Seán Mackey discusses Red Egg & Ginger, blending quirky comedy and heartfelt drama to deepen emotional impact in this NFTS graduate film.
The film follows Hannah, a young woman caught between her mixed cultural heritage and the chaos of a family gathering, exploring themes of belonging and identity.
British Cinematographer (BC): What were your initial discussions about the visual approach for the film? What look and mood were you trying to achieve?’
Seán Mackey (SM): The term that we kept using was “elevated naturalism”. The script struck a great balance between heartfelt drama and quirky comedy, and our goal was to seamlessly blend those tones throughout the film. While the world we were creating was big, loud, colourful and kind of mad, there was also a deeply personal story at its core. The challenge – and what excited me most about the project – was finding a way to visually balance these contrasting elements. We decided to ground the visual approach in Hannah’s perspective, making the film more subjective. This not only allowed us to better dramatise her inner conflict but also helped create an experience that felt more intimate and immersive for the audience. By seeing the world through her eyes, we could capture both the external chaos and also her internal emotional landscape, blending the two in a way that made the character and the situation feel real.
BC: What were your creative references and inspirations? Which films, still photography or paintings were you influenced by?
SM: The film was a personal story for director Olivia Owyeung, so we had access to a lot of her own material, including family photographs from red egg and ginger parties. These photos were key in shaping the world of the film – they provided a foundation for the photography, design, and other elements, while also sparking conversations about the feelings and memories we all tie to those childhood events. We looked to films like Shiva Baby, The Farewell, and Ladybird for their blend of comedy and drama, while stylistically we also spent some time with The Bear and Succession. Above all, we wanted the audience to have that immediate connection to Hannah and to feel that, no matter how heightened the world got, it remained grounded in reality. We had this one photographic reference that we kept coming back to, of a little kid sitting completely alone in a room full of people. For me, that image perfectly encapsulated Hannah – someone who, on an individual, familial, and societal level, feels like she just doesn’t belong. If we were ever losing sight of the story we would just come back to that image, so it became a wee bit like a north star for us.
BC: What filming locations were used? Were any sets constructed? Did any of the locations present any challenges?
SM :The vast majority of the film was shot on the main stage at the NFTS, where our brilliant production designer, Claudia Morles, built an enormous Chinese restaurant set. In the planning process we were often told that this was one of the biggest sets ever built at the school, and that obviously came with its own set of challenges, I was quite nervous about shooting a set of that size and making sure it felt authentic. I didn’t want the audience to be able to distinguish between when we were on the set and when we were on location, so we put a lot of effort into maintaining the illusion that the space was real. As for the locations themselves, we filmed all the exteriors around the NFTS campus and then some other interiors on location. Exteriors in the British summer time were suitably inconsistent, so we pulled out every trick in the book, and I think we got away with it, but I’ll let you be the judge!
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?
SM: We went with the Alexa Mini LF paired with DNA Primes and an Alura 18-80 Zoom from ARRI Rental. We really wanted something that had a pop of character. The DNAs felt a little vintage, a little timeless but with all the bells and whistles associated with modern lensing, and a flattering falloff around the edges with good clarity in the centre. That was going to be really important for us because we wanted to almost always centre-frame our main character. I firmly believe you don’t really know a set of lenses until you’re actually shooting with them. I think it was the morning of the fourth shooting day, we were reviewing rushes from the day before, and we had shot a scene almost entirely on the 75mm. It was the first moment I got really excited by what we were shooting, there was something about that lens that just sang, and from that point on we barely took it off the camera!
BC: What role did camera movement, composition and framing and colour play in the visual storytelling?
SM: Our goal was to keep the camera closely connected to Hannah, using a mix of dolly, sticks, and handheld shots to reflect her emotional state. However, we weren’t overly rigid about our plans for each scene – an example being the final scene, where Hannah is trying to leave but is interrupted by her step-mum and step-sister. Initially, we planned to be on dolly, but after rehearsal, it was clear to me that handheld felt more immediate and intimate, allowing the camera to be more reactive and responsive to the actors.
As for composition, we opted for a wider 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Initially, this felt like quite a bold stylistic choice and we were all a little nervous. But we soon came up with the idea to divide the frame into three distinct zones, providing a visual structure that reflected the emotional and relational dynamics in the story. Only Hannah (or her point-of-view) was allowed to truly occupy the centre, with her family in the next zone out and then the less significant characters on the extreme periphery. This really helped us to visually emphasise Hannah’s emotional isolation, but also to subtly reinforce the internal pressure she feels when confronted by different people at the event. It is as if the world around her is closing in somehow.
Colour was such an important consideration for us in this film especially after extensive research into the symbolism of colours in Chinese culture and understanding those in contrast to more Western colour theories. This understanding allowed us to create a world that was not only believable but also respectful of the cultural traditions we were exploring. It was really important to us that we were considerate of skin tone throughout the film, particularly since Hannah is half-white, half-Chinese and her sense of being an outsider in part comes from her mixed racial heritage while being amongst people who are predominantly Chinese.
This became even more important when working in the vibrant bright red set and dealing with the challenges of colour contamination and light spill. We often placed Hannah against contrasting backgrounds to emphasise her sense of difference and isolation, but also, practically, to ensure we could manage the relationship between her, other characters and the vibrancy of the set. This balance between character, environment, and lighting was key to supporting both the narrative and the visual integrity of the film.
BC: What was your approach to lighting the film? Which was the most difficult scene to light?
SM: Our approach to lighting the film was all about efficiency and flexibility, especially given the fast-paced nature of the shoot. Since the film blended genres so frequently, I wanted to give the director and actors as much freedom as possible within the set. Our approach was to create a large lighting rig suspended from the ceiling to supplement our lighting around the outside of the set. We could then control our rigged fixtures wirelessly and use them in different configurations to create different feels in different zones with a pretty quick turnaround. This system gave us a solid base look that we could then adapt depending on the scene. The only time we actively deviated from that within the set was on the final shooting day, and then also obviously for our location and exterior work. It was quite a big undertaking with a few sleepless nights, but a lot of credit has to go to my gaffer, Peter Kehoe, who managed every curveball I threw at him, and also to Warner Lighting who supplied our larger lighting units and wireless systems.
BC: What were you trying to achieve in the grade?
SM: I’ve yet to meet another cinematographer who doesn’t appreciate a bit of texture in the image – an overly clean digital look just doesn’t feel quite right. While it’s perhaps too easy to say we wanted it to have a “film-like” quality, that probably is the closest to what we were aiming for. During prep, I became really drawn to the saturated richness of the colour red when shot on film – particularly inspired by the striking reds in Yi Yi, which became one of our key references. However, I was also aware of the delicate balance between that vibrant red and the skin tones, which were central to the film’s emotional depth.
Our colourist, Emma Charles, worked hard to preserve the decisions we had made in camera and did an excellent job creating a natural, believable tonal contrast between the characters and their environment. The goal was for the film to feel organic and alive, rather than overly polished. To further enhance this, we shot at a relatively high ISO to give the footage some inherent texture and then added film grain in certain places during the grade. This not only contributed to the film’s tactile feel but also reinforced the imperfect, raw emotional quality we wanted to convey.
BC: Which elements of the film were most challenging to shoot and how did you overcome those obstacles?
SM: They say never work with children or animals and well, we worked with both… we did have a lot of fun though and I should mention that no animals were harmed in the making of the film, despite what it looks like! I think the most challenging aspect was actually working with quite a large number of supporting artists on a daily basis. We were only able to really fully populate the set on one morning of the shoot, and had really specific shots to get within that window – so for the vast majority of the shoot we were cheating what we were shooting quite significantly. It does force you to shoot a certain way and be very diligent about when you need people and when you don’t. Ultimately, I think that we were successful in hiding that, but I’d not go out of my way to do that again!
BC: What was your proudest moment throughout the production process or which scene/shot are you most proud of?
SM: I’m really proud of all the people I was able to collaborate with on this project, they made a shoot which in moments was very challenging into a really fun experience. But if I had to boil it down to one thing, I think it is probably the final two scenes of the film. There was so much weight on those moments, and it was crucial that we communicated everything visually to make the ending emotionally resonant. I really loved the way the flare came in on Hannah’s single when she finally held her step-sister for the first time, I love when you can use light to express an emotional shift like that. We ran that whole section as longer continuous takes and I knew I wanted the flare to come in at that moment, but wasn’t sure if it would work in the blocking and we didn’t want to ask Hannah to hit a mark during that emotional moment. But lo and behold, the first time I went for the push-in and the flare popped up perfectly and I knew straight away: that’s the shot.
BC: What lessons did you learn from this production you will take with you onto future productions?
SM: I learnt so much during this process; be it working with supporting artists, lighting a massive set or how to shoot scenes with two cameras. But I think the biggest lesson I’ll carry forward is how important it is to always respond to what is directly in front of you. Preparation is so important, but it can force you into making a film that feels safe but is actually formulaic – it might tick all the boxes but it doesn’t make you feel anything. But if you keep your wits about you and your eye to the eyepiece, the film has a way of unfolding in front of you and that can often be much more interesting than any ideas you try to impose upon it. So yeah, loads of learning and I just can’t wait to put those lessons into practice on the next one!
