David “Gribs” Gribble, ACS on his long career and films Cadillac Man, The World’s Fastest Indian, The Quest, Jesse Stone

David “Gribs” Gribble grew up in Brisbane, AU and began studying
photography at night school. He became a photo assistant, moved to
Sydney, and found a job at a local film studio making commercials
and low-budget movies. At the time, in the 1970's and '80's,
Australia was experiencing a resurgence of its cinema, known as the
Australian New Wave. The government provided tax incentives for
ordinary people to invest in movies, and established the Australian
Film, Television and Radio School. The country's film industry was
jump started, and the genre known as Ozploitation was born. Gribs
learned camera operating on the job. His first feature film was The
Man From Hong Kong, followed by the Aussie cult classic race movie,
Running On Empty. The film Monkey Grip won some awards, and Gribs
was asked to shoot his first American movie, Off Limits, starring
Willem Dafoe and Gregory Hines. He thinks that working with
American actors was different than working with Australian actors-
the Americans seemed to be more prone to distraction and sensitive
about their appearance. Gribs learned to “light faces, not places”
since that's where the dialog comes from, and flattering actors by
telling them how great they look in a particular spot, to give them
tools to make themselves look better on screen. He also learned
that in lighting, it's better to work with a broad brush and shoot
before you're ready- as a cinematographer, don't indulge yourself
too much. The movie Cadillac Man was challenging to shoot for a few
reasons. The movie takes place almost entirely in one location- at
the car dealership. Gribs had to combat flat lighting up against
the walls of the office, as well as dealing with reflections from
shiny cars and large windows. Director Roger Donaldson shot take
after take, because actor Robin Williams was constantly improvising
off script. Gribs found him extremely funny, and says there was so
much extra footage of Williams that was cut out, it could probably
make another movie. Gribs also discusses working with Anthony
Hopkins on The World's Fastest Indian, Jean-Claude Van Damme on The
Quest and shooting the Jesse Stone movies starring Tom Selleck.
Find David Gribble: Instagram @gribshott Sponsored by Hot Rod
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