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Post by NickP on May 23, 2022 13:50:38 GMT
John Maskall (1944-2022)
I was very sad today to receive the news that John Maskall the camera operator on most Minder episodes has passed away. John had been unwell for a long time but when I spoke to him recently he seemed to be on the mend, unfortunately that wasn't to be. John operated on the Sweeney, the Professionals and Minder plus many other TV dramas, he was the go to man for directors young and old. I worked with John for many years, he was a superb operator and really nice guy, never one to try to lay the blame off, when things which they do occasionally; go wrong. So sad to see another friend and ex Minder camera crew member leave us, there's not many left. I must say though the success of this forum is a tribute to the great cast and crew who worked on Minder, so thank you jno and co for keeping our wonderful memories alive. RIP John many thanks for your friendship and help when I was a novice Grip. I can honestly say the experience of working along side such a talented technician aided my career later on.
Guild of British Cinema Technicians posted this today.
We were very sad to hear the news of the passing of JOHN MASKALL Associate BSC and full member of the GBCT who, upon his retirement, became an Honorary Member of the Guild. Elected to Associate BSC membership in 1991, John was a valued member of the Society. Robin Vidgeon BSC writes in tribute:
It is with great sadness I have to report that JOHN MASKALL ASSOC BSC passed away overnight in hospital on May 12th.
John was one of the country’s top film camera operators, having worked on over 40 major tv series and various feature films including the following.
‘The Sweeney’ (various), ‘Rough Diamond’ (2005-7), ‘A Touch of Frost’ (1999-2010), ‘Brides in the Bath’ (2003), ‘Inspector Morse’ (1992, ‘Poirot’ (1989), ‘Minder’ (1980-1986) and a host of others.
His feature work included.
‘Mandela’ (1987), ‘Empire of the Sun’ (1987), ‘Event Horizon’ (1997)
In 1969 he enjoyed his first job as Assistant Cameraman on the Documentary ‘The Battle for the Battle of Britain’
I had the great pleasure of working with John on many occasions over 15 years. He was a great operator, technician and friend to all who knew him and worked with him.
Robin Vidgeon BSC
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Post by McCann on May 23, 2022 15:49:11 GMT
Sorry for your loss, a familiar name on Euston film productions.
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Post by jno on May 23, 2022 16:03:47 GMT
My condolences Nick, this is sad to read.
I'll say this though ... fair dos, that's a hell of a lot of great shows, all of which we have watched and shall continue to watch for many years to come. What a legacy.
To be fair, if anyone's work is enjoyed almost half a century after they've done it, people still talk about it and it's still held in high regard by so many people, branded 'a classic" or even repeated every day, I can't think of a better definition of "you nailed it my son".
The crew on shows like those NickP has mentioned here, and in fact all films and tv are often never mentioned as much as they should be and of course, many of us will shamefully switch off as the credits roll or walk out of cinemas talking only about the leads or some key points.
Well done John for all your hard grafting, particularly on my favourite show 'Minder', which we all still love to watch and talk about on here. I'm sure you had a few laughs in order to give us a lot more. You were there as Arthur & Terry did their thing. What a job to have, and what gift we've been given for a long long time, past and present.
RIP John Maskall
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Post by spacecadet on May 23, 2022 18:15:57 GMT
Sorry to hear about this. Looking on IMDb I can see John worked on a lot of my favourite series which I still watch today on DVD and Blu-ray.
RIP John Maskall.
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Post by steve99 on May 23, 2022 19:58:13 GMT
Another member of the golden crew gone. You only have to look at John's list of credits to know how good he must have been at his job and his family can be proud of his contribution to British television. And let's not overlook John lending his talents to a Spielberg movie.
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Post by AlanH on May 23, 2022 23:59:46 GMT
Very sorry to hear this and condolences Nick on the loss of a friend and colleague. All things and people must pass and it's heartbreaking when they do but his work will live on for many years more. RIP.  |
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Post by NickP on May 24, 2022 8:31:54 GMT
Another member of the golden crew gone. You only have to look at John's list of credits to know how good he must have been at his job and his family can be proud of his contribution to British television. And let's not overlook John lending his talents to a Spielberg movie. Unfortunately Steve, John although he was probably the most successful of all the TV drama operators he never really cracked the film side. We always thought he was too quiet and obliging to the top experienced directors. A terrible mistake on their part. It was interesting as on TV dramas where you got young wet behind the ears directors straight out of film school, the often heard cry was, "what are we going to do now john"? On the Spielberg movie Empire of the Sun, John was second camera which very often didn't allow much creative input. Mainly because on second camera you hang round while the first team set up and usually its a case of just getting in where you're told and grabbing a quick close up or something that probably would finish up on the cutting room floor. As far as many film world technicians thought, his talent was wasted. which was TV dramas gain. Big compliment was that when David Frost started directing he insisted on having John as the operator to guide him through the technical side of filming. |
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Deleted
Deus est regit qui omnia.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2022 11:02:05 GMT
Nick, I was wondering if you had a chance to work with John again after Minder? As I understand you were a grip on the show. And do you know if he served as a mentor to other cameramen as his career and reputation matured?
I am so sorry for the loss of your dear colleague. John was clearly a master at his craft, and so often we forget those behind the cameras without whom literally nothing would be possible. As jno hinted at, never again will I watch an episode of Minder or The Sweeney without viewing the full end credits.
Thank you so much to all of you.
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Post by steve99 on May 24, 2022 19:21:19 GMT
Another member of the golden crew gone. You only have to look at John's list of credits to know how good he must have been at his job and his family can be proud of his contribution to British television. And let's not overlook John lending his talents to a Spielberg movie. Unfortunately Steve, John although he was probably the most successful of all the TV drama operators he never really cracked the film side. We always thought he was too quiet and obliging to the top experienced directors. A terrible mistake on their part. It was interesting as on TV dramas where you got young wet behind the ears directors straight out of film school, the often heard cry was, "what are we going to do now john"? On the Spielberg movie Empire of the Sun, John was second camera which very often didn't allow much creative input. Mainly because on second camera you hang round while the first team set up and usually its a case of just getting in where you're told and grabbing a quick close up or something that probably would finish up on the cutting room floor. As far as many film world technicians thought, his talent was wasted. which was TV dramas gain. Big compliment was that when David Frost started directing he insisted on having John as the operator to guide him through the technical side of filming. When I saw the list of John's credits on IMDb, I thought there must be a good reason as to why he didn't work on more feature films. I've seen this scenario in offices, where very capable individuals don't have the type of personality to push themselves forward enough and are basically too nice to develop the career they should have (I've seen plenty of not so nice people in careers they don't deserve). But hopefully John was aware of the high regard many had for his abilities. |
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Post by NickP on May 25, 2022 8:56:28 GMT
Nick, I was wondering if you had a chance to work with John again after Minder? As I understand you were a grip on the show. And do you know if he served as a mentor to other cameramen as his career and reputation matured? I am so sorry for the loss of your dear colleague. John was clearly a master at his craft, and so often we forget those behind the cameras without whom literally nothing would be possible. As jno hinted at, never again will I watch an episode of Minder or The Sweeney without viewing the full end credits. Thank you so much to all of you. Yes indeed I did we worked on several projects, "Escape from Sobibor" for NBC starring Rutger Hauer and Alan Arkin, Reilly Ace of Spies, The Wimbledon Poisoner, GBH, The Dressmaker, Disappearance of Harry, The Manageress, Soldier Soldier, Under Suspicion, and what we all laughingly called our clowning glory, the awful Bloodbath at the House of Death the only movie that Kenny Everett ever "starred" in, It was so bad. The director was one of Kenny's scriptwriters, Malcolm McIntosh's father. The Director of Photography was another Euston stalwart Dusty Millar. We shot the first scene and the director said OK we've got that next set, Dusty and John both said hang on that won't cut we need another shot to lead to the next scene. The "director" came out with a famous "I'm the director I know what I'm doing" So the camera Crew all went OK just tell us when to turn over and cut. John mentored lots of technicians in the nicest possible way, he was a very gentle man and very knowledgeable about the filming process, Many high ranking technicians today owe a lot of their success to him. If there was ever an operator who should have been directing it was him, he nudged so many young directors in the right direction. I constantly nagged him about going directing but he always said no I love operating, and by golly he was good at it. |
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Post by yorkshirebilly on May 30, 2022 21:02:23 GMT
He was responsible for the wonderful three-and-a-half-minute hand-held single take (no cuts) in The Sweeney episode Night Out, in which we are introduced to Iris and her bedsit by way of one-shots, two-shots, over-the-shoulder shots, shots in mirrors as the camera effortlessly follows her and Regan around her bedroom. And much kudos to the focus-puller (Mike Proudfoot) for keeping it all in focus. www.imdb.com/title/tt0714449/triviaI've just submitted his date of death to IMDB. |
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