Director Profile: RIDLEY SCOTT

Written by Anthony Watkins

Early Life

One of the most prominent and successful directors in the film industry today is director Ridley Scott. Scott was born in South Shields, Durham, England on November 30, 1937. He had two brothers, one being the now deceased director Tony Scott. As a child, Ridley loved watching movies. When he reached college, he pursued a career in film and eventually helped to establish the film department at the Royal College of Art. In his last project at the college, he produced and directed the short film Boy and Bicycle, which starred his younger brother Tony Scott (Biography).

In 1962, Ridley joined the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a trainee set designer and began working on several popular shows. He worked at the BBC for a few years, directing episodes of shows such as Z Cars, Thirty-Minute Theatre, and The Informer. Eventually, though, Ridley left BBC because of poor financial compensation. In 1967, he proceeded to go into advertising, and founded Ridley Scott Associates (RSA) with his brother Tony. Together, they spent the next 10 years developing TV advertisements (IMDB).

First Feature Film

Nevertheless, Ridley wanted to pursue feature films, and in the 1970s he began working with producer David Puttnam. Ultimately, this led to Ridley’s feature-film directional debut, The Duellists. The film won the Jury Prize for Best First Work at the Cannes Film Festival in 1977 and was nominated for 2 BAFTA film awards. The film effectively helped launch Ridley’s film career (IMDB).

After seeing the success of Star Wars: Episode IV-A New Hope, Ridley became interested in going into the science-fiction genre. He ended up accepting the offer to direct Dan O’Bannon’s low budget sci-fi horror flick Alien. Upon release, the film, which won 1 Oscar for Best Visual Effects, became a critical and commercial success, firmly establishing Scott’s reputation as a credible film director (IMDB).

Ridley Scott's first major box-office hit was the sci-fi/horror film Alien. The film sported state-of-the-art special effects and its "chestburster scene" was ranked the second scariest movie moment of all time in Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

Ridley’s next directorial effort after Alien was 1982’s Blade Runner. At the time of its release, Blade Runner was a flop for both the audience and critics. In its opening weekend, the film only garnered $6 million out of its $28 million budget. Nevertheless, as the years passed, Blade Runner’s reputation grew, and today the film is regarded as a sci-fi classic (IMDB).

After Blade Runner, in 1991, (with a few films in between), Ridley directed one of his most critically successful films, Thelma & Louise. The film, which starred Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, earned Scott his first Academy Award nomination (IMDB).

One of the films for which Scott is most well-known came at the turn of the millennium---Gladiator. The film, starring Russell Crowe, tells the story of a former Roman General who is betrayed and who's family is murdered by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ corrupt son, Commodus. The film was a major critical and commercial success and was nominated for 12 Oscars, winning 5---including Best Picture. 

One of Ridley Scott's most successful films, Gladiator, was nominated for 12 Oscars and won 5---including Best Picture for 2000. Russell Crowe also won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

After Gladiator, Scott directed several other films, including Black Hawk Down, American Gangster, Body of Lies, and Robin Hood, the last of which reunited Ridley with Russell Crowe a decade after Gladiator. Most of these films were critical and commercial successes, and further established Ridley Scott as a talented, sought-after director.

In 2012, Ridley directed a “semi-prequel” to Alien, titled Prometheus. The film was, for the most part, well-received by critics and audiences, though some complained of unanswered questions that lingered after the conclusion of the film. Currently, Ridley is working in post-production on the Biblical epic, Exodus: Gods and Kings, which stars Christian Bale and tells the account of Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. It will be interesting to see how much debate the film receives after the mass controversy of Darren Aronofsky’s Noah.

Trademarks
Ridley frequently sketches his own storyboards for his films with great artistic style. He also usually incorporates strong female characters in his films, with examples including Sigourney Weaver in Alien, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise, and Alison Lohman in Matchstick Men. He also frequently casts Academy Award winner Russell Crowe (who won his Oscar for Gladiator). He has used Crowe in 5 of his films: Gladiator, A Good Year, American Gangster, Body of Lies, and Robin Hood.

On the technical side, Ridley begins most of his films with a title card sequence, as in Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down. He usually does not use a lot of wide lenses, as he leans more towards longer focal lengths—which produce magnified shots. For music, he usually hires Academy Award winning composer Hans Zimmer (composer of Gladiator). Finally, Ridley Scott is generally known as the “father” of the “director’s cut”. These cuts included Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator.

 

WORKS CITED

IMDB. 2014. 10 April 2014. <http://www.imdb.com>.

"Ridley Scott." 2014. The Biography.com website. 2014. 10 April 2014.