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Jake Polonsky

@jakepolonsky

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www.polonskyfineart.com

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Huge thanks to Haris Zambarloukos BSC GSC (@zambagram) for an amazing Q&A hosted by Jake Polonsky BSC on the #Oasis Documentary DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER. This wonderful Q&A was sponsored by our Patrons @sonyprofilmmaking and @panavisionofficial who were instrumental in bringing the film together. by @jakepolonsky

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a month ago

A ground-breaking #Documentary series returns tonight for its final chapter, 70 Up: The Final Chapter. The series which began in the 60s has followed the same characters each seven years allowing us the audience to grow with them and experience life through their eyes. This latest chapter is directed by Asif Kapadia and shot by Jake Polonsky BSC (@jakepolonsky).

The series features the work of the previous filmmakers and we pay tribute to Paul Almond (Director of Seven Up!) and Michael Apted who directed (7+7-63 up). David Samuelson BSC shot Seven Up, Tony Mander shot Seven plus Seven and then George Jesse Turner shot 21-63 Up.

You can watch 70up on ITV at 9pm. by @jakepolonsky

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a month ago

The final chapter...from childhood to adulthood

70 Up, September 15 on ITV

Directed by Asif Kapadia & Michael Apted | Cinematography by Jake Polonsky, BSC @jakepolonsky

@itv @multistorytv by @jakepolonsky

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a month ago

I’m quite confident that this is the only time I’ll work on a show that is older than I am. Since 1964, the Up series has been following the stories of 14 people from the age of 7, revisiting them every seven years, concluding with this week's final instalment 70Up. It’s the longest running show on British television!Watch the first of two parts next Tuesday 15 September on ITV at 9pm.
@asifkapadia1 #70up #itv by @jakepolonsky

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a month ago

There have been calamitous aspects to this summer’s heatwaves but the sunshine has been perfect for infrared photography.

Full sun beating on chlorophyll means glowing whites under black skies. My Lifepixel converted D70 is still working well though I may have to try a return to analogue infrared despite there still being no film with the sensitivity of the late lamented Kodak HIS.

@lifepixelinfrared @nikoneurope @nikonusa @reddigitalcinema @arri #panavisionofficial @infrared_global
#studlandbay_nt
#ntcorfecastle taken in Studland Bay by @jakepolonsky

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2 months ago

Tyson. Me. De Kuip stadium.
And a harp?
10/6/26.
Swipe for widescreen.
@kobihoffmann @eranharel @brucestclair_official @jannekehogenboom @pacokumar @cameracarsholland @___samvis
#sonyvenice #hawkanamorphic @jiminy.tv @wpagency taken in Feyenoord De Kuip Rotterdam by @jakepolonsky

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3 months ago

The surprisingly poignant Take That documentary currently on Netflix took me back to a time in 2007, when we shot the band’s video for ‘Rule The World’ in Abbey Road’s Studio 1 - a magic place to work, rich with musical history. This was during the heyday of promos, when we thought nothing of doing several 16 hour days in a week [‘8 til midnights’].

In fact the week we shot ‘Rule the World’, we also shot Kings of Leon being hypnotised in the Hackney Empire [a horrible day, but I’ll tell you about that another time] and rounded it off with Mark Ronson’s ‘Valerie’ video, which featured multiple singers covering up for the fact that Amy Winehouse hadn’t shown up, an idea the record company approved as they knew she genuinely wouldn’t show up. Another story we’ll revisit later.

For this video though, the director Barney Clay wanted to shoot a small number of very long choreographed shots. I had ace steadicam op @xandysahla and JimmyJib master @robbaduckcameraservices [Rob Ballantyne] on hand who made it possible. My gaffer Reuben Garrett delivered beautiful lighting, much of it in shot - these were the days when we loved ground rows and Rifa lights. I think all of the lighting was tungsten.

And it was 35mm; more than that it was anamorphic. All those flares came courtesy of the Panavision C and E series which I still use as often as I can, and my fearless focus puller @ruperthornstein1966 took a scenario that could have terrified a lesser AC and guessed his way through with masterful intuition.

I have always been enormously proud of this video and of my team.

Video link in bio.

#anamorphic
#panavision taken in Abbey Road Studios by @jakepolonsky

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8 months ago

I declare the 2025-6 screener season officially open. taken in Cineworld Leicester Square by @jakepolonsky

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a year ago

There are major milestones to aim for in every career. In the world of cinematography, one of those milestones is having your photo on the wall at Panavision. At most PV offices around the world there is a gallery of framed monochrome shots of cinematographers, heroically depicted surrounded by Panavision gear. The gallery in London is mostly made up of A list feature film DPs, and I’d pretty much given up on making it onto that one.

Then a few months ago, one of my camera gang, Chris Samworth, sent me a picture. I’d made it on to the wall! Not the hero wall where you come in; no, I’m on a kind of patchwork wall at the back of the camera floor, above the parcel collection point.

And I’m not pictured on a ride on crane suspended over hundreds of extras, or looking off into the distance nonchalantly holding a huge pentafinder, or even mid-gesture like I’m describing some amazing shot. No, I’m rather tenderly embracing two great musicians for whom I have the utmost respect, Ron and Russell Mael, AKA Sparks. I’m proud to be there with them.

@sparks_official
@edgarwright - who also took the picture, thanks Edgar
@samworth79
@panavisionofficial taken in Panavision London by @jakepolonsky

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2 years ago

Though I’ll always love infrared film, I have also been making infrared photographs digitally for a while now. In fact, digital sensors are, on the whole, extremely sensitive to infrared light. So much so that most have factory fitted filters to prevent the infrared wavelengths from contaminating your images. All you have to do is remove that filter, replace it with another one which only transmits the infrared wavelengths, and you're good to go.

I had an old Nikon D70 converted to black and white infrared by @lifepixelinfrared some years ago. It took a bit of getting used to but, while it is different from infrared film, it does have a quality all of its own. I’ve made a few tests on digital cinema cameras [the early Panavision Genesis worked well], but I’d love someone to release a truly infrared sensitive motion picture system.

1/ View from La Pastina
2/ Path through the Forest, Tuscany
3/ De Waal Park, Cape Town
4/ Parliament Hill Lido
5/ Bank Holiday, Swanage

@lifepixelinfrared @nikoneurope @nikonusa @reddigitalcinema @arri #panavisionofficial by @jakepolonsky

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2 years ago

One of this year’s BAFTA films is a documentary about Merchant Ivory. Watching it took me right back to 1998 when I was hired to go out to Kerala to be the camera operator on an MIP project that Ismail was directing called ‘Cotton Mary’. I worked with the formidable Pierre Lhomme AFC, his legendary focus puller, the late Jean Pierre Supe, and gaffer par excellence Pierre Abraham.

There were many memorable days during the three month shoot: the first day when Pierre’s first set up was a 300mm tracking shot that he insisted I do with the geared head; another when the caterers made a beef lasagne for lunch and all the Hindu crew went on strike; or the morning Ismail called us at the crack of dawn to shoot in a Cochin mansion which he didn’t actually have permission from the owners to shoot in yet.

Most of all though, as the documentary shows, the experience involved being part of a family and having an adventure together. James was there to support Ismail, who was normally the producer of their projects. And Ismail really did invite us all round to dinner at some point, where he took great pride in overseeing all the activity in the kitchen. Horrified by my lack of appropriate clothing for the tropical Keralan climate, he sent me off to a local tailor whom he had paid to copy several of my shirts from home in thin airy fabrics.

I’ll never forget my first meeting with him in London. As we sat down together in his office above Andrew Edmunds in Lexington St, he simply asked: ‘we’re going out to India to make this little film, and I wondered if you’d like to be the camera operator?’

Never had a more straightforward interview!

1/ Ismail on set with Madhur Jaffrey
2/ Me and my boss, Pierre Lhomme AFC
3/ Ginger factory, Cochin
4/ Focus puller Jean-Pierre Supe with script super Zoe Morgan
5/ Cochin street sign. I love the fact that the Jewish area of town was just called ‘Jewtown.’ And if you had a road that took you to the Jewish cemetery, what would you call it? Jew Cemetery Lane of course.
6/ And there’s the Jewish cemetery.

All on 35mm Agfa Ultra, one of the greatest colour stills films ever made.

#merchantivory #merchantivorydocfilm #zolmio #makeupkohl taken in Fort Kochi by @jakepolonsky

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2 years ago

Surface Season 2 comes to Apple TV+ on February 21. Moving the show from San Francisco [Vancouver] to London meant a lot of new locations to get to grips with. Choosing the Venice 2 and a combination of K35s and Tokina Cinema Vistas, we overcame some tough challenges. In and out of the Royal Festival Hall in a day was a memorable one. And yes, you can shoot in the lobby of the Savoy, but it’s only available between 3 and 5am. Night shoots on the 24th floor of Tower 42 in the summer with windows and extras everywhere [see my previous Guardian post].

Walking our lead actress #gugumbatharaw round three blocks of Bond Street in broad daylight turned out to be easier than I expected. The general public’s absorption in their devices means it’s possible to shoot undisturbed on the streets with a bit of luck.

Of course, great sets from Cat and a tip top team who all helped make it happen - thank you #gordonjgoodwin #samworth79 #megatron1387 #matt_the_dit #elliotsebreg #edlilly_ #spindlehands #cat_meredydd_pd #fabricespelta #cineaero #arri_rental #pke_lighting_ltd #tokinavistauk #tokinacinemausa. Also crediting my fellow DPs #stephanpehrsson #timsidellbsc #sergiodelgado by @jakepolonsky

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2 years ago