Post from
@panavisionofficial -Writer/director Cameron Monaghan (
@cameronmonaghan ) takes us #behindthescenes of short film #FOXBODY, premiering today at the
@_credo23_ film festival.
“While FOXBODY is a rather dark thriller with western and neo-noir influences, I wanted to retain a sense of color, saturation, and even playfulness in the design. However, it was important to find a balance of a heightened reality and naturalism. Set in Texas in the ‘80s, I immediately started drawing inspiration from reference photos and films of that time. It was apparent from the jump we needed to shoot on celluloid, giving a sense of density, grit, and authenticity.
While I have been a hobbyist film photographer since my teens, I have really become much more of a gear nerd in the last few years. I have made it a habit when I enjoy a film visually, particularly vintage pictures, to research the camera, lens, and film stock. It will come as no surprise to anyone reading this that the vast majority of the films I admire were shot on Panavision glass. When I first met with our DP, Aislyn, we quickly formulated a plan how we might get our hands on PV gear. At the time, the combo of Primo lenses and XL2 body felt like a pipe dream, but Panavision were incredibly supportive. The Primo lenses had the perfect amount of character, whilst still feeling relatively clean, with gorgeous color rendition that felt classic, but not dated.
This project is a series of firsts for me. While I have been an on-camera actor for over 25 years, I had never directed a project formally. Whilst I had picked up cameras in friends’ backyards, as part of classes, or to train as a concept, I had never been at the helm of a large-scale crew.
I was raised on cinema and perhaps it’s a foolish or purist sentiment, but I really wanted my first foray to be something built from the ground up—written and designed to have my voice, to be truly representative of where I am at this current age and time. The goal was to bite off a bit more than what anyone would expect we could chew and prove that we could swallow it. It wasn’t easy on a three-day shoot, but we were scrappy and managed to push our way through.”
