Arthur John Provis (10 March 1925 – 17 May 2016) was an English

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

and producer, best known for co-founding

AP Films AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

("Anderson-Provis" Films) with

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

. As a former

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

photographer forging a career operating

rostrum camera A rostrum camera is a specially designed camera used in television production and filmmaking to animate a still picture or object. It consists of a moving lower platform on which the article to be filmed is placed, while the camera is placed above ...

s, he met Anderson filming a series called ''You've Never Seen This'' about unusual circus acts. Finding a shared interest in film-making, Provis teamed with Anderson creating AP Films with the original intention to make commercials. As a result of an advert featuring a puppet, the company was approached in 1957 by

Roberta Leigh Roberta Leigh was an assumed name for Rita Lewin (née Shulman) (22 December 1926 – 19 December 2014) who was a British author, artist, composer and television producer. She wrote Romantic novel, romance fiction and children's stories under the ...

to create a children's series ''

The Adventures of Twizzle ''The Adventures of Twizzle'' is a television show produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson. Conceived by author Roberta Leigh, later a co-producer, the children's show premiered in 1957. The show follows a young boy named Twizzle and his compa ...

'' for

Associated Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the United Kingdom, British ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder for Greater London, London and parts of Home counties, the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 an ...

.Interview with Arthur Provis
at ''Space Patrol - The Website'', URL accessed 20 September 2010 This led to AP Films' early puppet shows including ''Twizzle'', ''

Torchy the Battery Boy ''Torchy the Battery Boy'' is a British television series, the second produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson, running from 1959 to 1961. Directed by Anderson, it was a collaboration with author Roberta Leigh, with music scored by Barry Gray, a ...

'' and ''

Four Feather Falls ''Four Feather Falls'' is a British television programme, the third puppet TV show produced by Gerry Anderson for Granada Television (now ITV Granada). It was based on an idea by Barry Gray, who also wrote the show's music. The series was the ...

'', although Provis left the company amicably in 1959, he was cautious, and Anderson was adventurous. Provis was worried about the amount of film stock he and Anderson were using. He was also neurotic about the company going bust, in contrast to Anderson, who was determined to get the best possible result, even if it meant the company did go bust.''Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Biography'' by Simon Archer and Stan Nicholls, p40; Whereas Anderson went on to produce his own puppet ("

Supermarionation Supermarionation (a portmanteau of the words "super", "marionette" and " animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet T ...

") programmes (including ''

Supercar A supercar – also called exotic car – is a loosely defined description of street-legal, high-performance sports cars. Since the 2010s, the term hypercar has come into use for the highest performing supercars. Supercars commonly serve as t ...

'', ''

Stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...

'' and '' Thunderbirds'', the last credited to AP Films), Provis continued his association with Roberta Leigh, producing and filming the puppet series '' Adventures of Sara and Hoppity'' (1961) and '' Space Patrol'' (1962-3). A colour

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

for another puppet series called '' Paul Starr: Space Agent'' about a

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

-style action hero failed to be commissioned, as did a 1967 live-action science fiction series ''The Solarnauts'', for which Provis filmed the model sequences. Following this, Provis went back to filming commercials. He died on 17 May 2016 at the age of 91.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Provis, Arthur 1925 births 2016 deaths AP Films English cinematographers English television producers 20th-century British businesspeople