All of the night scenes involving Andy, Tammy, Scarlet, Doyle and Sam's journey across London to escape the bombs were shot day-for-night using a new technique created specifically for the film by director of photography
Enrique Chediak. The scenes were shot day-for-night for three reasons. Firstly, because the filmmakers weren't allowed to use
Mackintosh Muggleton (Andy) at night time. Secondly, because there is supposed to be a total shut down of all power in London, hence every building must appear light-less. However, if one were to actually shoot at night time in London, this would be impossible to capture photo-realistically and would hence involve complex post-production work removing all of the lights. By shooting during the day time however, there are few lights on in most buildings anyway, and as such, when the day-for-night treatment is applied to the film stock, everything in the image darkens equally, thus giving the impression that all of the buildings are in total darkness. Thirdly, director
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has always been a big fan of the 'ghostly' quality day-for-night shooting has, and he felt it would create the perfect sense of unease for the film.
more