“Making of Lord of the Flies” was shot by award-winning documentary filmmaker, Lisa Marie Russo, using the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro digital film camera. The hour long documentary about the new limited series was created from more than 100 hours of interviews and BTS footage from the tropical rainforests and beaches of Malaysia, along with material from the drama.
Based on the 1954 novel by William Golding, “Lord of the Flies” tells the story of a group of British school boys marooned on a desert island, who come face to face with their darker instincts. The series adaptation, which was commissioned for the BBC in the UK and Stan in Australia and aired in the US on Netflix, stars more than thirty young British actors and was adapted for television by Jack Thorne, directed by Russo’s husband Marc Munden, executive produced by Joel Wilson for Eleven, and distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Television.
Russo was brought on to “Lord of the Flies” to direct the electronic press kits, but stayed for the entire shoot and developed the material into a full length documentary detailing the creative process, and the challenges and considerations of filming on remote locations with the restricted child working hours. Russo says, “The children were a total revelation. They worked intensely with Marc to discover and realize their characters, and really enjoyed sharing their experiences for the documentary.”
“Lord of the Flies” is a dark story, but the process of making it was thrilling, intense and ultimately magical for the cast and crew. “I took inspiration from Eleanor Coppola’s Hearts of Darkness, about the making of Apocalypse Now, and photographer Diane Arbus, whose mid century images of children were both otherworldly and empathetic,” she says.
Russo shot for more than 14 weeks on set after arriving two weeks into the production. She started her career as a documentary director at WHYY in Philadelphia, and went on to produce/EP many fiction and documentary features from her base in London. “Making of Lord of the Flies” was her first time handling cinematography. She was supported by the crew, including DIT Mark Kozlowski.
“I bought my Pocket Cinema Camera in Philadelphia in the summer of 2024, on the advice of several DoPs. The camera was reasonably priced, easy to learn and small enough to carry anywhere on set. It let me draw on the documentary principles of keeping an open mind and just capturing what was happening,” she explained. “I love the built in ND filters, and I borrowed a few Canon EF lenses, so I was able to put together a brilliant kit for a very low cost.”
Russo faced multiple challenges, including filming during extreme weather, working with a young cast and making sure she was never a distraction. During one of the darker moments of the series, when the characters Ralph and Piggy (who is gravely injured), are hiding from their attackers, she captured one of her favorite behind the scenes moments.
“We shot for several hours in a tiny shelter made of palm leaves, which were falling in around us. The space had to fit the DoP Mark Wolf, two actors, the sound recordist and an assistant. Then I snuck in… There is no way I could have done that without the Pocket being so flexible, lightweight and quiet,” Russo explained. “The titling HDR screen meant I could see the whole image and didn’t need to fuss with a viewfinder.”
The filmmakers were incredibly protective of the young actors and kept very tight schedules around their shooting hours. This required Russo to be flexible and able to shoot whenever the opportunity presented itself, usually between takes or while a shot was being set up. “There is a big difference between filming them acting and when they were just being kids. They enjoyed talking about what they were learning at the moment and were curious about what the camera could do. The camera was just a part of me to the kids.”
“I had to be ready to shoot at any moment. I couldn’t worry about getting a perfect shot, which was fine because the camera gave me the confidence to make mistakes as it is so flexible. It gives a lot of latitude in the image to push in, adjust and correct later.”
She finished: “It was totally magnificent, especially filming in such difficult locations. The image is gorgeous in both harsh sunlight and in the lush rain forest. The camera allowed me to capture the warmth of both the environment and the people, and it has such a cinematic feel. It was rewarding to have BTS footage which illustrated Marc Munden’s bold vision and shows how the series was brought to life. Honestly filming this doc with the Pocket has been a career highlight for me. I climbed out on a limb to pull this off and the camera totally delivered!”
“Lord of the Flies” has two Primetime Emmy nominations, for Outstanding Sound Mixing For a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special.