My Experience Shooting a Film Funded by the BFI and HOME Manchester

As a cinematographer, I've had the privilege of working on a variety of film projects over the years, but the one that sticks out in my mind as the most challenging and rewarding is the film I shot last week as part of a collaboration between the British Film Institute (BFI) and HOME Manchester. In this project, I served as the director of photography, working closely with Ai Narapol, who was the director.

One of the most notable challenges we faced was the tight shooting schedule. We had just two days to capture around 50 shots, which meant we had to move quickly and efficiently to get the shots we needed. To make things even more difficult, we were shooting in a new format, ProRes RAW. This meant that we needed a massive set of hard drives to store the footage, as 44 minutes of footage equated to 1 TB of storage. It was a logistical challenge to make sure we had enough storage on set and backup drives at the ready.

Despite these challenges, we were able to work together and make the most of our time. With the help of a fantastic lighting team that I hadn't worked with before, we were able to create lighting scenarios that felt like natural light. I was very impressed with their creativity and expertise, and the lighting they created added a lot to the overall look and feel of the film.

As the cinematographer, it was my responsibility to capture the director's vision for the film and make sure each shot was framed and lit perfectly. I also had to work with the camera department to ensure that we were using the best equipment for the job. Shooting in ProRes RAW was a new experience for me, but I was excited to work with this new format and see how it could enhance the final product. It was amazing to see the details that were captured with this format, and I was pleased with how the final footage looked.

Overall, this film shoot was a challenging but rewarding experience. Working with a new format and a tight shooting schedule required us to stay focused and work together as a team. But with the help of a talented crew and a creative director, we were able to create a film that we were all proud of. I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with the BFI and HOME Manchester, and I look forward to seeing the final product on the big screen.