Your whole life informs your eye.

When I first started, I saw myself shooting documentaries or making documentaries, which is what I did, mostly, for a number of years. So it was quite a surprise how I found myself shooting features. It was like my wildest dreams as a kid collided.

Your whole life informs your eye.

I am concerned that the subtlety is being lost and every film tends to look very contrasty and saturated.

Maybe that sounds a bit pretentious, but I think life experience is always more important than technical knowledge.

To me if there's an achievement to lighting and photography in a film it's because nothing stands out, it all works as a piece. And you feel that these actors are in this situation and the audience is not thrown by a pretty picture or by bad lighting.

The balance of the frame - the way an actor is relating to the space in the frame - is the most important factor in helping the audience feel what the character is thinking.