Annemarie Lean-Vercoe

Waitin for my train… Heading north for my current job and enjoying a flashback to my job last summer!! Good memories #womenwholight #illuminatrixdops #bergerac #britishcrimefiction @damien_molony @jossagnew @benjamineeley

What a joy to work on this show. Thank you to the brilliant cast and crew for making it such a great so and also such fun! LOVED IT - I hope you to too. Bergerac airs tonight on U TV Dir Joss Agnew Producer Mike O Regan Gaffer Chris Davies Production Designer A Cmaera Operator Ben Eeley A Cam 1st AC Mark Sneddon A Cam 2nd AC Laurence Good A Cam Trainee Amber Amare DIT Vincenzo Onorato Grip Sam Hill #womenoflight #illuminatrixdops #britishcrimedrama #jerseynoir #sonyvenice

Bergerac S2 - I’m looking forward to seeing this on TV soon - working with this fabulous group of people and many more behind the camera! Summer days!

Enjoy some family Xmas binge watching on the BBC Iplayer! Outrageous - based on the Outrageous lives of the Mitford Sisters #annemarieleanvercoedop #womenwholight #womenoflight #illuminatrixdops #bbc #bbciplayer #mitfordsisters #perioddrama #britishperioddrama #1930sfashion #sonyvenice #k35lenses #atlasorionanamorphic

I leave you with my most recently aired TV work Outrageous (on UTV) the incredible story of 6 English aristocratic sisters who were trailblazers, and so ahead of their time, independent and free spirited non-conformists. I was determined to get this job, having been a fan of Nancy Mitford the eldest sibling & a writer since reading her books as a teenager. Doing this show was a dream, as I’m a massive fan of 1930’s fashion and design. It was the start of an exciting collaboration with lead director Joss Agnew and a wonderful cast and crew. We wanted to portray the very different journeys of the six sisters, and what made them so unique and captivating. It’s incredible that their story hasn’t be dramatized before, it reads as fiction; 2 sisters became fascists, Diana marrying the British Union of Fascists founder Oswald Mosley, and Unity stalking Hitler eventually becoming his muse, Pam was a farmer, Jessica fought fascism in Spain and later lived in the USA and was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, whilst Nancy became a famous writer and Debbo more conventional, marrying the Duke of Devonshire. There were many interesting challenges shooting the show. Large locations and set pieces, including filming Diana and Unity at a Nuremberg Nazi rally, Nancy at night on a London bus and Oswald inciting violence at a Rally for the British Union of Fascists and that was just in 1 shoot day! A camera operator Ben Eeley 1st AC’s Mark Sneddon/ Ralph Messers 2nd AC’s Hannah green/ Nina Mangold Camera trainees Charlie Bayley / Will Marchant Video Camera trainee Andrew Owen DIT  Szymon Wyrzykowski / Jayson Hunte Gaffer Colin Thwaites #theICFC #britishperioddrama #womenoflight #womenwholight #britbox #uktv #outrageous #bessiecarter #joannavanderham #annemarieleanvercoe1 #ww2drama #bbcstudios @missbessb @joannavanderhamofficial @colourinsea @britboxtv @firebirdpictures @jossagnew

It’s a gift that period drama can address the social issues of the present, through the lens of the past, and really examine it under the microscope, reaching a wide audience. Popular period TV shows I’ve shot that explore this well are Call The Midwife, a dramatisation of a midwife’s diary working in London’s east end in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.  It inspired me to see how the show has embraced job sharing for some crew who are parents so successfully. As a parent myself it’s inspiring to see ways to make our industry better for parenting and our life work balance. The other show was All Creatures Great and Small, a new version based on the classic James Herriot books about a veterinary surgeon in 1930s and 40s in Northern England. Call the Midwife S13 Directors Sarah Esdaile / Avril Evans 1st AC’s Ravi Kang / Mark Sneddon / Hilda Sealy GBCT 2nd  Domingo Simon / AC  Hannah Green Camera Trainees Carolina Costa / Abigail Obisesan Gaffer Mark Keeling All Creatures Great & Small S3 Director Andy Hay Camera op Steven Gardner 1st AC’s Mike Richardson / Borja Berrosteguieta 2nd AC’s Laurence Good / Camera Trainees Louise Wilcock / James Pratt DIT Steffen Goeschel Gaffer Mat Atkinson #theICFC #womenoflight #womenwholight #annemarieleanvercoe1 #bbcdrama bbcperioddrama #cookelenses #britishperioddrama #pbs #channel5 #allcreatuesgreatandsmall @fran_entertainmentpublicist

My first experience shooting British crime drama was on DCI Banks, and Silent Witness, working with director David Richards sadly no longer with us, a champion of diversifying the cast and crew on popular British television shows, (spot the young Harris Dickinson). David was excited that I had never shot a police drama before, taking away my nerves of being new to the genre. Endeavour – a prequel to popular series Inspector Morse, a show I watched as a child and reunion with actor Shaun Evans (Wreckers), was set in 1970, so exciting to add another visual layer to suspense. It was a joyful collaboration with director Ian Aryah. Murder in Provence, also starring another Endeavour lead Roger Allam with Nancy Carrol & Keala Settle, had an interesting Covid challenge. Shooting mostly in the UK for France, we then filmed our last leg in France having only had virtual recces due to Covid.  Directors Chloe Thomas, Steve Barron and I could breathe relief that our UK scenes interwove with our French locations seamlessly. #britishcrimeshows #britishcrimedrama #endeavour  #silentwitness #bbcdrama #itvdrama #cookelenses #britishperioddrama #alexamini #harrisdickinson #morse #kealasettle #rogerallam #nancycarroll @fran_entertainmentpublicist

Wreckers (Amazon Prime) was my first 16mm feature film, starring up and coming stars that now don’t need introducing, Claire Foy (The Crown), Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) and Sean Evans (Endeavour) My first collaboration with director DR Hood explores Dawn’s experience of moving to the fens in very rural middle England with new husband; and his returning soldier brother arriving unannounced from a military tour in Iraq with rumblings of PTSD. It was an award winning project which helped me attract an agent and put me on the map as an emerging talent in the UK. I was also selected to be one of Variety magazine’s first cinematographer Star of Tomorrow. I later collaborated with DR Hood on her 2nd feature Us Among The Stones (Amazon Prime) that was heavily inspired by a favourite director Nic Roeg’s classic experimental 1968 feature Performance, in our film we embraced many shooting formats, hi and low res digital, Super8 film, Ektacrome stills and iphone footage, creating a sometimes messy tapestry of a family and memory, and how it is constructed (or deconstructed) by different generations. Both Films Directed by DR Hood 1st AC Kate McDonough /2nd AC   Magdalena Symonowicz Camera Trainee Deirdre O’Toole / Gaffer Alex Edyvean Is There Anybody Out There 1st AC Nacho Guzman /2nd AC Gio Campagna Sebastian Cort 2nd unit DOP / DIT Deloris Collins Gaffer Caio Dinis Dias #londonfilmfestival #moscowfilmfestival #clairefoy #benedictcumberbatch #shaunevans #annemarieleanvercoe1 #artificaleye #amazonprime @fran_entertainmentpublicist

Having worked on several of these types of projects now I especially loved the approach working with historian and presenter Lucy Worsley who integrates many of her factual elements into a dramatic reconstruction of events, she is costumed-up and fully part of the scene, immersed in significant historical events. BAFTA winning Suffragettes was the first collaboration with director Emma Frank, and our second outing was on Blitz. A WW2 story documenting often untold experiences in London’s diverse East End community. Shooting Marilyn Reframed for CNN was a different challenge, I shot the drama reconstruction and it was intercut with archive footage of her. Director Karen McGann was wise to keep the rules that we never show our Marilyn double’s face, here is a selectin of my reconstructed footage without the archive, interesting in itself as we can easily fill in her face in our imaginations. Such a great opportunity to examine one of the most photographed women of the 20th century and the aesthetics of that from a feminist perspective, she was ground-breaking, she really did understand and have more control over her image than the public are lead to believe. Suffragettes Dir Emma Frank 2nd Unit DOP & 2nd Camera Barbara Van Schaik 1st Ac Nacho Guzman  2nd Camera Giovani Compagnoni Gaffer Jenni Suitiala Marilyn Reframed Dir Karen McGann 2nd Camera Op Meike Chinnery 1st AC Caitlin Rollino DIT Arno Kirby Gaffer Travers Randall #theICFC #lucyworsley #blitz #suffragette #suffragettes #baftawinner #bafta #ww2 #perioddrama #marilymonroe #marilyn #womenoflight #womenwholight #annemarieleanvercoe1 @fran_entertainmentpublicist

My documentary background has been a great bedrock for many drama projects, including indie feature Honeytrap (London Film Festival) starring Jessica Sula (Michael, Suckerpunch) as Layla, shot several years ago. Based on true events set in South London the film addresses how a young girl had acted as a ‘honeytrap’, setting up the boy who was in love with her for a gang murder. The documentary style was very important to director Rebecca Johnson who had worked mentoring many teens in Brixton, South London.  We wanted to show the very human and complex situation of our 15 year old heroine, and expose the dehumanising caricatures that the media report in these cases. More recent work of mine that leans into the doc aesthetic, is series 3 & 4 of Breeders – a Sky Atlantic comedy drama, starring Martin Freeman (Sherlock / The Hobbit) & Daisy Haggard (Back to Life) who are navigating the trials and tribulations of parenthood – very funny and often very close to the bone. The style of this TV series is fast paced, often more drama than just comedy, handheld 2 cameras and energetic. So trusting your instincts and grabbing moments that whip from various characters was crucial as each take had new nuggets of gold to glean. Honeytrap Director Rebecca Johnson 1st AC Sam Vines / 2nd AC Michael Hobdell / Cam Trainee Torren Simonsz DIT Thomas Patrick Breeders Series 3&4 Crew / Director Ollie Parsons Camera Op Ben Eeely / Jake McLean / David Pulgarin 1st AC Bradley Stearn / Ralph Messer/ George Telling /   2nd AC Ashton Born / Chai Rolfe / Lali Coombes Trainees Annabel Lee / Jo Slocombe / Giada Sponzilli Gaffer Kit Wood / DIT Ali Halican #londonfilmfestival #indiefeaturefilmuk #skyatlantic #martinfreeman #daisyhaggard #chrisaddison #jessicasula @fran_entertainmentpublicist

It was in documentary where I got my first proper break, I was finding it hard to move into the drama world despite having shot some award winning shorts, a low budget feature and DPing for a whole year on a football drama for Sky TV. But the doors opened for me in the doc world. Documentary taught me so much about being a Cinematographer, so I’m now very happy that my career progressed in this way.  The best bit about filming docs apart from interesting travel, is the open access you have when shooting with a small camera and team. The generosity of people who share their innermost thoughts with you if you are able to gain trust and listen, is awesome. Also from a lighting and camera perspective it made me learn to trust my instincts and how to work with minimum equipment, tell the story, and work with natural light. My most recent feature doc Is There Anybody Out There (Amazon Prime / Netflix UK) is directed by Ella Glendining, who turned the camera onto herself to share her experiences as a wheelchair user in an able bodied world. The project is a wonderful reminder of my intimate documentary beginnings. Filming mainly consisted of just Ella and I working together in an adhoc fashion through Covid and her daily life and backstory, and then shooting some intensive segments in the USA, where I was thrilled to work with fellow ICFC member Amy Bench who did some 2nd camera days. The project spanned 4 years, and opened my eyes to experiences like hers, filming it was enlightening, full of humour, love and many emotions – bringing me and audiences to a deeper understanding of how visible and non-visible disabilities have been overlooked for too long. Is There Anybody Out There was nominated for a BAFTA 2024 & premiered at Sundance in 2023 & has won a multitude of awards. Director Ella Glendining Producer Janine Marmot Hot Property Films Exec Producers Lisa Marie Russo/ Nikki Parrott, Natasha Dack Tigerlily Additional Camera Amy Bench / Sound Recordist Scott Snyder Editor Rachel Roberts /Composer Erland Cooper Colourist Ben Mullen. #bafta #womenoflight #womenwholight #featuredocs #awardwinningdocs @fran_entertainmentpublicist

Hi I’m Annemarie Lean-Vercoe UK based Cinematographer. I have been shooting scripted and unscripted work since I graduated from the Masters in Cinematography at the National Film and Television School near London in 2003. My journey into this industry came from my love of art, fascination with people and the need to know more about them and their story. I can actually pinpoint my need to photograph light on a school trip to Florence – those shafts of light in the Duomo Cathedral definitely ignited something in me! Recent credits include Outrageous, Bergerac S2, Silent Witness, Call the Midwife and Is There Anybody Out There I’m delighted to be hosting @theicfc instragram page – please feel free to ask questions and I hope you enjoy my posts #leanvercoe1 #womenoflight #femalecinematographer @annemarieleanvercoe1