''Boy and Bicycle'' is the first film made by Ridley Scott. The black and white short was made on

16mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

while Scott was a

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

student at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1962. Although a very early work - Scott would not direct his first feature for another 15 years - the film is significant in that it features a number of visual elements that would become motifs of Scott's work. Shot entirely in

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed ...

and Seaton Carew the film features the cooling tower and blast furnaces of the local British Steel North Works foreshadowing images in '' Alien'', ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

'' and '' Black Rain''. The central element of the ''Boy and Bicycle'' is re-used in Scott's advert for

Hovis Hovis Ltd is a British company that produces flour and bread. The brand originated in Stoke-on-Trent and was first mass-produced in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in 1886. It became part of Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) in 1962 after a succession of merge ...

of the early 1970s. The film features Scott's younger brother,

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as '' Top Gun'' (1986), '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''D ...

, as the boy. "We were both experiencing the process that would fundamentally take us through our live together, in terms of making movies", Ridley Scott commented about the film and his brother. Scott secured finance from the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

to complete the editing and sound in 1965 including a track by John Barry called "Onward Christian Spacemen" (which originally appeared as the B-side of a cover version of the theme to '' The Human Jungle''

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

). Scott wanted to use the existing recording by Barry, but the composer was so impressed by the young filmmaker he agreed to produce a new recording for the film at limited cost. This film has been released as an extra on the DVD for Scott's first feature ''

The Duellists ''The Duellists'' is a 1977 British historical drama film and the feature film directorial debut of Ridley Scott. It won the Best Debut Film award at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. The basis of the screenplay is the Joseph Conrad short story "T ...

''.

References

External links

* 1965 films British short films Cycling films Films directed by Ridley Scott Films scored by John Barry (composer) 1960s English-language films {{short-film-stub