Editing Ridley Scott (section)

==Early life and education==
{{Quote box|width=20em|align=right|quote=My mum brought three boys up: my dad was in the army and so he was frequently away. During [[World War II|the war]] and post-war, we tended to travel following him around so my mum was the boss. She laid down the law and the law was God. We just said, "Yup, okay" – we didn't argue. I think that's where the respect has come from, because she was tough.|source = —  A supporter of strong female characters in his work, Scott credits his mother Elizabeth as his first female role model<ref name="Female heroes">{{cite news|title=Ridley Scott: Sexism is real, take it seriously|url=http://m.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-culture/ridley-scott-sexism-is-real-take-it-seriously-20151006-gk2d33.html|publisher=Daily Life|date=18 December 2016|access-date=18 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817083320/http://m.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-culture/ridley-scott-sexism-is-real-take-it-seriously-20151006-gk2d33.html|archive-date=17 August 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

Scott was born on 30 November 1937 in [[South Shields]],<!--South Shields was in County Durham until 1974, so County Durham is correct--> to Francis ("Frank") Percy Scott, a partner in a commercial shipping business based in Newcastle who would serve as a [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]] in the [[Royal Engineers]] during the [[Second World War]], and Elizabeth, née Williams, a miner's daughter.<ref name="Ridley Scott 2019, p. 1">Ridley Scott: A Biography, Vincent LoBrutto, University Press of Kentucky, 2019, p. 1</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://living.scotsman.com/tvradio/How-Winston-helped-save-the.2341166.jp |title=How Winston helped save the nation |work=Scotsman.com Living |date=6 July 2002 |access-date=20 December 2010 |archive-date=28 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328130934/http://living.scotsman.com/tvradio/How-Winston-helped-save-the.2341166.jp |url-status=live }}</ref> His grand-uncle Dixon Scott was a pioneer of the cinema chain and opened many cinemas around [[Tyneside]]. One of his cinemas, [[Tyneside Cinema]], is still operating in [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] and is the last remaining [[newsreel]] cinema in the UK.<ref name=ridleyScottTyne>{{cite news| last = Hodgson| first = Barbara| title = Who is Ridley Scott? Read our guide to the North East-born star as he receives top award| newspaper = Chronicle| location = Newcastle| language = en| publisher = chroniclelive.co.uk| date = 16 February 2018| url = https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/who-ridley-scott-read-guide-14301781| access-date = 6 March 2018| archive-date = 20 July 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190720223600/https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/who-ridley-scott-read-guide-14301781| url-status = live}}</ref>

Born two years before the [[Second World War]] began, Scott was brought up in a military family. His father, as a senior officer in the Royal Engineers, was absent for most of his early life. His elder brother, Frank, joined the [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]] when he was still young and the pair had little contact.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ten Things About... Ridley Scott|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/10-things-about/news/a384212/ten-things-about-ridley-scott/|website=Digital Spy|date=19 December 2016|access-date=19 December 2016|archive-date=13 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113025619/http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/10-things-about/news/a384212/ten-things-about-ridley-scott/|url-status=live}}</ref> During this time the family moved around; they lived in [[Cumberland]] as well as other areas in England, in addition to [[Wales]] and Germany, where Colonel Scott was part of the post-war [[Allied Control Council]].<ref name="Ridley Scott 2019, p. 1"/> After the war, the Scott family moved back to [[County Durham]] and eventually settled on [[Teesside]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

His interest in science fiction began by reading the novels of [[H. G. Wells]] as a child.<ref name="Sci-fi">{{cite news|title=Ridley Scott: 'Why the hell would I want to go to Mars?|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/the-martian/ridley-scott-interview/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/the-martian/ridley-scott-interview/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=10 October 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He was also influenced by science-fiction films such as ''[[It! The Terror from Beyond Space]]'', ''[[The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'', and ''[[Them!]]'' He said these films "kind of got [him] going a little" but his attention was not fully caught until he saw [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', about which he said, "Once I saw that, I knew what I could do."<ref name="Sci-fi"/> He went to [[Grangefield Grammar School]] in [[Stockton on Tees]] and obtained a diploma in design at [[West Hartlepool College of Art]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Film fans can watch Sir Ridley Scott's first movie for free|url=http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/film-fans-can-watch-sir-ridley-scott-s-first-movie-for-free-1-7612799|publisher=Hartlepool Mail|date=13 January 2016|access-date=13 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111003418/http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/film-fans-can-watch-sir-ridley-scott-s-first-movie-for-free-1-7612799|archive-date=11 January 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The industrial landscape in West Hartlepool would later inspire visuals in ''Blade Runner'', with Scott stating, "There were steelworks adjacent to West Hartlepool, so every day I'd be going through them, and thinking they're kind of magnificent, beautiful, winter or summer, and the darker and more ominous it got, the more interesting it got."<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/09/20/bfscott20.xml&sSheet=/arts/2003/09/20/ixartright.html |title=Director Maximus |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=27 July 2011 |date=20 September 2003 |location=London |first=Mark |last=Monahan |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080621145411/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2003%2F09%2F20%2Fbfscott20.xml&sSheet=%2Farts%2F2003%2F09%2F20%2Fixartright.html |archive-date=21 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{Quote box|width=20em|align=left|quote=I use everything I learned every day at art school. It's all about white sheets of paper, pens and drawing.
|source = —  Scott speaking about the influence the [[Royal College of Art]] has had in designing the visuals for his films<ref>Ridley Scott – Hollywood's Best Film Directors. Sky Arts. 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2016</ref>}}

Scott went on to study at the [[Royal College of Art]] in London, contributing to the college magazine ''ARK'' and helping to establish the college film department. For his final show, he made a black and white short film, ''[[Boy and Bicycle]]'', starring both his younger brother and his father (the film was later released on the "Extras" section of ''The Duellists'' DVD). In February 1963, Scott was named in the title credits as "Designer" for the BBC television programme [[Tonight (1957 TV series)|''Tonight'']].

After graduation in 1963, he secured a job as a trainee set designer with the BBC, leading to work on the popular television police series ''[[Z-Cars]]'' and science fiction series ''[[Out of the Unknown]]''. He was originally assigned to design the second ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial, ''[[The Daleks]]'', which would have entailed realising the serial's [[Dalek|eponymous alien creatures]]. Shortly before he was due to start work, a schedule conflict meant he was replaced by [[Raymond Cusick]].<ref name="scott">{{cite book|title=The Handbook: The First Doctor&nbsp;— The William Hartnell Years 1963–1966|first=David J.|last=Howe|author-link=David J. Howe|author2=Mark Stammers, [[Stephen James Walker]]|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|year=1994|isbn=0-426-20430-1|page=61}}</ref> In 1965, he began directing episodes of television series for the BBC, only one of which, an episode of ''[[Adam Adamant Lives!]]'', is available commercially.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/adamant/trivia.shtml "Adam Adamant Lives!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818012334/https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/adamant/trivia.shtml |date=18 August 2020 }}. BBC. Retrieved 19 October 2016</ref>

[[File:Gold Hill, Shaftsbury, Dorset, England.JPG|right|thumb|[[Gold Hill, Shaftesbury|Gold Hill]] in [[Shaftesbury]], Dorset, where Scott filmed the 1973 [[Hovis]] television commercial]]
In 1968, Ridley and his younger brother [[Tony Scott]] – who would also go on to become a film director<ref>{{cite news |title=Ridley Scott |url=https://www.empireonline.com/people/ridley-scott/ |access-date=11 September 2021 |work=Empire |archive-date=24 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924202453/https://www.empireonline.com/people/ridley-scott/ |url-status=live }}</ref> – founded Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), a film and commercial production company.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Dutta | first = Kunal | title = Great Scott&nbsp;– Forty years of RSA | journal = Campaign | date = 30 November 2007 | url = http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/features/770904/Great-Scott–-Forty-years-RSA/ }}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Working alongside [[Alan Parker]], [[Hugh Hudson]] and cinematographer [[Hugh Johnson (cinematographer)|Hugh Johnson]], Ridley Scott made many commercials at RSA during the 1970s, including a 1973 [[Hovis]] bread advertisement, "[[Bike Round]]" (underscored by the slow movement of [[Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)|Dvořák's "New World" symphony]] rearranged for brass), filmed in [[Gold Hill, Shaftesbury]], Dorset.<ref name="commercials">{{cite news|title=Jets, jeans and Hovis|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/aug/24/1|newspaper=The Guardian|date=13 June 2015|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-date=26 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226123953/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/aug/24/1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | title= The Raging Peloton | url= http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n02/iain-sinclair/the-raging-peloton/print | author= Iain Sinclair | date= 20 January 2011 | volume= 33 | issue= 2 | pages= 3–8 | magazine= [[London Review of Books]] | access-date= 11 April 2016 | quote= As proudly as the freshly baked loaves in Ridley Scott's celebrated [Hovis] commercial, shot in 1973, on the picturesque slopes of Shaftesbury. | author-link= Iain Sinclair | archive-date= 20 March 2011 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110320110830/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n02/iain-sinclair/the-raging-peloton/print | url-status= live }}</ref> A nostalgia themed television advert that captured the public imagination, it was voted the UK's favourite commercial in a 2006 poll.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ridley Scott's Hovis advert is voted all-time favourite|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/ridley-scotts-hovis-advert-is-voted-all-time-favourite-6102089.html|newspaper=The independent|issue=2 May 2006|date=13 June 2015|access-date=10 September 2017|archive-date=3 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203175014/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/ridley-scotts-hovis-advert-is-voted-all-time-favourite-6102089.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hovisbakery.co.uk/assets/downloads/Hovis_History.pdf |title=Hovis: 120 years of Goodness |date=2006 |access-date=13 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219012829/http://www.hovisbakery.co.uk/assets/downloads/Hovis_History.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2014}}</ref> In the 1970s the [[Chanel No. 5]] brand needed revitalisation having run the risk of being labelled as mass market and passé.<ref name="Chanel"/> Directed by Scott in the 1970s and 1980s, Chanel television commercials were inventive mini-films with production values of surreal fantasy and seduction, which "played on the same visual imagery, with the same silhouette of the bottle."<ref name="Chanel">{{cite book|last1=Mazzeo|first1=Tilar J.|title=The Secret of Chanel No. 5|date=2010|publisher=HarperCollins|pages=197, 199}}</ref>

Five members of the Scott family are directors, and all have worked for RSA.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rsafilms.com/ |title=Ridley Scott Associates (RSA) |publisher=Rsafilms.com |access-date=6 March 2010 |archive-date=7 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107095333/http://www.rsafilms.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His brother Tony was a successful film director whose career spanned more than two decades; his sons [[Jake Scott (director)|Jake]] and [[Luke Scott (director)|Luke]] are both acclaimed directors of commercials, as is his daughter, [[Jordan Scott (filmmaker)|Jordan Scott]]. Jake and Jordan both work from Los Angeles; Luke is based in London. In 1995, [[Shepperton Studios]] was purchased by a consortium headed by Ridley and Tony Scott, which extensively renovated the studios while also expanding and improving its grounds.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Shepperton Studios |url=http://www.pinewoodgroup.com/uploads/PDF/SheppertonStudiosHistory.pdf |publisher=pinewoodgroup.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409101450/http://www.pinewoodgroup.com/uploads/PDF/SheppertonStudiosHistory.pdf |archive-date=9 April 2008}}</ref>