Richard Twomey

This month I directed and shot my first short film, also my first time using a Super 16mm camera. The film was shot as part of my current course in cinematography. We are allowed two days and 400ft of film stock to create a three minute short. 

The experience is one that will stay with me for a while, mainly thanks to the amazing crew made up of friends from the course. I’ve had the pleasure of working on all of their films and we will all be working on a larger group project soon. Special thanks goes to my 1st AD, Penny-Merelle Gray, who was a massive help with the preproduction and managed to keep everything on schedule. 

The two day shoot took place in several external locations in Dublin. The interiors were shot in The Legal Eagle and Christchurch Hall Apartments. The management and staff of The Legal Eagle could not have been more accommodating.

The exteriors were a challenge as we didn’t have the time or budget to use film lights, everything was shot available light with the addition of a small battery powered LED light on loan from a new distributer called Seamless. 

Obviously the film wouldn’t have happened with out the two brilliant actors, John Currivan & Victor Feldman. Thanks also to Romana Veljkov for the lovely stills.

The film was shot on an Aaton 16mm camera with Zeiss Superspeed lenses and Kodak Vision3 500T. A rented Kessler Cineslider from Film Equipment Hire added a lot to the production. Shooting on film was a challenge but also hugely rewarding, the discipline gained will be invaluable. I really look forward to shooting on film stock again.