Matt Mead

2025, 15′
Dir. Alex Salam
DOP Matt Mead

Confronted with the realities of the night shift from hell at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, veteran doctor Ruth faces a pivotal moment that will test her humanity and her compassion.
BBC Films x NFTS Scotland Sean Connery Talent Lab short drama.

Winner of Royal Television Society 2026 Postgraduate Drama award:
“The jury described the film as beautiful, heartbreaking, and powerful. They felt the choice to shoot in black and white elevated the drama and gave it a strong visual style. The use of location and positioning of characters was effective, with an expressive approach that conveyed isolation and anxiety. Overall, they praised it as sparingly and beautifully done.”
https://rts.org.uk/article/winners-announced-rts-student-television-awards-2026

Notes

Director Alex Salam approached me with the idea to shoot this COVID hospital drama in black and white. I leapt wholeheartedly on his suggestion as it speaks so well to the strange subjective indeterminacy of how long ago the pandemic happened, as well as corresponding to the high stakes and darkness of the time. Alex knew he didn’t want it to look like people’s expectations of a hospital drama, which from his experience don’t reflect the more isolated environments a doctor might find on a night shift. We settled on an anamorphic neo-noir styling to reflect this.

There is a key journey of (self-)control for the protagonist, played by Sarah Priddy, which reflects in some of our choices for cinematography and more broadly how the performances were approached. For example, the film begins with very static or controlled shots before taking a more responsive and improvised handheld approach at the characters lowest point.