Clubhouse Conversations — If These Walls Could Sing

In this episode, cinematographers Tim Cragg and Ben Maghay and director Mary McCartney are joined by interviewer Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC to discuss their work in If These Walls Could Sing — a documentary that charts the rich history of Abbey Road Studios and its immeasurable influence on music as we know it.

If These Walls Could Sing explores the music and memories made within the four walls of London's fabled Abbey Road Studios, through stories told by the myriad musical icons who've recorded there — including Paul McCartney, Elton John and John Williams. The film was created as the centerpiece of the studio's 90th-anniversary celebrations last year.

In this lively conversation, Cragg, Magahy and McCartney discuss how they facilitated a relaxed and intimate interview environment on set; how they combined purposeful camera moves with talking-head footage to maintain the film's forward momentum; and the lighting- and lens-based decisions they made to best depict the studio space.

Tim Cragg is a cinematographer who has photographed numerous theatrical feature documentaries, and feature documentaries for Netflix, HBO, BBC and Amazon. In 2010, he won a BAFTA for Best Photography (Factual) for his work on How the Earth Changed History, and he has garnered three other BAFTA Award nominations, as well as four Emmy nominations.

Ben Magahy is a cinematographer whose credits include the music videos for Mumford & Sons’ "Little Lion Man" (2009), Sam Smith's "Too Good at Goodbyes" (2017), and Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa’s "One Kiss" (2018), as well as his work on the BBC narrative miniseries Life (2020).

Mary McCartney is a British photographer and filmmaker. Well established as a cooking show host and portrait photographer, she now makes her with her documentary feature debut as director of If These Walls Could Sing.

Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC is a cinematographer whose feature credits include The Hours, The Avengers, Godzilla, The Accountant, Nocturnal Animals, Fifty Shades of Grey, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Greatest Showman and Bad Times at the El Royale. He is a two-time ASC and Academy Award nominee, for his work in Atonement and Anna Karenina.

You’ll find all episodes in our ASC Clubhouse Conversations discussion series here.