David Alexander Riddett (born 25 November 1954) is a prominent

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

mostly known for his work at

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited, known simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England, United Kingdom. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those fe ...

Early life and education

Riddett was born in

Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the 2021 census. It is the administrative headquarters of the Harborough dis ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

.Talk on Wallace & Gromit
by Harborough Mail, 7 March 2011. He was brought up in village of

Great Bowden Great Bowden is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is north-east of and a suburb of Market Harborough, although originally the parish of Great Bowden included Harborough. The population is around ...

. His father, Alec Riddett, was a photographer and artistic manager at Harborough Theatre, hence was Riddett's love for art and cinema. Riddett studied Art in

Loughborough College Overview Loughborough College is a large general further education college in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It provides both further education (FE) and higher education (HE) courses on a single campus. The colleg ...

, Communication Design (Film) at

Leeds College of Art Leeds Arts University is a specialist arts further and higher education institution, based in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a main campus opposite the University of Leeds. History It was founded in 1846 as the Leeds Sc ...

(

Bachelor's Degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

) and received Certificate in Radio, Film and Television at

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

Career

After finishing University of Bristol Riddett directed some student projects there. Then, in 1983 he and Dave Borthwick opened studio

bolexbrothers bolexbrothers (alternatively Bolex Brothers) was an independent British animation studio founded by Dave Borthwick and Dave Alex Riddett in Bristol, UK. The studio specialised in stop motion and pixilation animation, producing numerous short film ...

, producing

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s, music promos and TV title sequences. In 1985, still being employed by bolexbrothers, Riddett's talent was noted by Aardman Animations and he joined them as freelance member. Here he notably worked, as Cinematographer, with

Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is an English filmmaker and animator who created '' Wallace & Gromit'', '' Creature Comforts'', '' Chicken Run'', '' Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy ...

on his acclaimed

Creature Comforts ''Creature Comforts'' is a British stop-motion comedy franchise originating in a 1989 animated short film of the same name. The film matched animated zoo animals with a soundtrack of people talking about their homes, making it appear as if the ...

short and legendary

Wallace & Gromit ''Wallace & Gromit'' is a British claymation comedy franchise created by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations. The series centres on Wallace, a good-natured, eccentric, cheese-loving bachelor inventor, and Gromit, his loyal and intell ...

series, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave. Notably, Riddett quit bolexbrothers after 6 years of working here during production of Creature Comforts. During his early years at Aardman Dave also supplied his camera skills for "

Sledgehammer A sledgehammer is a tool with a large, flat, massive, often metal head, attached to a long wooden or solid handle. The long handle is combined with a heavy head which allows the sledgehammer to pick up momentum during a swing and applying a large ...

" music video. In 2000, Riddett was Senior Director of photography on much-acclaimed

Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 animated adventure comedy film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park and written by Karey Kirkpatrick from an original story by Lord and Park. Produced by Pathé and Aardman Features in partnership with DreamWork ...

, Aardman's first feature production then, and was nominated on

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and Worl ...

for his work in special visual effects.BAFTA Film Nominations 2000
In 2005 and 2008 Riddett was Director of Photography for Wallace & Gromit's first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

and for the short

Wallace and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf & Death ''Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death'' is a 2008 British stop-motion animated short film produced by Aardman Animations. Directed by Nick Park and written by Park and Bob Baker, it is the fifth installment in the ''Wallace & Gromit'' s ...

respectively. DoP on Wallace and Gromit World of Inventions and Wallace and Gromit at the Proms. In 2015 he was Director of Photography on Shaun the Sheep the Movie. Recent Films include Nick Parks feature 'Early Man' (2018) and Academy Nominated Robin Robin ( 2021 ) . Dave Alex was made a full member of the British Society of Cinematographers in 2020.

Personal

Riddett and his wife are living in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, city of Aardman's HQ. They have 2 children, a daughter, Charly and a son, Max.

References

External links

*
Riddett
s

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page
Interview with Riddett and Dave Borthwick
26 October 2001.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riddett, Dave Alex 1954 births People from Great Bowden English cinematographers English film directors Aardman Animations people Living people Alumni of Leeds Arts University