Boy and Bicycle

Using a Bolex camera borrowed from art school Ridley Scott (BLADE RUNNER, GLADIATOR) shot his first film over the summer of 1956 in his hometown of Hartlepool. Scott used his brother, Tony, then 16 years old, and his mother and father as actors. There are few signs of what audiences could later expect from a Ridley Scott film. It was shot over six weeks, with voice-over and synchronised dialogue added later. The first audiences for BOY AND BICYCLE were Scott's teachers and fellow students in the Theatre Design department of the Royal College of Art. Scott finished the film in 1958 with a £250 grant from the British Film Institute, following his graduation. He cites the experience of making this short the one that made him and his brother Tony Scott (ENEMY OF THE STATE, SPY GAME) want to become filmmakers. "I was heavily into Kurosawa at the time. I knew he used certain filters for his monochrome films. So I was stuffing on red filters every chance I got. I used a lot of hand-held camera and even drafted my father to act as a camera-car driver." Ridley Scott on Boy and Bicycle