Behind the scenes (socially distanced) photography during filming of Endeavour 8 episode 1 on Merton Street in Oxford. I can’t remember the last time the streets were this empty while the Endeavour crew were here – it was rather nice.
[Tech info]: Leica M6, 50/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton, Eastman Double X film developed in D96. Pakon scans.
I’ve borrowed a Contax T2 point and shoot camera from a kind friend of mine and have been taking it with me on a few walks recently to see if it lives up to its reputation. So far I can’t say it has. Below are some examples from a recent walk and you can see in three of them only the centre of the frame is in focus and the outer edge of the frame looks so distorted I wonder if there’s an alignment problem with the lens. Surely it can’t be down to a shallow depth of field. The strange thing is in the shot of the moss covered branch (second image) the blurry edges aren’t there so maybe it’s more to do with focussing at infinity? Maybe this is normal for this camera but no one has mentioned it in any reviews? Not sure.
[Tech info:] Contax T2, Eastman Double X film, developed in FPP D96 for 7mins 30secs. Pakon scans.
The Sunny 16 photography podcast arranged a photowalk in Oxford back in February and I agreed to show the group of film photographers around my home town. After 9 months I’ve finally managed to develop my films from the day and here’s a selection from the first roll. Part of the delay was because I wanted to wait until I had enough rolls to develop at once before ordering special developer to bring the best out of this motion picture film – Eastman Double-X.
There are different developer options on the market but on this occasion I decided to give FPP D96 a try partly because one packet of powder mixes into 3.8 litres of stock solution which is great value. I’ve been using 1 litre of stock to develop my rolls with 70ml of replenishment from fresh stock per roll. After 8 rolls developed the results still look great.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Eastman Double-X, developed in FPP D96 stock for 7min 30secs, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography from a day spent in Merton College, Oxford with the Endeavour crew during filming of FILM 3 from series 7 in October 2019. This was a busy day as I recall with both exterior and interior scenes including a stunt involving a big book and a ladder.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Fuji Superia 200 film, Noritsu scans.
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 1 in the Goodman Library at the Oxford Union, August 2019. This location is a favourite of mine and one I am very familiar with having photographed quite a few speaking events there over the past few years. Once the artificial sunlight came streaming in through the windows and the library was filled with haze the space was completely transformed.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in XTOL stock, Pakon scans.
When I heard there was going to be a wrestling match being filmed for Endeavour series 7 I jumped at the chance to do some behind the scenes photography – even if it did mean driving to London at the crack of dawn. The location was a working mens club and as well as the wrestling match there was also the interior of the Jolly Raja Indian restaurant which was a two for one bonus. As a kid I used to watch wrestling on World of Sport on Saturday afternoons so it was quite a treat to be transported back.
Usually I would only post pictures from the same roll of film but this time I’ve combined two rolls – a two for one bonus.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 35/1.2 Nokton, Kodak Portra 400, Noritsu scans.
Day one of filming Endeavour series 7 in Oxford started in New College Lane. It was a busy morning with quite a bit of coverage to film and there was a stunt involving a cyclist. It was fascinating to see the amount of planning involved for a few seconds of action on screen. One of the first scenes to be filmed didn’t make the final cut.
[Tech info]: Leica M6, 35/2.8 Zeiss Biogon, Kodak Portra 400 (could possibly be Superia 200), Noritsu scans.
On one of my cycle rides around Oxford city centre for my daily exercise during lockdown I took along my Widelux panoramic camera to document the empty streets that would usually be full of people and traffic. Truth be told, I’ve never enjoyed cycling around Oxford more than I have recently especially with cleaner air to breath and the absence of mobile phone zombies crossing the road in front of you with their eyes glued to their screens. Small benefits of lockdown.
[Tech info:] Widelux, Kodak Ektar 100, Noritsu scans.
Here are some behind the scenes pictures during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 1 in August 2019. I don’t have any notes to refer to but from memory the morning was spent inside the Oxford Union and after lunch was spent filming inside and outside a flat near St Catherine’s College. The Oxford Union is one of my favourite places to photograph but when I’m photographing speaking events there I almost always use b&w film so it was nice to use some colour film for a change to show the beautiful interior. The set dressing for the interior of the bedroom in the flat looked amazing and contained lots of little details in terms of props which I’ve tried to record in my pictures below.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 35/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton, Fuji Superia 200 film (expired), Noritsu scans.
These behind the scenes pictures are from the first day of filming in Oxford for Endeavour 7. After spending the morning filming on New College Lane the rest of the day was spent filming a garden party complete with string quartet which sounded amazing.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 35/2.8 Zeiss Biogon, Fuji Superia 200, Noritsu scans.
Here are some behind the scenes pictures from the first day of filming in Oxford on Endeavour 7 | FILM 1, August 2019. It was great to see the crew again after nine months. We had a very busy morning on New College Lane but a slightly more relaxed afternoon inside one of the college gardens. Shaun Evans was directing this FILM and his stand-in, Anthony, can be seen in the first shot below. For a change I used my 35mm Zeiss Biogon lens and I really like the colour rendering in these shots especially the ones in the shade on New College Lane. Perhaps I should use it more with colour film.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 35/2.8 Zeiss Biogon, Fuji Superia 200 film, Noritsu scans.
The last day of filming on Endeavour 7 was mostly interiors but I can’t show any of the action without spoilers so those will have to wait until after UK broadcast. In the meantime here are some non-spoiler shots from the day, mainly the hardworking crew. I had taken along with me some rolls of Kodak TMZ P3200 b&w film because I was expecting low light levels inside and so far I’ve been very impressed with the results since using Kodak TMAX film developer (1+4 dilution, one shot). More to come.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 35/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton, Kodak TMZ P3200 @ ISO 1600, developed in TMAX developer 1+4, Pakon scans.
