Here are some of my pictures from the Town vs Gown 2018 boxing event which was held at the Oxford Union. These shots are from the final bout when I decided to try out a film I don’t usually use very often – Ilford Delta 400. I pushed this roll to ISO 1600 because the light levels were low and I’m pleased with the results.
[Tech info:] Nikon F80, Nikkor 24/2.8 lens, Ilford Delta 400 @ ISO 1600, developed in Ilford DDX 1+4. Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography during filming of a night scene for Endeavour series 5 FILM 2 in Oxford. The scene of an arsonist setting fire to a house was filmed after the scene that follows it where you see the fire brigade and the distraught family in the morning. The art department did an amazing job with this house to not only make it look fire damaged but to also clean it up as if nothing had happened, all in the same day. This was a tricky scene to film with the flames going up timed with the driver lighting his cigarette while getting the flames to reflect in the driver’s door window without making it obvious that the flames were coming from a gas burner. This was all done on an Oxford street and not on a studio backlot so you can imagine how exciting it was for the local residents to come out and watch. The light level on the street was very low (street lighting in the 1960’s wasn’t what it is now) and that’s where working with a rangefinder camera can make it that much easier to focus than with an SLR.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 35/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton, Fujicolor Superia 1600 film (expired), developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.
As I’ve been looking through the rolls of film I shot for this Endeavour FILM I can see that it was a busy time for the crew with lots of different setups, mostly exterior and they came to Oxford at the end of May and early June 2017. This blog post contains a lot more pictures than usual because I had a hard time leaving shots out from this roll – there were too many that I liked so here they are.
[Tech info:] Hexar AF, Fujicolor Reala 100 film, developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour series 5 FILM 2 in Oxford Covered Market in June 2017. The space inside Brown’s Café was quite limited so I decided to stay outside to stay out of the way. I quite liked the reflections in the windows and how you could see through them but also some of the people standing outside looking in, myself included. I’ve previously posted other shots from this roll that didn’t contain potential spoilers but now that this FILM has been broadcast here in the UK I’m posting some of the shots that I previously left out.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.
Quite a few pictures in this post from Endeavour 5 FILM 1 which was filmed in April 2017 but these scenes were filmed in September as pickups – not sure of the correct technical term, perhaps additional photography. The Director and DOP of these scenes also directed FILM 2. The first set of behind the scenes pictures shows just how much work can go into a straightforward scene that doesn’t necessarily last very long on screen – two actors walking towards a parked car while chatting. Reflector’s and flags are used to control and shape the light on the actor’s and can mean the difference between having some mood or none at all. It’s these details that I always find interesting on a film set and watching a Director of Photography work is always a learning experience for me. After the scene with the black Jag we moved to Exeter college dining hall for the auction scene.
[Tech info:] Hexar AF, Kodak TMAX 400 film developed in Kodak HC-110 1+31 dilution. Pakon scans.
These behind the scenes pictures from the filming of Endeavour 5 FILM 1 were from a day of pickup shots that were filmed in September 2017 while the rest of the FILM was shot in April. This was a busy day for the cast and crew and they managed to film quite a few different scenes. In the final edit you can’t tell but I wonder what the original edit was like. When the scenes with the cat burglar were being filmed I couldn’t help thinking of the old Milk Tray adverts and ‘all because the lady loves Milk Tray’.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO800 developed in Kodak XTOL 1+1. Pakon scans.
Now that the first FILM from Endeavour series 5 has been broadcast here in the UK I will begin sharing behind the scenes pictures that I held back because they contained potential spoilers. Up until now I haven’t shared any pictures containing actor Lewis Peek because his character is new in series 5 but now that George Fancy has made his appearance you’ll see him popping up more often. Filming for these shots took place in April 2017 which is the same time of year the first FILM takes place.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 50/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton, Fuji Superia 200 film, developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.
For the past four years I have photographed the Town vs Gown boxing event at the Oxford Union and this year I decided to experiment a little with my photography and try some ideas out that I’ve been thinking about recently – multiple exposure and using slow shutter speeds to record movement. Recently I bought a Nikon F80 camera body which has a multiple exposure mode on it which makes it very easy to layer exposures on a single frame so this was a perfect opportunity to use it. The film I used for these shots expired in 1991 which has reduced the contrast somewhat in very contrasty light conditions. I didn’t make any notes on which shutter speeds I used but I think I was between 1/30 and 1/90 for most of these. This roll of film was rated at ISO 400 but developed for the ISO 800 time to account for the age of the film. Overall I’m pleased with how these turned out.
[Tech info:] Nikon F80, 24/2.8, TMAX 400 (expired 1991), developed for ISO 800 time in Kodak XTOL 1+1.
Behind the scenes photography of a Tolkien movie starring Nicholas Hoult being filmed in Oxford. Most of the filming was inside colleges but I was fortunate to come across this scene being filmed on Brasenose Lane.
[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35, Eastman Double X motion picture film developed in D76 1+1. Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour series 5 episode 3 in Oxford. Some of the filming took place on the roof of the building where Blackwell’s Art & Poster shop is on the corner of Turl Street and the Broad. As the episode hasn’t been broadcast yet at the time of this blog post I haven’t included any shots containing spoilers, those will follow some time in the future after the broadcast of this episode in the UK. The DOP on this episode was Jamie Cairney who worked on the first two series of The Detectorists which I just recently finished watching. It’s so beautifully shot and I’m excited to see how this Endeavour episode looks. If you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it. As I was watching each episode I couldn’t help wonder how much fun it would have been to do some behind the scenes photography on that show.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Eastman Double X motion picture film, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.
Liv Tyler came to the Oxford Union for a Q&A event and I went along to do some documentary photography. It was nice to hear Liv talk about her career and her route from modelling into acting. You can watch a video of the event here.
When it came to developing this roll of film I decided to try a different developer from my usual tried a tested Kodak HC110 because Liv was dressed all in black and I didn’t want to risk the fabric from blocking up. For this roll I used Kodak XTOL developer which is good for maintaining shadow detail when pushing films and I am very pleased with the results here.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in Kodak XTOL 1+1. Pakon scans.
Here are some pictures I made during one of my lunch break photo walks. I’m not sure exactly when these are from but I think it was February 2017 – the exposed roll of film has been in my fridge ever since and only now have I had it developed, some 10 months later. I quite like sunny days during the winter for photography because the shadows around lunch time are fairly long and much more interesting that during the summer at the same time of day. The light is also warmer in colour too. These shots would have needed a warming filter during the summer months.
[Tech info:] Electro 35, Kodak Colorplus 200 (expired), developed by Ag photo lab, Pakon scans.
