James Marriott | California Rain | Music Video | Director of Photography

I was Director of Photography on California Rain, a studio-shot music video filmed on ARRI Alexa Mini with a full camera and lighting crew. I led both departments and managed a combined kit value of around £275,000, collaborating closely with Director, Herbie Elton and delegating technical and creative direction to 1st AC, 2nd AC, Gaffer & Spark.

The brief was to create a look inspired by 1970s film photography. Camera and light testing at FOMO Rentals informed the final approach, including lens selection, lighting treatment, and camera rating. We shot on the Cooke Varotal 18-100mm Zoom, leaning into it’s soft, warm character to achieve a light-hearted and humanistic 70’s image.

To maintain consistency from set to final delivery, I developed a custom film emulation LUT for on-set monitoring, used across client and director monitors. I later graded the film in DaVinci Resolve, using a bespoke power grade to accurately translate the look established on set into the final image.