Mary McCartney, one of Paul McCartney’s daughters, is known for her work as a photographer and now he was encouraged to venture into the audiovisual medium with the making of the documentary If these walls could sing) which he performed on the mythical study abbey road.
The studio, located in North London, is where Paul McCartney and his Beatles bandmates they recorded most of their albums, and for this reason it has become famous all over the world. Also, the guys from Liverpool decided to use the studio name for their seventh record.
The photographer-turned-filmmaker, who is also Paul’s eldest daughter, has many childhood memories of spending that studio and made her directorial debut with this documentary premiering on Disney+ on Jan. 6.
Childhood memories
“I started working on this a couple of years ago in the midst of the pandemic. I was invited by John Battsek, who is an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker who said to me, ‘Have you thought about directing documentaries?’ And I said : “Yes”. And he sent me the idea,” says Mary, in an interview with the site Variety.
For the exbeatle heir, moving from photography to documentary was completely natural. “When I do lighting for photos, in my portraits, I have always used more continuous lighting, which is more than what is used in film, creating a nice space for someone to feel comfortable in while being photographed,” he explains. .
He adds, “So I approached the interviews in a similar way for the documentary. When people came to be interviewed at Abbey Road, they were in the right mood which allowed them to remember more of their time here.” She also conducted all the interviews herself.
interview without speaking
“Even if it’s a lot, why the interview is an art form in itselfIn a way, this is where my experience with portraiture came in. It’s interviewing without talking. But it was stressful, because I was making sure it was well lit, checking the framing and then getting the interview,” he says.
The director says, surprised, that she found herself with a lack of archival images. “That’s because the rule in a studio is that you don’t photograph or film, because the musicians are just focused on making music. So there aren’t many photo sessions within the recording processshe says of her job. ‘So I was very dependent on getting good interviews.’
Among those who provided testimonials for the documentary are Elton John and Jimmy Page who, he says, “were there to talk about their experience as session musicians right there”; john williamswho spoke highly of film scores being shot at Abbey Road, “and of course my father and Ringo Starr who were there to talk about the Beatles”.
Mary’s childhood was practically spent at Abbey Road and so she has many memories of the studio. “My earliest memories are of my mom and dad touring here with Wings. I grew up around the corner so we’d pop in and visit them when they took a break,” he says.
From his mother, Linda Eastman, he inherited a passion for photography. “I remember going to the cafe and having sandwiches and seeing that amazing photo gallery of artists they recorded here in reception,” she explains.
Rock and pop culture symbol
Only as an adult did Mary realize what that study meant for rock and pop culture. “I realized how iconic it was when I passed by and always saw people outside, always, on Christmas Day, every day there was someone on pilgrimageHe says. “But also, literally, Every time I enter it it feels magical.. It’s a healthy feeling to come here, I feel inspired.”
But Mary assures that she is not the only one to have that experience and that feeling is also reflected in the documentary through the testimony of rodgers of the nile. “He says musicians are superstitious and when people come here, they want to get better at whatever you do.”
One of the fundamental protagonists of the documentary is, of course, Paul McCartney and Mary tells how the musician came to know about the project. “I only told him after he agreed and signed. I was with him for a weekend and I said, ‘I’m going to do a documentary about Abbey Road called If these walls could sing. And I remember her saying, “Oh, I like that title.”
What followed also involved the ex-Beatle. “I was very interested and it helped me a lot, it gave me a lot of information and when he saw it he was like, ‘How are you doing in that documentary?
From this material, Mary’s taste for the genre was awakened. “I definitely had the documentary directing bug,” she says. “I really just need to focus and think about the next project.”
WD extension
Source: Clarin
