Si Bell
Known for CameraSacriston, County Durham, England
Si Bell BSC is an international Cinematographer represented by United Agents in the UK and Sandra Marsh in the US. Si is known for his work on high end TV shows such as A Very British Scandal, The Serpent, Peaky Blinders 5 and A Christmas Carol as well as feature films Electricity (2015) and In Darkness (2018).
As a proud North Easterner Si grew up in a small ex-mining village called Sacriston in the north of England. As a child he was happy filming his family outings on his families Hi8 camcorder , including in-camera editing and narrating certain sections . He didn’t know at the time what direction his life would take but while at Newcastle Collage at the age of 18 he became interested in a module on video production and realised that there were courses and potentially jobs in the film industry. He decided to pursue a Media Production BA Hons at Northumbria University in Newcastle.
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During his studies at Northumbria, Si directed a number of short dramas films on the universities 16mm cameras about working class life in the North East and thought his future may be that of a director. After university he got his break into the Film and TV industry through local drama production Wire in the Blood as a camera trainee and met Cinematographer Sam McCurdy BSC, who influenced him to change direction. Sam had worked with director Neil Marshall who also had graduated from Northumbria University. Sam made a real impact on Si and he admired his passion, enthusiasm and love of cinematography. It was at this moment that Si really began to understand what a cinematographer’s role was and how much creativity and influence could be brought to a production.
After a number of years working as a clapper loader with cinematographers including Sam and Lol Crawley BSC, as well as shooting his own low budget short films, Si began to gain traction as a cinematographer in his own right. In 2012 he shot a short film, Orthodox, featuring the actor Stephen Graham which proved to be popular in film festivals and resulted in being expanded into a feature film. Following this he worked on the film Electricity, a feature film for the BFI about the life of a girl with epilepsy. Mark Kermode, the film critic, spoke highly of the visuals Si created in Electricity and because of this publicity from this he began to be offered high end TV dramas such as Fortitude and Ripper Street. Si went from one production to another for a number of years working with many different directors and gaffers and perfecting his skills in lighting.
Si’s more recent work has included shooting series 5 of Peaky Blinders with director Anthony Byrne, a feature length drama/mini series for the BBC/FX., A Christmas Carol with director Nick Murphy, and BBC’s A Very British Scandal featuring Claire Foy and directed by Norwegian director Ann Sewitsky. Some other directors he has worked with on a regular basis include Nick Rowland with whom he has just completed a BBC TV movie called Floodlights about the abuse scandal involving ex-footballer Andy Woodward. He also worked with Hans Herbots on The Serpent in Thailand.