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“A 5 part Mini-Series based on the famous Wilkie Collins mystery book, produced for BBC1”
Lens/Camera Information
Lens series: Cooke Mini S4/i primes
Focus lengths: The full complement of Cooke S4 Minis from 18mm up to 135mm
Camera: Arri Alexa
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Format: Digital
Rental Company 24-7 Drama http://www.24-7drama.com
DOP Information
Director of Photography: Stephen Murphy BSC http://www.stephen-murphy.com
Instagram http://www.instagram.com/Stephenmurphy_dop
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Stephen_murphy
Agent: WPA http://WP-A.co.uk
Production Information
Production: BBC1 The Moonstone
Producer: Joanna Hanley
Director: Lisa Mulcahy
Production Company: King Bert http://kingbert.co.uk/
DOP Stephen Murphy on his camera & lens choices:
“This was a very fast paced shoot, averaging 14 pages of script per day. We were shooting entirely on location, sometimes in very small spaces, so I needed reliable lenses with good minimum focus and with a physically small size. The budget wouldn’t let me stretch to a set of full Cooke S4’s/S5’s so Graham Hawkins at 24/7 cleverly suggested I try the Cooke S4 Minis instead and I was thrilled with the results. We had a lot of low light night interior work where I’d primarily be lighting using candles and off screen china balls and the Cooke Mini’s handled all those sources beautifully. I usually light my interiors to a T4 so I had plenty of flexibility to work at lower light levels with the Cooke Mini’s T2.8 stop and never needed to shoot at a wider aperture, especially not paired with the Alexa at 800asa. I used the lenses with a combination of Smoque, Black Diffusion FX and Low Con filters and the Mini’s gave me the exact same qualities I’d expect from Cooke S4 glass so the combination was fantastic. I was very pleased with the final results.”
