Film - Epic Camera

The initial format decision was taken when the project started in early 2010. A lot has happened with cameras since and opting for the then relatively new Red 4k proved to be a

wise future-proofing decision at a time when other realistic camera options comprised Arri’s D21, the Silicon Imaging Si 2K, Super 35mm, Super 16mm and HD/pro-35 tape formats.

Trans Atlas

Having a complete shooting package that could deliver cameras and lenses as well as pulling together transcoding and offer production immediate 2k playback review was also a key requirement. A fully kitted out, air conditioned Love Film camera/wrangling vehicle travelled overland from the UK, over the Atlas mountains to Quazazarte Film Studios, Morocco.

Camera: Red Epic 4/5k

Lenses: Zeiss Ultra Primes 16, 24, 32, 50, 85, 135mm Arri Alura 45-250mm

Lights: 12k HMI 4k HMI 4ft Kinos Mirrors/Bounce/Silks/Negative fill etc.

Grip: Tulip Crane Modular Jib PeeWee Dolly & track Steadycam

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About The 13th Disciple

On The Shoulder Of The Disciples

Above: ‘The 13th Disciple’ approach to scenes allows the viewer to witness events as one of The Twelve.

Director David Batty’s vision for the films wasone that I could run with heart and soul – that the audience should not feellike they are watching a film but actually participating in the events depicted.

We soon developed an over-arching motivation for the camera that we came to refer to as ‘The 13th Disciple’ designed to allow the audience to travel in, amongst and on the shoulder of the Disciples and so share in the experience of the twelve. My intention was that this technique would give the viewer greater freedom to form their own interpretation of events rather than having to defer to the views of others.

Importantly this would free us to bring our documentary filmmaking experience into the mix and enable scenes to develop in the fresh, visceral and unpredictable way I’d hoped for.

Above: Ben Hodgson DOP getting into ‘13th Disciple’ mode with Red Camera, Easyrig & Zeiss Ultra Prime Lens

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John 21:1-19

Jesus Appears To His Disciples At Lake Galilee

Running time: 04:36 mins View: John 21:1-19

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

With a 24mm lens and the lake becalmed, the little fishing boat made for a beautiful scene setter. Once we’d established the fishing party of disciples going out in the boat I used the 85mm for a POV shot of Jesus standing on the shore in his white costume.

Initially Jesus is kept slightly distant in this scene as the Disciples are seeing him from afar - then as the fish are hauled in I’d laid a track on the shoreline with the camera rigged low for a shot which slides along the edge of the water till it settles by the fire along with the other Disciples. This shot gets the camera and audience into ‘13th Disciple’ mode – witnessing events from a Disciple’s perspective.

We then have a flash forward to Peter’s betrayal of Jesus. This is a nightscene in a little courtyard on a set at Atlas Studios Quazazarte which I backlit with a 12k Hmi and then had a brazier lit to light Peter with a contrasting warm light.

The tranquility of the lake closes the scene on a gentle jib shot with the 24mm Ultra Prime lens.

Ben Hodgson DOP

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John 20:19-31

Doubting Thomas

Running time: 03:54 mins View: John 20:19-31

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

I punched mybiggest light, the 12k hmi through the window (with diffusion) in this scene because I wanted to give the impression that Jesus was appearing to them dramatically but in a natural way - out of the natural light source. This allowed me to over-expose the background and give it a slightly other-wordly feel and then gradually normalize the lighting as the Disciples become accustomed to his presence.

Wanting the viewer to feel like they are there, witnessing the event and making up their minds for themselves. Thomas is a Bible hero of mine because he doesn’t believe what he’s told to believe but will only believe what appears to him as truth proven. By shooting much of the scene as the ’13th Disciple’ and in amongst the disciples it allows the audience to decide for themselves about the validity of the account.

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John 20:1-18

He's Alive!

Running time: 03:27 mins View: John 20:1-18

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

The opening shot is filmed ‘day for night’ whereby the convention is to balance the camera for tungsten light (3200k) but film in daylight (5600k) to attain a blue night feel although on the Red camera we created ‘Looks’ which gives the editor a grading reference for the edit.

The interior of the tomb was lit from outside with a mirror when the sun was in a favourable position and with a 12k direct when it wasn’t. We then had smoke inside the cave to turn that light into solid light through which the disciples move. I had a Kinoflo light inside the cave with half daylight and half tungsten tubes to give some fill light.

I lit the room where Mary wakes the Disciples with two warm Kinoflos and a softened 4k Hmi through the back window and shot with 32mm & 85mm lenses.

When filming Jesus appearing to Mary in the garden outside the tomb, I shot it so that although the viewer can see that It’s the figure of Jesus, it is still Mary who gets to see him resurrected first face to face as she looks up to him. It’s only then that the viewer sees him. I ensured Jesus was heavily backlight with the sun for this shot and filled with a big white bounce board which also gives him his eye-light.

Our Second Unit Director Deane Thrussell had the habit of setting up a shot and then grabbing Selva Rasalingham for a few minutes at short notice. A little later he’d have a stunning shot in the can and this (above) is just one example.

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John 14:23-29

Jesus Promises The Holy Spirit

Running time: 01:52 mins View: John 14:23-29

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

The opening wide establishing shot of the town is constructed from a daylight GV I shot of a little Moroccan town on a hill which the CGI team worked with to create Jerusalem at night. For The Last Supper scene I pay homage to the iconic Leonardo masterpiece.

Instead of one long table we had three long tables arranged in a horseshoe formation around a centre table and laid tracks on the open end and along both sides, along which we ran two cameras with 85mm and 135mm lenses. The wide shots were taken on 24mm & 32mm. 

Lighting the Last Supper

Upon the table In the middle of the horseshoe formation I spread a white cloth onto which a few last supper items were placed. I suspended a 4k Hmi above the table, punching down onto it through trace frame with drapes around it to kill as much spill as possible. This would bounce soft light back off the white cloth into the faces of the cast. I also turned three sides of the central table into a lightbox by cutting a trapdoor into the floor of the set and putting a 6k Hmi underneath it (there was underfloor space fortunately). This then pushed more soft light onto the subjects whilst not lighting the back walls, something I was trying hard to avoid. All the Hmi’s had full CTO to warm their colour temperature to 3200k which would allow a contrast to the 5600k blue light seen through the window.

Above: Ben Hodgson DOP getting in on the Last Supper

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John 14:8-17, 25-27

Jesus The Way To The Father

Running time: 03:00 mins View: John 14:8-17, 25-27

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

For The Last Supper scene I pay homage to the iconic Leonardo masterpiece. Instead of one long table we had three long tables arranged in a horseshoe formation around a centre table and laid tracks on the open end and along both sides, along which we ran two cameras with 85mm and 135mm lenses. The wide shots were taken on 24mm & 32mm.

Lighting the Last Supper

Upon the table In the middle of the horseshoe formation I spread a white cloth onto which a few last supper items were placed. I suspended a 4k Hmi above the table, punching down onto it through trace frame with drapes around it to kill as much spill as possible. This would bounce soft light back off the white cloth into the faces of the cast. I also turned three sides of the central table into a lightbox by cutting a trapdoor into the floor of the set and putting a 6k Hmi underneath it (there was underfloor space fortunately). This then pushed more soft light onto the subjects whilst not lighting the back walls, something I was trying hard to avoid. All the Hmi’s had full CTO to warm their colour temperature to 3200k which would allow a contrast to the 5600k blue light seen through the window.

Above: The Tulip crane and track and Red Epic camera 

For the scene where Jesus is teaching on the mountain side I had a Tulip Crane which I used to give a hint of grandeur with an establishing wide shot which brings the camera down into the crowd – inviting the audience to get closer and listen. We also shot a reverse wide shot of the crowd. In fact we only had twenty or thirty extras for the crowd usually and this was no exception so we had to spend an hour or so shooting and empty landscape plate-shot in which we moved our little crowd around until they had populated the whole landscape. Trying to make a ‘crowd’ of twenty or thirty extras look like a crowd of hundreds or thousands was a constant challenge. Once the camera brings the viewer down into the crowd I always tried to get a few ‘13th Disciple’ shots as if you the viewer are sitting in the gathering looking over someone’s shoulder.

Above: Ben Hodgson DOP preparing to shoot crowd scenes with the Red Epic, Eas-rig and 50mm Ultra Prime lens

This feeling of the viewer being a participant in the scene is heightened in the section where Jesus takes his teaching and healing in amongst the crowds on the mountainside and in the streets. Shooting it all hand-held with an Easy-rig.

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John 13:31-35

Jesus Gives A New Commandment

Running time: 01:24 mins View: John 13:31-35

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

For The Last Supper scene I pay homage to the iconic Leonardo masterpiece. Instead of one long table we had three long tables arranged in a horseshoe formation around a centre table and laid tracks on the open end and along both sides, along which we ran two cameras with 85mm and 135mm lenses. The wide shots were taken on 24mm & 32mm.

Lighting the Last Supper

Upon the table In the middle of the horseshoe formation I spread a white cloth onto which a few last supper items were placed. I suspended a 4k Hmi above the table, punching down onto it through trace frame with drapes around it to kill as much spill as possible. This would bounce soft light back off the white cloth into the faces of the cast. I also turned three sides of the central table into a lightbox by cutting a trapdoor into the floor of the set and putting a 6k Hmi underneath it (there was underfloor space fortunately). This then pushed more soft light onto the subjects whilst not lighting the back walls, something I was trying hard to avoid. All the Hmi’s had full CTO to warm their colour temperature to 3200k which would allow a contrast to the 5600k blue light seen through the window.

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John 13:1-17, 31-35

The Last Supper

Running time: 04:07 mins View: John 13:1-17, 31-35

For The Last Supper scene I pay homage to the iconic Leonardo masterpiece. Instead of one long table we had three long tables arranged in a horseshoe formation around a centre table and laid tracks on the open end and along both sides, along which we ran two cameras with 85mm and 135mm lenses. The wide shots were taken on 24mm & 32mm.

Lighting the Last Supper

Upon the table In the middle of the horseshoe formation I spread a white cloth onto which a few last supper items were placed. I suspended a 4k Hmi above the table, punching down onto it through trace frame with drapes around it to kill as much spill as possible. This would bounce soft light back off the white cloth into the faces of the cast. I also turned three sides of the central table into a lightbox by cutting a trapdoor into the floor of the set and putting a 6k Hmi underneath it (there was underfloor space fortunately). This then pushed more soft light onto the subjects whilst not lighting the back walls, something I was trying hard to avoid. All the Hmi’s had full CTO to warm their colour temperature to 3200k which would allow a contrast to the 5600k blue light seen through the window.

Jesus’ Halo

The artistic convention has been for Christ, and other ‘holies’, to have a halo and I always made a point of wherever possible giving Jesus a rim or back light. I always tried to make sure that it was naturally motivated, In this case I had a hint of window directly behind Jesus which gives the excuse for his back-light or halo.

Foot washing

For the foot washing sequence I brought the action away from the table to give some depth. Shooting at T1.9 allowed the background of the table and those seated there to soften in contrast to the foreground. I had a fast shutter to give more emphasis to the water and shot on 32mm & 85mm lenses.

Ben Hodgson DOP

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John 12:1-8

Jesus Anointed At Bethany

Running time: 01:53 mins View: John 12:1-8

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

The wide establisher is of a typical little town found in the Atlas mountain region of Morocco and I took landscape shots of as many of them I could find. They look Biblical. Constructed out of the mud of the land on which they are built upon they look as if they’ve been there since the time of Christ and make a real gift to anyone with a camera.

Above: One of my recce reference stills.If you know where to look, Morocco has plenty of ready made ‘Biblical’ townscapes that make great filming locations.

For the interior dining scene we used a little interior space at Atlas Studios and alays trying to light within the motivation of the set, I put 2 x 4k Hmi’s through trace frames outside the window and door to give a key. Inside a couple of Kinoflo’s were used with mixed colour temperature. I’d also use a bounce board for singles on the girl anointing Jesus’ feet. I just managed to squeeze in a short track which gave some movement and allowed me to reposition swiftly in such a tight space. Lenses used were 24mm, 32mm, 50mm & 85mm Ultra primes.

@BenHodgsonDOP

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John 2:1-11

The First Miraculous Sign

Running time: 02:14 mins View: John 2:1-11

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

Jerusalem Mud & CGI

The opening shot of this scene is of Tamnagout, a typical little town found in the Atlas mountain region of Morocco. I took landscape shots of as many of these little towns as I could because they look so Biblical. Constructed out of the mud of the land on which they are built upon they look as if they’ve been there since the time of Christ and make a real gift to anyone with a camera. For this shot the CGI team have added the Temple on top of the hill to give it that Jerusalem feel.

Parachutes

The scene of the wedding is filmed in another little ‘found’ courtyard in a nearby village. My problem would be that during the day the sun would move and change the direction of light during the shooting of the scene. So I had to keep an eye on lighting continuity.

Above: I used silks and parachutes to cover the courtyard to soften and diffuse the harsh light, then filled with a 12k Hmi and diffusion frame

Above: About to go for a two camera take with 85mm and 135mm Zeiss Ultra Primes and two Red Epic cameras

It was a cloudless day which made for harsh shadows and high contrast so the first thing I did was have the sparks cover the whole courtyard with silks and parachutes to soften the daylight and then pray that the wind didn’t get up. The wind did have a habit of whipping up out of nowhere at around 3.30pm and causing chaos. I also brought the 12k Hmi in and punched it through a big silk frame as a big soft fill light.

Above: deploying a butterfly to give soft discussion over a limited area.

Filling the set with as many people, musicians and everything else you might find at a wedding then set an atmosphere for us to shoot in. I made sure there were a couple of cooking fires in shot to give me an excuse to have a smoky atmosphere and then let the scene unfold through the 45-250mm Alura lens. 

The First Miracle

Bearing in mind Jesus’ apparent reluctance to perform this miracle, we wanted to downplay the event inasmuch as the revelers remain blissfully ignorant of the fact that the wine’s run out and a miracle takes place. It may sound odd but to some extent we wanted the miracles to feel as ordinary as possible. They are there not there as the point of the story but to illustrate that point.

@BenHodgsonDOP

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John 1:1-14

In The Beginning Was The Word

Running time: 02:04 mins View: John 1:1-14

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

The beginning of John’s Gospel speaks of the emergence of light in darkness and we wanted topick up on this theme with the lighting of an oil lamp which then dissolves into a shot of Jesus which I shot ‘backwards’.

Shooting Backwards

I wanted to achieve three things in this shot: a personal encounter for the audience, a moment of drama or impact and to be able to see the fire in Jesus’ eyes. I blacked out a space in the Atlas Studio complex and laid a semi-circular track around the actor then positioned the camera on the close-up. We wanted to have a shot where Jesus is unblinking so I asked the actor to close his eyes, then I’d start the camera running and when he was ready he’d open them and keep them open for as long as he could looking straight into the lens. Then when he felt that he could no longer keep from blinking he’d close his eyes again at which point the camera would track away from him. At the same time the light (I was using three flaming torches) would track away from him in the opposite direction. The idea was that in the edit the whole shot would be played in reverse.

Above: Lighting with flaming torches to give ‘fire in the eyes’. The whole shot is filmed in reverse

This gave me what I was after which is for the viewer to gently arrive in front of Jesus. Because his eyes are closed at this point the viewer has a few moments to look at him – encounter him – without being challenged by him. It also allows for the music to build to a little crescendo at which point he opens his eyes to look directly back at the viewer. It’s a dramatic moment and changes the relationship between the viewer and Jesus. As well as the flickering light on Jesus face, you can also see the fire from the torches flickering in his eyes. No other light source is seen (or used). I love how this shot turned out.

First Light

To continue the theme of the arrival of light in the world I then had Jesus coming out of the darkness into a pre-dawn shot where he walks towards the camera through a village street. So early it is deserted apart from a couple spectating sheep that I love. He’s still moving through shadows in this shot and emerging as a character. We shot this at around 8am which was before the sun had got high enough to cast light directly into this little alleyway and so it made for a very soft natural light. We set a ‘Look’ for the camera to give it that steely, grey-blue pre-sunrise feel although in reality it was a warm light being bounced around of the mud walls.

The narrative then takes us up onto the mountain-side where as Jesus walk past the camera we get an impression of a dramatic dawn sky being formed. It’s actually the tail end of a sun-set but don’t tell.

Scene From Above

In an aerial shot taken from an Octocopter just after first light we see Jesus ascending a mountain top before cutting to a close-up which is a mirror image of the first shot we saw of Jesus except that this time the track is from right to left. But it’s also shot on a semi-circular track with a 50mm Ultra Prime lens.

Above: Gathering round to review a circular tracking shot (note the technician lying flat on the ground to keep out of the 360 degree field of view)

Finally we cut back to the wide aerial shot which reveals Jesus on the mountain top. If you look closely you’ll see that all the shadows in the picture fall from right to left but that the sun is directly in front of Jesus, so the shadows should fall directly towards the camera (answers on a post-card please).

@BenHodgsonDOP

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Luke 24:44-53

The Ascension

Running time: 02:00 mins View: Luke 24:44-53

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

I punched my biggest light, the 12k hmi through the window (with diffusion) in this scene because I wanted to give the impression that Jesus was appearing to them dramatically, but in a natural way - out of the natural light source. This allowed me to over-expose the background and give it a slightly other-wordly feel and the gradually normalise the lighting as the Disciples become accustomed to his presence. Wanting the viewer to feel like they are there, witnessing the event and making up their minds for themselves, meant that I shot it with our ‘13th Disciple’ principle in mind.

 @BenHodgsonDOP

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Luke 23:36-49

Jesus On The Cross

Running time: 06:46 mins View: Luke 23:36-49

Scene by Scene With Gospel Cinematographer Ben Hodgson

We spent a longtime talking through how we were going to shoot the whole crucifixion scene andall the violence that precedes it. At the forefront of our mind was firstly that the film had to be accessible to as wide an audience as possible which should include the young. Secondly we’d seen depictions in films which seemed almost to glorify the violence and we were aiming for viewers to feel rather than see explicit violence. Perhaps a key shot that explains this is the nail being driven through the cross and blood dripping from it. I don’t think there’s one shot in which a whip actually lands on flesh, but skillful editing leaves you with that impression.

One of the main challenges for me in this scene was to find space for Selva Rasalingam (Jesus) to deliver his lines, because the violent circumstances are not exactly conducive to him stopping for a chat along the way. But that’s exactly what’s reported so we choreographed the scene to allow for this – mostly when he’s down on the ground. I shot nearly all of this sequence hand-held with an Easyrig and 90 degree shutter. We’d worked out in advance between what hours specific streets and alleyways would be backlit and then shot them in that sequence – not necessarily in the plot sequence. I shot most of it on the 32mm Ultra Prime but also had a second camera lensed up on the 45-200mm. My aim was for the viewer to be involved in the scene rather than as a spectator.

I had the Tulip crane booked for the day and had prepared some specific moves well in advance. However on the day the weather turned windy and it wasn’t long before it became too gusty to get useable moves from it. We had to lock into static positions, that still worked but not as intended. In retrospect maybe it helps the scene because we are totally focused on the performance rather than any distractions from a moving camera. Other practical consideration were that Selva was practically naked in a biting cold wind and extremely uncomfortable in the crucifix position. Working swiftly and efficiently was crucial to getting through the scene.

I’d always wanted to have a clear transition between the chaos and violent atmosphere in the lead up to the actual crucifixion and the moment when the cross is raised. That’s why I had the camera up on the crane framed on a wide landscape – the world which will be transformed by the events on the cross. Into that landscape the cross is raised, up to the camera and the audience then comes face to face with Jesus on the cross. I wanted to offer an intimate and private moment between the viewer and Christ on the cross.

I had a three metre Ladderpod which I used to shoot the angles of the others being crucified and although there was always the option of re-staging it at ground level we managed to avoid it –I was worried that doing that would undermine the dramatic tension there was on set which was there because of the nature of the scene in front of us – it really was powerful.

Having ensured that the cross would be back-lit when erected, I didn’t use any lighting other than a few bounce boards.

Although weather conditions had hampered the filming options somewhat, they did deliver a great sky for a wide shot silhouette of the scene towards the end of the day, and also a great leaden sky for when the crosses are lowered – so there’s always a bit of give and take with the weather, even in Morocco.

@BenHodgsonDOP