Lighting a legacy

From hallways filled with 16mm gear to international shoots, Martin Lightening’s son, Dan, shares his cinematic journey, culminating in a mockumentary blending comedy, music and nostalgia.

My dad, Martin Lightening, GBCT was a freelance documentary cameraman. Assuming I even had career thoughts as a teenager, they certainly didn’t include following in his footsteps, but genes will out and nearly 30 years on, it seems it was in my blood after all. My earliest memories of 16mm film equipment stored in our hall, on its way either to or from shoots, obviously had a profound effect on me. I loved the aesthetics, the mechanics, the sounds and the smells of the kit. I picked up SLRs from an early age and took photos throughout my youth, still happily oblivious to the possibility of working in the film industry.

Fast forward to post University and I inevitably began helping out on shoots. Before I knew it, I was a 16mm loader during the last days of broadcast film documentaries in the mid/late 90s. Loading mags in the back of estate cars en route to various locations, ranging from a palace to a council estate to a morgue proved a great training ground for a young assistant. I moved to drama and commercials as an AC and worked with many amazing, influential DoPs, most notably the late, great Geoff Boyle NSC FBKS. In time, Geoff encouraged me to shoot 2^nd Unit for him, which led me to lighting and operating, mainly on music promos and commercials, until the opportunity to shoot feature documentaries presented itself. This in turn led to Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties: The Bubbles and The Shitrockers Story, a Country and Western mockumentary, inspired by Spinal Tap and directed by my brother Charlie Lightening. Further evidence of those inescapable genes!

Filmed on location in Halifax Nova Scotia, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Liverpool, Glasgow and finally London, mainly at Abbey Road Studios, the story is a spin off from the Canadian TV franchise The Trailer Park Boys. Mike Smith reprises his role of Bubbles and sets out to form a Country and Western band. Once assembled, they’re thrown in at the deep end when they’re hired to support the European tour of Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters. Mike also wrote the script and wanted the ability to allow improvisation and flow on set. This presented the challenge of capturing the spontaneous creativity and comedy that Bubbles, Ricky (Robb Wells), Julian (John Paul Tremblay) and Randy (Pat Roach) bring, without compromising the cinematic aesthetic we hoped for. We made this work by pre-planning the overall lighting environment and choosing efficient, light weight, quickly adjustable equipment. I was given license to block scenes with the cast and was gratified that they were prepared to do extra takes and set ups in order to capture a rounded scene. 

The film was shot on 2 x Alexa mini LFs in full frame, open gate, but framed for 2:39:1 to emphasise the cinematic aesthetic in comparison to the TV original. I chose Zeiss Supreme lenses which on the LF full size sensor have a wonderful drop off, especially the wider lenses when shot at T1.5. Their beautiful, rounded quality, despite the high resolution, was softened yet further with Black Satins and low contrast filters. I shot at 1280 ISO to add a fraction of noise in camera and emphasise the film aesthetic. My Sony FX6 served as a 3^rd body and 2 x Angenieux EZ FF zooms were available for when extra coverage was required. Lauchlan Scott, DIT for Europe and the UK was able to tweak the FX6 image to match the Arri cameras.

Manchester-based and long-term collaborator 1^st AC Dann Cooper managed the kit package and liaising with incoming crew across all locations, not to mention smashing the focus, all handheld and mostly at extremely wide apertures.

Gaffer Chris Sarginson and his Best Boy Lee Symington organised all the subtleties and admin required to transport the equipment quickly and efficiently across the multiple locations, not least Europe’s post Brexit carnet maze. The lighting package consisted of battery powered fixtures including the Aputure Infinibars. Their real-world appearance and magnetic rigging capabilities made them perfect for hiding in shot. Other favourites were the appropriately named LED ZEPs by Exalux, Aladdin fly balls and NanLite forza 60cs for small back and flare lights alongside some bigger Nanlux 1200s and Creamsource Vortex 8s. They were all controlled via IPad software. Vintage tungsten fresnels gave the band’s performances a warm, retro, backlit vibe. Our small footprint meant we could work efficiently and effectively in amongst an actual rock ‘n roll tour.

Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties premiered on 18^th November 2024 at Abbey Road Studios to a fantastic response. It goes on general release in Theatres on the 06^th December 2024 in the USA and Canada and on the 10^th January 2025 in the UK in Vue Cinemas.