February 8th, 2015.
So... it's that time of year. The British Film Industry's Night Of Nights, or as I prefer to call it, The Night Of 1001 Profiles, as my hours and hours spent queueing for a Public Pen Access Wristband results in me getting mainly photos of the backs of peoples' heads or the side as they rush past me. And still kind of loving it, and the madness it entails.
This year I queued for over 5 hours for a wristband that ended up being a higher number than ever before. It's not getting easier, but the weather was drier and warmer than it has been in past years. Here's how it went down.
My BAFTA wristband. It's glossy, it's white, and it's mine. Once I'm in a public pen, it counts for nothing as everyone pushes and screams and jostles, but out on the streets of London I like to think it gives unimaginable power and prestige. Disregarding all evidence to the contrary.
In the five or so hours we have from when we're let into the Pens until This Thing Actually Starts, we all pass the time in various ways. Up to and including playing Fruit Ninja and placing hasty last minute trades on various stock exchanges.
One year, perhaps next year, I'm going to hang my GoPro from one of the railing and see if anyone notices.
One year, perhaps the year AFTER next year, I'm going to hang a fullsize SLR from the eye of a Bafta Halloween Mask and see if anyone mistakes the glint off the lens for a twinkle in the mask's eye (such thoughts as these and many even less interesting pass through my mind in the hours before waiting for the Baftas to start)
Holding aloft my smallest camera for one of only three shots reveals my approximat position. It's not great, but it might not be awful. I'm nowhere near the dropoff point where Celebs tend to mingle, but that place is crowded like the place in the where they leave all the weapons every Hunger Games.
"Are all those little dots PEOPLE??"
"The map isn't drawn to scale, dear". The hours continue to while away.
In other news... there's a protest going on near where the Stars' dropoff point is. I'm not sure what (say) Eddie Redmayne's union leanings are, or whether he'll use this event to unveil them.
Interviewer Edith Bowman walks the carpet, flashing her branded Bafta microphone and envelope, and the dress an Ostrich was possibly drowned in dye to create.
This is what a Bafta Ticket looks like. Based on the attire of the person clutching it, she probably didn't queue and wait for a total of upwards of 10 hours (or have a combination of Chinese and Puerto Rican tourists shoving her)
Our first arrival of legitimate note is composer Alexandre Desplat, who ended up winning a Bafta for best original score for The Grand Budapest Hotel. His scarf is amazing as well.
"My scarf doesn't pose for portraits, but I'm happy to sign autographs on its behalf.."
"Hark! Is that the sound of a turtle sneezing?" If he can hear that above the screams of the crowd, he's got the music on his ipod turned up a whole lot less than I have. (Actor Matthew Goode is in The Imitation Game, which he was very good in).
"Please tell me again how great I look"
"I just said you look better than all the dodgey t-shirts you wear in the movie"
Ellar Coltrane is the main/lead/subject (??) of Richard Linklater's "Boyhood", which won best picture and best director Baftas on the night.
Assistant: "Did you watch what Redlettermedia had to say about "Boyhood"? Let's say it wasn't flattering!"
Ellar Coltrane: "Lady, I just came here for the free drinks and to look awesome in a tux"
Long range shot of a heating/lighting rig, and also actor Jack O'Connell, who ended up winning the Bafta for the EE Rising Star Award. I had previously photographed him at The Premiere of "Unbroken"
"Wait... none of the Twilight films won ANY Baftas?? I am shocked... dismayed... and not too surprised" MyAnna Buring was in those films.
"Boyhood? It's Magical. It took them twelve years to make it, you know..." JK Simmons won the Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for his role in "Whiplash", a premiere where I took considerably better photos of him.
"Yo, where the champagne and canapes be at??"
Meanwhile, please don't break my heart and tell me this isn't Snoop Dogg.
"Boyhood? It's magical. It took them twelve years to make. That said, I directed "Whiplash" so forgive me if I prefer my own movie". This is Damien Chazelle, and he directed Whiplash
"You want me to stab you with this sharpie? The nib's pretty soft... it's probably going to take multiple attempts over an extended period if you're okay with that?" Andrew Scott is Moriarty in the TV Series Sherlock, and is also in the movie "Pride" which has nominations at these Awards.
Last time I photographed Andrew Scott he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt at an Apple Store event and it was pretty hard to make him - or anyone - look like a criminal mastermind in a Hawaiian shirt. Tuxedoes, though, can be both classy AND menacing.
Looking possibly even more potentially maniacal is Nick Cave, whose "20,000 Days On Earth" was nominated in the Best Documentary Bafta category.
"You're streaming a pirated version of the film AT the Baftas? Wow." Patricia Arquette was nominated and won the Best Supporting Actress BAFTA for her performance in 'Boyhood'.
Noel Gallagher was once in the band Oasis, but after they split he started that band whose name escapes me. Or maybe that was his brother, and Noel started the OTHER band whose name it is that ALSO escapes me. Still... he's on a Bafta red carpet, and presumably he was invited
One of only two sharp(ish) photos of Michael Keaton I managed to take. Kudos to the guy with the DVD to his right. Michael Keaton, along with being Batman in two Tim Burton films and being nominated for Best Actor for Birdman, was also the voice of Ken in the Toy Story films.
"No, I don't hate George Clooney, Val Kilmer or Christian Bale. Ben Affleck I'm undecided on, though"
My Pentax makes yet another tragic focussing error trying to capture a moving Mich.... but weirdly manages quite a compelling photo nonetheless.
"I don't care if Boyhood loses every category, just so long as The Lego Movie wins Best Animated Feature". Actor Sam Claflin's thoughts echo (or may in fact be) my own. I can't believe The Oscars had five slots for that category and The Lego Movie didn't even get one. Meanwhile, Bafta only has three slots, The Lego Movie got the nomination AND WON the category.
"No, I'm not Keira Knightley, but Yes, you can still photograph me". Actress Laura Haddock is married to Sam Claflin.
Michael Keaton, blurry, because sadly you can't program your camera to tell it that the dude with the blue neckstrap who isn't in the centre of frame should not be focussed on in CENTRE FOCUS mode (thanks, Pentax)
Professor Stephen Hawking attended the Baftas (and also the premiere for "The Theory of Everything"). Testament to the crush of revellers on the red carpet whose presence made it very difficult to photograph people, they likewise made little effort to make room for his wheelchair.
Actress Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl") briefly emerges from behind the crush of the red carpet to look at a guy in the foreground whose head is a lot larger than perspective shift can quite explain.
"I'm just going to lean against this girder for a short while...."
This is sadly as good a shot of Eddie Redmayne as I was able to get. A pity additionally because he ended up winning Best Actor on the night. I don't mind saying I'd have preffered Benedict Cumberbatch to win the award, even if only because I got better photos of him (refer below).
One last profile shot of Michael Keaton. If this journal needs one thing, it's more profile shots. Profile shots are this year's "In Focus" in photography.
"Boyhood? I hear it took them twelve years to make... that's longer than it took for Disney to try to revive Star Wars after Those Prequels. You gotta respect that, no?" James McAvoy may have a point.
"Everybody in Comic Books aloways survives Everything, but MY character had to die?!". Renee Russo was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Bafta, but lost out to Patricia Arquette. And her character in Thor was killed. They had a funeral and everything..
I hope this is actress Margot Robbie, because I've never previously photographed her. Which is why I can't be certain this IS Margot Robbie.
"You wouldn't like me if I was piqued, irritable, or mildly annoyed either". Mark Ruffalo's Bafta nomination was for Best Supporting Actor for 'Foxcatcher', at whose premiere he was not. He's better known for being Bruce Banner / The Hulk in The Avengers.
Also in The Avengers, as Captain America, is actor Chris Evans.
"Will there ever be a Captain Austria? Chances are slim, dude, but it's a wide Marvel Universe so keep hoping"
"Hey, you were in that movie I really like!"
"No kidding -- me too!!" ... this is all good fodder for feverish fanfic, as far as I can tell.
If this had been Tom Hiddleston hugging Benedict Cumberbatch, not only would I have been able to sell the photo and retire tomorrow, but the internet as we know it would have melted into a liquid, and then evaporated into gas and plasma from the heated fanfiction that would have resulted. And that would, I suppose, have been my fault for posting it. Still.. the lady in the background looks pleased.
Meanwhile, from the *OTHER* Universe, here's Henry Cavill, DC Comics' Superman.
"Ben Affleck as Batman and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor??? You're not just making this 5h1t up??? Wow."
"He's got a great body, but he's not too bright. Still... you gotta love the big lug-head" Amy Adams, conveniently, is both (a) very pretty, and (b) plays Lois Lane to Henry Cavill's Superman in Man of Steel.
Amy Adams, as previously noted, is very pretty... she was nominated for Best Actress for "Big Eyes" but lost out to Julianne Moore.
"Sequel to The English Patient? Well... I guess all the studios want to have franchises, why not?" Kristin Scott Thomas was pretty awesome in Only God Forgives, too..
John Boyega is set to be in the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII, a movie I steadfastly maintain I have no faith in the possibility of being any good. But if it means a new John Williams score, then that's great.
"Yeah, the Hair's Real... what are you implying? Oh... the EYE-BROWS. Well... no comment" Ethan Hawke was in Boyhood and accepted Richard Linklater's Best Director award on the night.
"That man takes his job so seriously I'm starting to question whether Richard Linklater's mere 12 years making 'Boyhood' even stacks up to that level of commitment..."
Felicity Jones playes the role of Jane Hawking in "The Theory of Everything". She didn't win, but shes still very cool.
From the portraiture school that says "Portrait View Is The New Black'n'White" which I just founded, comes... my only decent photo of Edward Norton, who was brilliant in Birdman, but sadly was denied the BAFTA for best supporting actor by JK Simmons... who looked awesome in his role too.
Douglas Booth is not known for being in Twilight, Divergent, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner or even any of those awful Percy Jackson films. Which makes me wonder what movie I could possibly know him from...
"Well of course I'll still accept the Award if I'm given it, I'm just suprised it's for "Still Alice" and not "The Hunger Games". yeah... I mean... I've at least heard of one of those films.
"A comedy spinoff where Irene Adler shares an apartment with Mrs Hudson? You're the fifth person today to ask about that". Steven Moffatt is writer/co-creator of the BBC Series "Sherlock" so I think it's possible, if not likely, if not awesome-sounding.
I don't know who this is, but I will never *NOT* include lens flares this awesome in one of these journals.
Imelda Staunton was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "Pride" but is arguably beter known for playing the vile Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.
"I regret only the amount of Pink I wore in that film."
"The hair is amazing, right?" Natalie Dormer is best known for playing Margaery Tyrell in Game of Thrones, though she's also in The Hunger Games : Mockingjay. One of my local baristas in St Albans has a hardcore long/shaved hairstyle like she does in the film... it's weird having your morning mocha served by somebody who looks like they should be holding a rocket launcher, but it's good coffee.
Steve Carell was nominated for Best Actor for "Foxcatcher", and also attended its BFI London Film Festival premiere last year. I hear his fake nose is currently housed in a display cabinet at the Smithsonian.
Our most conspicuous absence among likely arrivals is undoubtedly Benedict Cumberbatch... who weirdly I hapen to know is filming episodes of Sherlock at the moment - as in, I literally walked past the street yesterday afternoon where they were filming an episode...
This *really* happens on the streets (well...certain streets) in London. And they don't release guard dogs or unleash snipers if you take photos while they film (they ask you to tunrn off your camera's flash though)
Anyway, back to the Baftas...
... and here's the man himself, looking like maybe he remembers either me or my camera from yesterday (or perhaps remembering the five dollars he owes me?)
"Xylene? I put it on all my meals and mix it into all my drinks. Sucking on a Sharpie is a really inelegant way of getting at those chemicals though". As if the excitement level couldn't rise futher, Tom Hiddleston (eeeeee!) has arrived. And the Red Capert is by now mostly empty, so photography has become a lot simpler. I've continually said that Rain and Cold Weather are a great thing for the Baftas. Without them, everyone just hangs around on the red carpet making it impossible to photograph people.
"They're singing "Happy Birthday To You" at me! I'm both incredibly flattred and worried that somehow I'll be sued for breach of copyright over this"
Julie Walters hasn't merely won SIX Baftas, but also played Molly Weasley in the Harry Potter films. So between her and Hiddleston and Cumberbatch we've got a pretty serious BIG THREE left on the red carpet as this thing heads to a close...
Cuba Gooding quickly zips by, briely making it FOUR on the red carpet.
"A standalone Loki film? Make it a musical and I'd still be up for it..."
I'm not sure what I'd do if Scarlett Johansson gave me this look, but since I'm a guy and this is Benedict Cumberbatch I suspect I'll get by somehow.
I'm guessing he DOESN'T have the five dollars he owes me, then.
"I... don't have time to talk finance right now, sorry". Until next time, then?
So... that was pretty BIG. The Baftas for me are always initially about the peole I've missed... it's such a huge throng of people both on the red carpet, and in the crowd, pushing, screaming, shoving notebooks and photos to get signed, mobile phones and cameras and selfie sticks... and the rest.
But it's also a pretty great thing to be able to go to. And then go home and watch the ceremony while while editing through a couple thousand photos.
"I'm riding an invisible horse. And when that happens it means it's time for you guys to head on home."
And so it is.
So it's another one for "The Archive Of Premieres"
where it joins four previous Baftas:
The 2010 Baftas
The 2012 Baftas
The 2013 Baftas and
The 2014 Baftas
I can't believe I've done five of these now...
ps. If you want to know whenever I post a new premiere journal, feel free to follow me on twitter @berndt2_photo or on facebook by clicking here (assuming the incompetent and thuggishly superior clowns there let you)