Fishtank

A photographer I love, Rachael Cassells, did a series some years back called 'Seven Year Lament' that shot using a lot of dim tungsten and sodium vapour. I assume she was shooting on daylight film as the tungsten creates a very beautiful, tobacco stained amber that seems to define the world of her characters.

above images, Rachael Cassells, from 'Seven Year Lament'

You rarely see this quality of light in cinema, and I often use these images as a reference for 'Galore', a feature drama I've been developing with undulations of success over recent years.

But, recently, I caught, after much anticipation, Andrea Arnold's 'Fishtank' which floored me. I loved just about everything about it. But I particularly loved the fact that one of the film's pivotal scenes used exactly this quality of light to reveal the young heroine dancing for her mother's boyfriend. It is pretty fucking sublime if you ask me. Of course, the scene, and the film, goes pear-shaped, but we're just talking about the light, here, ok?

This was Rachael Cassells' quality of light, looking every bit as intense and beautiful as I hoped and imagined. It's made me even more resolute to use this approach in 'Galore'.