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Rachel started out in the industry over ten years ago, working as a runner on the likes of This Is England (2006), and progressed into the camera department where she worked as a trainee on Control (2007). In the years after that Rachel worked as clapper loader (don’t worry we get into what that is) on lots of British indie films such as Bronson, Fish Tank and Wuthering Heights as well huge blockbusters such World War Z and Captain America: Civil War. As a first assistant camera assistant she travelled across the US with Cinematographer Robbie Ryan and director Andrea Arnold for the road movie American Honey (2016) and has worked around the world on many 2nd Unit action sequences: Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them (2016), & Black Panther (2018) among them.
Rachel was the 2nd Unit Director of Photography on director Sarah Gavron’s latest film Rocks and has just completed photography on the feature film Concrete Plans. I felt very honored to lure Rachel away from the camera to the microphone and basically ask lots of basic questions about what cinematography actually is.
We cover lots of interesting topics such as the physicality and energy the role requires, what Rachel does in her downtime between jobs and how she stays motivated, and what she learnt from working with Robbie Ryan.
I hope you enjoy the interview.
Nicole Davis 