BREAKING NEW GROUND In “deeply personal project” The Land Remains, cinematographer Jack Thompson-Roylance explores British identity, folklore and migration. The Land Remains explores British identity, folklore and migration. The film, shot over the course of a year, is about this…
CINEMATIC POETRY Cinematographer Darius Shu explains how the Sony FX6, Cooke SP3 lenses, an expressive colour palette and carefully motivated lighting built an intimate, nostalgic visual language for Molly, finding cinematic poetry within a three-and-a-half-day independent shoot. For Molly, I wanted the…
RETURNING TO MY ROOTS Cinematographer Eira Wyn Jones discusses capturing Effi o Blaenau‘s mixture of vulnerability, chaos and resilience in Wales. After reading the script that Marc Evans shared with me, I immediately felt a connection to the story. I’d…
YEARS IN THE MAKING James L Brown ACS explains how lighting plots, backup plans and visual bibles helped to shape One Hundred Years of Solitude — Part Two. I was invited to Part Two of One Hundred Years of Solitude…
A BLOODY GOOD SHOOT Joining Appofeniacs shortly before shooting began, DP Adam Leene adopted a fluid filming philosophy to bring bloody chaos to the big screen. I first got involved with Appofeniacs when the previous cinematographer had a scheduling conflict…
IN THE DRIVING SEAT Cinematographer Adam Barnett discusses tackling technological change in James Arden’s thought-provoking short film Black Cab. I was drawn to James Arden’s work from seeing his first shorts. There was a strong sense of gravity to all…
REIMAGINING A MODERN-DAY NOSFERATU Cinematographer David Bird explains how the Alexa 65, custom lenses, a versatile lighting plan and a rock-solid crew provided cinematic polish to heartwarming vampire comedy Uncle Artoo on a tight schedule. Zoë Whittaker’s comedy short Uncle…
FEELING THE BLUES Mari Yamamura explains how she ensured lighting and scenes were consistent throughout all six episodes of Blue Season, and that the programme had an interesting visual arc to aid the narrative. I had previously shot a short…
FRESH STORYTELLING Cinematographer Kai-Yan Lai explains how he helped to blend genres in sharp satire New Starter. Shot in 2025 over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, New Starter marked my first collaboration with writer/director Olamide Ajisafe and was executive produced…
A WINNING FORMULA DP Tristan Chenais explains how simplifying the filmmaking process led to a successful shoot on Raindance Film Festival breakout Tramp. When director Philip McGoldrick first approached me about a short narrative film centred on a female MMA…
SHINING A LIGHT ON HISTORY Cinematographer Alejo Maglio explains how lighting, lenses and the ARRI Alexa Mini helped to shape historical drama Summer War. When Alicia Scherson invited me to shoot Summer War, one of our first conversations was not…
FILMMAKING WITH PRIDE The Rainbow Crossing Academy effortlessly blends comedy and drama – with DP Neal Parsons explaining how he and his team navigated the short film’s ever-changing moods. I love the challenge of working with a director I don’t…
BRIDGING THE GAPS In Netflix’s latest #1 film, Jill (Zoey Deutch) copes with her sister’s death by leaving her voicemails chronicling her chaotic life in San Francisco. When the number is unknowingly reassigned, an elusive Austin real estate agent named…
RECLAIMING THE NARRATIVE Cinematographer Mo Azmi explains how he helped to shape the look of some of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series two’s most tense moments. On the surface, the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy presents…
DP Moritz Moessinger reveals how a fantastic team effort helped to bring stunning surreal visuals to feature Superbuhei. When I first read the script for Superbuhei, I was immediately drawn to it. The surreal tonality, settings, and hints of genre, mixed with…
DP Moritz Moessinger reveals how a fantastic team effort helped to bring stunning surreal visuals to feature Superbuhei. When I first read the script for Superbuhei, I was immediately drawn to it. The surreal tonality, settings, and hints of genre, mixed with…
GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND Beneath, directed by Jake Betteridge, is a short film exploring the unseen journey of fighter Samir Bouamrane through movement, environment, and raw first-person narration. Set between the backdrop of London’s cityscape and the intensity of the…
GETTING THINGS RIGHT When Gary (Zach Cherry) and Ell (Maria Bakalova)’s meet-up at a motel goes sideways, the pair find themselves on a chaotic road trip through British Columbia in the SXSW London-premiering All Night Wrong. DP Byron Kopman and…
KEEPING IT PRACTICAL Writer and director Kevin Walls’ debut feature, Premature, is a contemporary romantic comedy following flatmates Cameron (James Rottger) and Eilidh (Elle Watson) after their drunken one-night stand results in an unexpected pregnancy. When Eilidh discovers she can’t…
A COMPLEX OPERATION Charlie Painter runs through his approach to lensing Second World War film Operation Dynamo – with which he has a very close connection. Eighty-six years ago today, my great-great-uncle, Jack, was fighting for his life in Dunkirk. Operation…
INTO THE UNKNOWN Starring Sleaford Mods leading man Jason Williamson, short film Unknown Male says a lot while saying very little – with visuals from DP Rufus Wilson setting the tone in stunning style. How did you first get involved…
SOAP OPERA DIGEST Chris Ramage GBCT runs through the comprehensive camera and lighting package he relied on when making soaps history with Corriedale. When I was initially approached by director Duncan Foster to DP both of ITV’s flagship soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street for a unique one-off…
EARNED SUCCESS Cinematographer Mattias Troelstrup explains how he and his team created emotional and atmospheric visuals in overcast Manchester and sunlit southern France for The Stolen Girl. How did you get involved with your project and what appealed to you…
CRAFTING EMOTIONAL RESTRAINT Little Rock, directed by Nick Tree, is a six-minute short created in support of the charity Younger People with Dementia. It follows an earlier collaboration with the charity, which starred Kate Dickie (The Witch), but this time…
THE LENS AS THRESHOLD While building a world that blends visual languages, Swarnim Gawade found inspiration in 12mm for Cyclops. When director Stefanos Papageorgiou and I began building the visual language of Cyclops, our central challenge was world-building. The film…
DESCENT INTO IMMERSION On Abandoned, writer, director and producer Joby Stephens built a new production grammar for horror. Combining Sony Venice 2 cinematics with a remotely controlled FX3 system running across a custom multi-point AP network, the film shifts from…
ADVENTURES IN EKTACHROME Cinematographer Owain Wilshaw runs through the challenges and opportunities that shooting on 16mm Kodak Ektachrome provides – after lensing SofÃa Petersen’s directorial debut, Olivia, entirely in the format. Olivia, the directorial debut of SofÃa Petersen, is a…
LENSING SUBURBIA The ‘Burbs DP Jonathan Furmanski reveals how he helped to remake a classic movie for a modern TV audience. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to work on all kinds of projects at all kinds of locations, including…
PLAYING WITH THE VISUALS Alternative quartet Daytime TV have unleashed their most explosive work to date with the release of their pounding comeback single “Pause”, forged in the turbulence of the modern world under music label Marshall Records. Director Matt…
READY FOR ACTION Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Never is this axiom more relevant than when you are asked to shoot an action-comedy road movie in just 15 days. The US-funded feature film Reckless, starring Scott Adkins, Vinnie Jones and…
NAILING VISUAL LANGUAGE Cinematographer Fyras Slaiman explains how he worked with director-star Zhizi Hao to execute the visual language of bittersweet romance Vocabulary. Vocabulary, directed by Zhizi Hao, is a story that has been in the works for a few…
Written and directed by Kogonada, zi follows a young woman whose chance encounter with a stranger changes the course of her life. Cinematographer Benjamin Loeb FNF and additional cinematographer Sheldon Chau explain how they helped to craft the film through…
CRAFTING A STYLISTIC HORROR SHORT Cinematographer Marti Guiver and director Ethan Evans explain how camera and lighting choices helped shape the horror in their Sony Future Filmmaker Awards finalist short Outside Noise. Made to reflect the modern horrors of doomscrolling…
He’s our ChatGPT-powered friend with an encyclopaedic knowledge of all thing’s cinematography from British Cinematographer. Ask him a question and you’ll be amazed by his response.
