Emmy Ren delves into the visual storytelling and creative challenges behind Inflicted Kindness, her standout film at the NFTS showcase. 

DS Thompson and homeless teen Tillie form a bond, confronting turmoil. 

British Cinematographer (BC): Please can you share an overview of your film?  

Emmy Ren (ER): When weary DS Thompson encounters Tillie, a bold homeless teenager, their unlikely bond compels him to confront his inner turmoil. As paths intertwine, both face hard truths, unexpectedly reshaping their lives.   

BC: -What were your initial discussions about the visual approach for the film? What look and mood were you trying to achieve?   

ER: Gaia, the director, and I wanted a strong sense of staging for the film from day one. The whole story takes place over one night, reminiscent of a road movie. We didn’t necessarily want the film to look or feel entirely like real life. It’s organic with a slight edge, and a bit of uncanny strangeness. We were interested in the spaces where the story takes place as much as we were interested in the characters.

BC: What were your creative references and inspirations? Which films, still photography or paintings were you influenced by?   

ER: During prep, we were fascinated by the plainness in Kaurismäki’s films. His world always seemed a bit mundane, cold, unnatural, and sometimes almost comically rigid. Gaia mentioned the feeling of a capturing a space in which a certain incident must take place and it stuck with me. We always wanted to be bold with our choice of shooting on film for a film that takes place at night because it forces us to make certain creative decisions – if you don’t light it, you can’t see it. On set, I was always encouraged to embrace any strangeness and unnaturalness because the staging has to be intentional. I have a very fluid approach to cinematography and I always love the element of “play”, being given a box to think of out made my job really fun.    

BC: What filming locations were used? Were any sets constructed? Did any of the locations present any challenges?   

ER: We shot in a huge carpark of a library for the scene where Mark gives Tillie a nose bleed and the burger van scene. Gaia loved the architecture as the backdrop for these scenes. We specifically asked the owners of the surrounding buildings to leave their lights on through the night and they were just stunning in the background. The main challenge was lighting large areas without a generator. The powerful Nanlux Evoke 2400B was my main tool to illuminate the overall area, and I used smaller battery powered sources for the finer strokes.    

For the driving scenes, we worked with Mars Volume this time. Pairing the Volume with 35mm gave these scenes such an interesting look. I was nervous about capturing artefacts at first as there would be no way to tell if the film is capturing the screen correctly until we get our rushes. The staff at Mars were kind enough to let us have a test session for a few hours during prep. Studying the footage really helped me understand the best way to expose the scene in relation to the screen and solve any potential technical issues. I also really enjoyed working with the wild walls as the lighting naturally reflects the environment outside the car.    

BC: Can you explain your choice of camera and lenses and what made them suitable for this production and the look you were trying to achieve?   

ER: The film is shot on Arricam LT and the Zeiss Super Speeds MkIII. I also had the Angenieux Optimo 25-250mm because I find having a zoom lens on set always comes in handy. The lenses are not just an aesthetic choice – I needed fast glass for the night exteriors. The compact size allowed the team to work so much faster as well as it was peak summer which made our nights so short. The sun only fully set at 9PM and the sky started turning bright at around 5AM.    

In terms of stock, I went for 500T and only 500T to accommodate the darkness of the night exteriors. I also love how it renders the colours of the original fixtures at our locations. 

BC: What role did camera movement, composition and framing and colour play in the visual storytelling?   

The film has almost no camera movement except for a couple shots on a longer focal length, where the actors’ movements felt more exaggerated. We wanted the simplicity of a static camera as staging was a huge part of the film’s atmosphere. I wanted to use simple composition to enhance the deliberate, intentional quality.   

BC: What was your approach to lighting the film? Which was the most difficult scene to light?    

ER: The biggest challenge was shooting night exteriors on a student budget, especially when summer nights are so short. The time constraint meant that lighting had to be simple and efficient. We could not have big overhead rigs so it was all about picking out little details with pools of light and carving out interesting shapes. I wanted the characters to look bare and exposed even though the environment is dark. All their emotions are in plain sight and nothing is hiding in the shadows.   

BC: –What were you trying to achieve in the grade?   

ER: In the grade, we wanted to preserve the look and texture of celluloid while enhancing certain colours. My colourist, Cameron Ward, was very open to experimenting and found different techniques to make some of the colours pop on screen. The process was very collaborative with Gaia present in the suite most of the time. We really played a lot in the grade but we ended up not straying too far from what we got from the 500T as it was already beautiful. We mainly adjusted the contrast for certain shots to balance out the darkness of the night, and made certain hues of the original lighting fixtures at our locations more coherent throughout the film.   

BC: Which elements of the film were most challenging to shoot and how did you overcome those obstacles?    

ER: Some of the wider shots were particularly challenging, as we needed the sun just below the horizon to preserve detail in the sky. This required meticulous scheduling to get the timing just right.   The scene at Mark’s house presented another challenge because we weren’t permitted to place lighting fixtures outside the property. In order to create depth in the distance, I put down these small Rosco DMG DASH LED fixtures with their Dot Diffusers in the background as their round shape reads like a bokeh on screen. I could also wirelessly change the colour of these artificial bokehs to make the shot more interesting and to unify the overall colour palette.   

BC: What was your proudest moment throughout the production process or which scene/shot are you most proud of?   

ER: I’m proud of how London takes on a slightly uncanny quality in the film. Securing permits to shoot in the middle of the night was no easy feat, pre-planning a detailed lighting setup was impossible. We had to improvise as we go and I was fortunate enough to have a strong lighting team who still had fun while navigating the challenges together. Fabio Dominguez Alonso, my gaffer, was incredible at leading the lighting team. His expertise truly stood out especially on nights when we needed to light vast areas with limited time and resources. I’m deeply grateful for his skill and dedication. I also want to thank my focus puller, James Kennedy, who always went the extra mile.   

BC: What lessons did you learn from this production you will take with you onto future productions?   

ER: I’ve learned the essence of leaning into the process and embracing every obstacle. This is how interesting things happen for a film. The look of the film was shaped by the limitations we had. The feeling of letting go of my own rules was so freeing and it allowed me to be creative. Every time I feel I’ve found a sense of fearlessness, I’m met with new unknowns that push me to exercise even more courage. I’m continually humbled by the opportunities that come my way.