David Odd BSC started his career as a news film cameraman, shooting subjects including the miners' strike, National Front riots and the Yorkshire Ripper. He moved into documentaries and music videos working as a camera operator and in the camera department on productions including World in Action, This England, Bulman, Watching, Open Eye and In Suspicious Circumstances. This broad experience gave him a strong grounding in both factual and dramatic filmmaking before he became increasingly established as a Director of Photography.
As a cinematographer, David developed a reputation for combining a strong visual style with an efficient and practical approach to filmmaking. He worked predominantly on Super 16 and became a particularly strong advocate for the format. In discussing his work, he emphasised the simplicity, mobility, reliability and creative freedom offered by film. His approach was very much about using the available technology to serve the story rather than allowing technology to dictate the filmmaking process.
One notable example was The Virgin Queen, for which David photographed much of the drama using candlelight and firelight in an effort to create a sense of authenticity appropriate to the period. Working with 250 and 500 ASA film stocks, he pushed the capabilities of the stock to achieve the contrast and exposure he wanted, including deliberately overexposing windows and recovering detail during grading. The production demonstrated his confidence in the creative possibilities of film and his willingness to work at the limits of the technology.
David’s extensive television credits include Touching Evil, Our Mutual Friend, Great Expectations, The Lost World, Byron, White Teeth, The Virgin Queen, Some Voices, Flesh and Blood, The Dark, Persuasion, Half Broken Things, My Boy Jack, The Syndicate, The Village, Love/Hate and The Child in Time. His later work included the international television series Giri/Haji, for which he photographed five episodes. IMDb records 87 cinematography credits for David.
His work has received considerable critical recognition. David has been nominated for six BAFTA Television Craft Awards for Photography and Lighting: Fiction. His nominations were for Prime Suspect in 1996, Touching Evil in 1998, Our Mutual Friend in 1999, Great Expectations in 2000, White Teeth in 2003 and Dirty Filthy Love in 2005.
David also won the Royal Television Society Craft & Design Award for Photography Drama for Great Expectations, as well as the Kodak Award for Best Cinematography. His work on White Teeth earned him the Prix Europa for TV Fiction.
His contribution has extended beyond his own cinematography. David has been recognised by fellow cinematographers for his generosity towards younger members of the camera department and his willingness to give them opportunities to develop their skills. One cinematographer who worked with him described David as an important mentor, recalling how he would give junior crew members the opportunity to use a camera and encourage them to develop their own creative instincts. His philosophy was that fear could gradually suppress creativity, and he sought instead to encourage confidence and experimentation.