Desert Island Films- Patrick Woodroffe OBE RDI

Desert Island Films Ed. 8

Imagine being trapped on an island with nothing to do; no phones, no laptops, no wifi and the boring old commodities like food and water. But have no fear! Your island does, for some reason, come complete with a state of the art cinema with a lovely big screen and eight of your most beloved, favourite films of all time!

We have interviewed a number of people of note that are connected to the historical city of Bath. Eighth, is the renowned Lighting Designer and Director Patrick Woodroffe OBE RDI.

Patrick Woodroffe

Patrick’s career in lighting spans nearly 50 years, in which he has been responsible for lighting and directing concerts for many of the seminal names in the world of music including, among many others, ABBA, Adele, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan. He has been the lighting designer and creative director for the Rolling Stones since 1982 and lit their Scorsese-directed film Shine A Light in New York. He designed the lighting for the This Is It show for Michael Jackson where his work was featured in the documentary concert film that followed. He has lit operas, ballets, spaceships, ocean liners, Formula One cars, Buckingham Palace, The White House and Barney the Dinosaur. He lit the opening and closing ceremonies at the London Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.

“I have lived just outside Bath for 35 years in a beautiful, secret, folded valley. The city’s history, beautiful architecture and bohemian culture all appeal, as does the eclectic group of friends I’ve made here over the years.”

Patrick’s love for film

The mix of drama, adventure, travel, and comedy that I discovered on my weekly visits to the Braintree Rialto as a child, has been a pretty good reflection of the real life I have lived since then. In a funny way it’s never felt like a proper job even though the work is often challenging, but a career spent travelling around the world, meeting and working with strange and wonderful people, has often felt like being an extra in my own bespoke movie.

1. The Godfather (and The Godfather: Part Two), Francis Ford Coppola

Please say these count as one and not two…

2. Galaxy Quest, Dean Parisot, 1999

For the mad and wonderful premise of the story and the pitch-perfect acting of every character in the movie

3. Laurel and Hardy (series)

This was my very first introduction to film, where we watched the scratchy prints of Laurel & Hardy on wet afternoons in the gym of my prep school, aged seven years old

4. The Sound of Music, Robert Wise, 1965

Watched every year at Christmas en famille. The high point of the afternoon is always the duet of Edelweiss that I perform in perfect unison with the Captain, in floods of tears. Mine are real, while my family’s I suspect, are more of mirth than of sadness

5. Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean, 1962

The first feature film I ever watched on a big screen and is chosen as much for its length on my desert island as for the brilliant cinematography.

6. Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola, 2003

A jewel of a film. I stayed at the same Park Hyatt in Tokyo on a trip to Japan with my then 16-year-old daughter Alice, where are we acted out and recorded every great scene in the movie from the swimming pool to the bar to the lonely figure in the window overlooking the city.

7. Goldfinger, Guy Hamilton, 1964

My first Bond film and in my opinion, still one of the greatest. Made me fall in love with America where I eventually moved to live. When I returned some years later, it was to Bath…

8. This is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner, 1984

Because of my long career in music I feel like I know every character in the film by default! My friend John Sinclair is the keyboard player in the movie and told me that he auditioned and rehearsed for the film in Los Angeles, with the cast remaining in character for a whole week before he realised that this wasn’t a real band!

Thanks to Patrick for his Desert Island Films! Look out for the next in our series, coming out in October!