At the beginning of the week, Millie and I took my car to drive the equipment back to Media Loans in the Alfred Tennyson Building. As we had an extremely tiring, busy period of shooting prior to this, I then took the time to rest and recuperate after a hectic schedule of early mornings and late nights. Over the Easter Holidays, I reviewed the footage to ensure I was happy with everything we had shot and to put suggestions forward to Danay (our editor) for which takes should be used in the final cut of the film.
I also took the time to look over the photos I had taken whilst on set. I curated these into an Instagram post to promote the film whilst also showing my appreciation for the cast and crew’s hard work. These weeks, especially over the Easter holidays, allowed for a lot of time reflecting on the shoot and how it went. Considering the jam-packed, non-stop nature of the shoot, I am incredibly proud of what we achieved as a crew and how well we all handled the numerous late nights paired with early calls to set. Despite the moments of tension, we all had so much fun, and I feel as though I have made some friends for life as a result of working on this film.
When I first came onto the project, I only knew Javier and Emma as I had worked with the pair in the past. At the beginning, and despite Javier singing my praises, I was faced with severe imposter syndrome and massively doubted my skills as a cinematographer. A murder mystery film noir is a massively technical feat to pull off! I also knew I needed to remain as professional as possible on set in front of the actors, which only added to the pressure of making Murder at Curtain Call the best it could be. However, as the cast and crew grew closer throughout production, I felt myself relax and learn to have fun, whilst tackling problems as they arose. It was an absolute honour to work with Jamie, Jasmin, Paloma, Victor and Andre. Being able to watch them act, something they are all so passionate about, and capture their wonderful performances is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I am also grateful for the skills I’ve gained and enhanced, the memories I’ve made and the friendship I’ve found with Millie, Julia and Danay. Growing closer with those I had worked with already also meant a lot to me and it was amazing to be able to collaborate with Emma to create the visual style for this film, she is an extremely talented production designer. I could not have asked to be Director of Photography for a better film or crew.
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