Cinematic Funeral Videography | St Michael at the North Gate, Oxford.
My work takes me right across the UK. One week i’m filming a celebration of life at a rowing club on the Thames, the next i’m providing the funeral streaming for a Greek Funeral in London, a photographing a natural burial in Surrey, or a military funeral hundreds of miles away. On 8th May 2026, it brought me to lovely Oxford, to provide cinematic funeral videography for the funeral of Stephen Charles Dixon, held at St Michael at the North Gate right in the heart of the city.
It was a Church of England service, and one of those days that stays with you — a warm and welcoming family, an exceptionally accommodating vicar, and a funeral director I would rank among the very best in the country. The team at The Individual Funeral Company work in a way that is completely family-led, and it showed in every part of the day. When everyone around a service is that thoughtful, my job becomes a simple one: stay quietly out of the way, and capture the day honestly.
The Setting — St Michael at the North Gate, Oxford
If you have ever walked down Cornmarket Street in the centre of Oxford, you will have passed St Michael at the North Gate without perhaps realising what you were looking at. Its Saxon tower, built around 1040, is the oldest surviving building in the whole of Oxford — older than the colleges, older than almost everything around it. The church was already standing when the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, and it has served as the official City Church of Oxford since 1971.
To film a service inside a building with nearly a thousand years of history behind it is a quiet privilege in itself. The light, the stonework, the sense of permanence — it all lends a service a particular weight. For Stephen's family, holding his funeral here meant the day was held in a place that has witnessed centuries of Oxford's farewells. That history became part of the film.
Arriving Early — The Three-Camera Setup
As I do for every service, I arrived in good time to set up carefully and unobtrusively, so that by the time the congregation began to arrive everything was in place and the family had nothing technical to think about.
For Stephen's service I used a three-camera setup designed to capture the service fully while staying completely out of the way:
A camera on the main floor giving a wide, steady view of the whole service
A second camera on the main floor positioned closer to the minister, the readers and the front of the church
A third camera up on the balcony, looking down the length of the church and giving a sweeping perspective across the whole congregation and the nave below
That balcony angle is something I always value in a church like this — it lifts the film, taking it beyond a single fixed viewpoint and showing the service as part of the building it was held in.
The Drone Inside the Church
With agreement in place, I flew my drone inside the church — gliding gently down the full length of the nave, capturing the interior of St Michael at the North Gate from above. It is a perspective that almost no one ever sees: the sweep of the ceiling, the run of the aisle, the whole space opening up beneath the camera in a single, flowing shot.
In a church of this age and architectural significance, that footage is genuinely rare — and for Stephen's family, it is something they will have forever as part of their film. A view of the place where they said goodbye that they could never have seen with their own eyes.
I want to be clear that filming of this kind is only ever done with the full permission of the minister and the church, and always handled with the discretion and respect the occasion demands. When that permission is given, the results can be extraordinary. It’s only a few seconds of a shot, but in my opinion it’s a beautiful opening shot.
Stephen's Music
The music for Stephen's service was deeply personal from beginning to end. His arrival at the church was accompanied by a song the family had chosen especially for him, and the service closed with something even more moving — a recorded performance by two of Stephen's grandchildren, one playing guitar while both sang, their voices carrying the final song through to its close.
Working with The Individual Funeral Company
It was a pleasure to work alongside Lucy and the team at The Individual Funeral Company, whose care and calm professionalism shaped the whole day. When a funeral director runs a service this thoughtfully, my job becomes far easier — I can concentrate entirely on filming, knowing the day itself is in good hands. The result was a service that felt unhurried, dignified and completely focused on the family, exactly as it should be.
Funeral Videography Across Oxford and Oxfordshire
Stephen's service is one of a number I have filmed in and around Oxford — from historic city churches like St Michael at the North Gate to crematorium and military services across Oxfordshire. Every one is attended and filmed by me personally, and every film is edited with the same care.
If you are arranging a funeral or celebration of life in Oxford or anywhere in Oxfordshire and would like to discuss cinematic funeral videography, live streaming, photography or a tribute film, I would be honoured to help.
Call or text me on 07772 509101 — available seven days a week, 9am to 10pm — or get in touch online.
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