Bella Matthew, a third-year BA (Hons) Film Production student specialising in cinematography, discusses her role as a gaffer on upcoming BFS graduation film, I Like This Boy (2025); the balance between creative control and collaboration, and practical advice for students preparing for roles in film lighting.
I Like This Boy is an upcoming Bournemouth Film School graduation film, produced by third-year students on BA (Hons) Film Production. Bella Matthew, a student specialising in cinematography, undertook the role of gaffer on the production, which she describes as having an experimental vibe, with visual inspiration from director Shunji Iwai.
In I Like This Boy, cinematography plays a key role in reflecting the protagonist’s mental state. The crew plans to use unmotivated lighting, smoke, and varied lenses.
“We are using a 15 mm lens to imply psychological distortion, which is wide enough to produce a fisheye effect," Bella says. “Wide shots are always the most difficult for the gaffer because of how much is being seen – it is more complicated to find places to hide the lights. It also makes it more difficult to create movement. Close-ups are always significantly easier.”
Gaffing, or managing the lighting on set, is a critical and enjoyable part of filmmaking because it uses lighting to enhance storytelling. Bella comments, “Cinematography is nothing without the lights. You can use it to tell a story, and that’s what I love.”
She especially enjoys the practical aspects of lighting and its use in conveying emotions through colour. “We have a sequence where the protagonist is dreaming about a boy she thinks she’s in love with. We have pink backlighting to represent love – the way that she’s feeling.”
Bella teases, “We’ve got a light that changes to yellow when she is breaking down, where she’s questioning herself. And fluorescent lighting, to make you feel sickly.”
Whilst Bella finds gaffing fun and expressive, she also acknowledges the importance of entering a project with a clear vision: “If you know what you want, then you're more likely to be able to pitch your ideas.”
Equally, Bella emphasises the importance of balance – she advises collaborating with other key crew members, and exercising professional deference: “You have to be prepared to listen to the director of photography, and sometimes, step back a little bit.”
From second year to third year, stepping into a leadership role on a larger-scale production can take time to adapt to. “If you are working as the gaffer, you are in charge of the lighting department,” Bella reflects. “I often have the urge to just grab what I need, but that can slow you down. Remember to delegate to your team.”
The necessity for staying informed and involved with the decisions of other departments is high. “To be effective as a gaffer, you must keep up to date with other department heads, because so much is happening, and they can have conversations between themselves about changes and forget to relay that information.”
Bella urges upcoming gaffers to put effort into communication:
“You need to go out of your way to find out these things, especially if you want to properly be part of the creative process. Talk to your director and director of photography, and make sure to attend the workshops. If you don’t put yourself out there, then you are going to struggle.”
To handle this step up in responsibility, Bella further emphasises the importance of learning the fundamentals in earlier years: “If you're coming up into third year, it's really important to understand enough of the basics so you know how to go about materialising your ideas.”
Students are well-prepared for this by the cinematography specialism on the course, but there is not enough time to cover everything. Independent study is an assessed component of the graduation film unit; Bella points out that online content can be helpful here, especially YouTube and social media reels.
“I also found it useful to recreate scenes from your favourite films that have complicated lighting plans. Sometimes you can find their lighting plans online.”
ShotDeck – the largest collection of fully searchable high-definition movie images in the world – provided Bella with the tools to look up lighting plans, and accelerate her independent learning. “It's expensive. But there are free alternatives online, they're just not quite as good.” Below, she shares her custom deck for I Like This Boy.
Virtual software is becoming more prevalent within the film industry, including within the lighting department. Bella advises that students working with Shot Designer – a virtual tool for mapping out shots and creating camera diagrams – should “invest in the paid version for £15.99,” for it aided her in increasing her productivity.
Other paid softwares Bella recommends to students interested in lighting, includes Cadrage Director’s Viewfinder – ”a good option for shot planning.” And Artemis Pro, for estimating the sun’s positioning, which is important for outdoor lighting.
For free, students can access Magic ARRI Viewfinder, which Bella feels is good for visualising the dimensions of a shot. Students will be introduced to some of these by their tutors on the cinematography specialism.
“If you're a gaffer on the graduation films, creating visualisations and lighting plans are the biggest part of your pre-production job.
"Do not procrastinate,” Bella warns. “Make sure you save your lighting plans so that you can come back to them later. Logistics can change at any minute.”
