FEATURE

Guilbert Provides Unique Take On Train Travel For Dinner On The Diner

by Allen Rabinowitz

The basic premise for the four-part PBS series Dinner on the Diner could also serve as the blueprint for a dream vacation: a trip through an exotic locale on a luxury train with the menu featuring a specialt cuising prepared by a celebrity chef. Filmmaker Jonathan Guilbert of Gandy Dancer Productions in Portsmouth, New Hampshire combined all these elements in one-hour segments that provide a unique take on train travel.

Guilbert took the idea to Connecticut Public Television, which came aboard and co-produced with Guilbert and PBS. "I was keen on working with a station that would give me executive producer rights, good support and a good standing relationship with PBS," he explains.

Once Guilbert and PBS determined which chefs would participate, he explored options for railroad journeys. "The trains were chosen for their potential for adventure," he explains. "I had to pick trains that had a more ambling route, traveled for four or five days, made many stops, and had never been shown on television before."

Guilbert's research unveiled a colorful roster of host-chefs and locations. He filmed segments with Dorinda Hafner riding the Union Limited through South Africa and former Galloping Gourmet, Graham Kerr, travelling to the Scottish Highlands on The Royal Scotsman. He captured Martin Yan journeying from Singapore to Bangkok on The Eastern and Oriental, and Mary Ann Esposito touring southern Spain aboard The Andalus Express. Each show featured a hearty mixture of food, humor, and breath-taking scenery as well as historical and cultural insights.

Although chefs host the program, there's very little cooking or eating. "I personally don't find watching people eating food to be interesting," Guilbert explains, "and I have to go by my own instincts. There are plenty of other programs that do that."

Dinner on the Diner is a departure from the typical PBS staple travel or railroad-oriented program. "The viewer who is interested in trains will be satisfied, as will someone who is interested in travel and adventures," says Guilbert. "People who are drawn in by the personalities of the chefs will see them in a different environment."

A long-time documentary filmmaker, Guilbert hails from Manchester, England. Although he has a degree in electrical engineering science from Salford University, Guilbert was hooked on filmmaking after he first picked up a 16 mm camera there. He went on to produce and direct more than 70 documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV in Britain and was director/producer for 40 Minutes a primetime documentary series for BBC Television.

In 1993, Guilbert and his family moved to the United States, settling in New York City. Seeking a more family-oriented environment, the Guilberts then relocated to Portsmouth a year later. "I had some friends up here who invited us to stay for a little while," says Guilbert. "We really liked the place and subsequently moved up from New York. New England is very suitable for my particular lifestyle. I'm within an hour of Boston's Logan Airport, which means I can easily get to any place in the world. I'm also close to the Manchester (N.H) airport. Transport-wise, I'm well placed."

Guilbert cast himself in multiple roles as producer, director, editor and director of photography. "I figured that was the best way to get my film made the way I saw it," he says. "Shooting the film was a very creative form of expression. I felt more connected to the person on the other side of the camera. I befriended each of the chefs, so they felt comfortable and dropped their guard. They trusted me and forgot I had a camera on my shoulder."

Prior to bringing the chefs on board, Guilbert did extensive location scouting and preproduction planning. "I'd spend two weeks in the country on my own and go over the whole route," he explains. "I'd ride the train and stop at places along the line. After doing that, I would come back, let it settle upon myself for a week and think about putting together a schedule. We usually spent about four weeks shooting and travelling, which is a comfortable amount of time to shoot a one hour program."

Guilbert was determined to shoot on film. "I was secure in the knowledge that I was recording superb images," he explains. "In my experience, the relative cost of shooting film versus video is actually small and film is compatible with all video formats."

Guilbert traveled light, carrying an Aaton XTR Plus Super 16 camera. He mainly worked with a Canon 8:64 mm zoom lens and occasionally, a Canon 300 mm lens with a 2X extender for close-ups, or a Zeiss Vistagon 9.5 mm lens in tight spots. Much of the series was produced in available light but Guilbert carried a small lighting package consisting of three 200 watt HMIs for emergencies.

Rather than direct his chefs, Guilbert concentrated on recording what was transpiring before him. "I like keeping my footprint as small as possible on what's happening. I try to be as relaxed about it as I can."

That attitude came in handy while shooting aboard a train. Guilbert often found himself in cramped quarters and difficult lighting conditions.

"It's important to trust the process and one's own intuition when finding yourself in a badly lit interior without the time to put lights up or reflector boards in‹knowing there's something that's exciting to film. With the Kodak Vision 500-speed film, I never had a problem. There was always enough available light, always enough depth in the shadows to get superb pictures."

He talks about filming a formal dinner in The Royal Scotsman dining car.

"It was a highlight on the trip, so the staff insisted on subdued lighting in the dining car," he explains. "I had to rely on available light that was bouncing around, providing a source of ambient light. I was a stop under-exposed. I was amazed at how well it held together. The grain came up a little bit but the faces were lit correctly."

In addition to PBS outlets, Dinner on the Diner will also be seen in Finland, Hong Kong, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, Israel, Australia, France and the U.K, and an additional nine countries are negotiating to broadcast the series. Guilbert says that plans are being finalized for another six to eight shows with filming to begin in 2001.

By shooting on film, Guilbert notes he's HDTV-ready for future syndication.

"The negative has been conformed to the edit decision list and it has been cut flash to flash," he explains. "I foresee this project as having a 10-year life. If there are format changes required, like going to high definition television or some other standard in the future, I can come back to the film and retransfer. The series can be reassembled on any format that exists now or will in the future."

With a laugh, Guilbert says the biggest challenge he faced in his adventures was making sure he was prepared for the situation at hand. "When you're shooting on a train, the piece of equipment you need is always at the other end of the line," he declares. "It's really a tough deal when the train is rocking and rolling down the track to cover 20-odd car lengths through narrow corridors dodging other people to get a piece of equipment. You have to be really well prepared when shooting on a train not to have that happen."