Emerald Pictures' Gabrielle Blackwood on Her Blackmagic Camera (Named Doris), Translating Korean, and More
June 13, 2025
From hauling camera gear through customs to translating Korean novels for fun, Emerald Pictures' Gabrielle Blackwood's creative process is as multifaceted as her filmography.
The award-winning Jamaican director and DoP – whose work spans narrative films, global documentaries and commercial campaigns for brands like Adidas, Nike and Apple Music – has shot and trained in locations from New Zealand to South Korea, whilst relishing the tactile comforts of writing tools, home-cooked meals and trusty manuals.
Here, she shares a few of the objects that keep her grounded, inspired, and ready to shoot.
The Manual And Stationary
Whenever I’m writing a screenplay or having a Zoom meeting on my balcony - which is a lot of the time (the light and air are just better) - these are my absolutes.
To this day, even though most of it is in my head, I still keep my old screenwriting manual from 15 years ago handy when beginning a screenplay or treatment.
It’s a literal booklet of scanned articles from various screenwriting texts.
Ironically, I feel like I’ve benefited more from them now than I did when doing my Master’s.In meetings, I also love a good highlighter, pen, and sharpened pencil.
I’m a very tactile person and I love making quick notes and creating and executing to-do lists.
It puts me in a very organised state of mind, which is super helpful for action tasks that need to be achieved before a follow-up Zoom or any project I’m working on.
More on shots!