- Had been a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) since 1980. She was also its first female member.
- She was the first female director of photography for a major studio film, and is often referred to as a pioneer for women in the film industry.
- In 1984 she was recipient of the "Crystal Award" for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.
- While working in production management, she would often use herself as a second cameraman on set, once again getting more experience.
- She was also nominated for four Emmys for cinematography, winning for outstanding cinematography for the series Highway to Heaven in 1985.
- Gender was always the difficulty. Sometimes, she would get a call for "Brian" Murphy and, lowering her voice, would accept the job, defying the employer to sack her when she arrived.
- In 1982, Murphy won an Academy Award for Scientific and Engineering Achievement.
- In 1954, she crashed the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at Madison Square Garden on opening night and performed as a clown for the entire evening. The resulting publicity helped Murphy land a job as a still photographer with the traveling circus and eventually led her to Hollywood.
- In order to become "more American", she worked as a trick rider with a rodeo for a season.
- In 1982, Murphy shared an Academy Award of Merit with Donald Schisler of Mitchell Insert Systems Inc. for the concept, design and manufacture of the MISI camera insert car and process trailer, a specially designed vehicle with dozens of safety features to protect film technicians while shooting close-ups of moving vehicles that are inserted into action sequences.
- Once, while Murphy was filming a news conference, then-Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Evelle J. Younger asked whether her camera equipment wasn't too heavy. She finally replied, "No heavier than carrying a child.".
- During the filming of a movie called "On the Waterfront" in New York, she made an effort to hang around the set and eventually was asked to run errands for the production manager. After doing this, the director agreed to let Murphy watch the rest of the filming process. This allowed her to gain more insight into what went into making the film while teaching her how to use the equipment properly. She took this as a learning experience and started to search for more jobs in the industry.
- Murphy struggled to get jobs at times due to the fact that she was a female attempting to make a place in a male dominated industry. She attempted to join her local union branch in 1973 where she was told by a union officer that she would be accepted "over his dead body" When he died, she went back to the Union and told the new Union Officer what had happened before. Upon hearing this, he did allow Brianne to join.
- In 1980, she became the first female director of photography on a major studio feature -- "Fatso," Anne Bancroft's first feature as a writer-director.
- Murphy struggled to get jobs at times due to the fact that she was a female attempting to make a place in a male dominated industry. She would also use her initials G.B. to avoid revealing that she was a woman.
- She began working with low-budget filmmakers Jerry Warren and Ralph Brooke, both of whom she married.
- Murphy's career began to take off in 1975 when Richard Glouner, a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, who had worked with Murphy as a script supervisor in the past, had to leave a show, Columbo, that he was working on and suggested Murphy take over for him.
- She won a Daytime Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming'. This was for: NBC Special Treat (For the episode "Five Finger Discount", 1975).
- Murphy was educated in English and American schools before she set her sights on an acting career and attended the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City and Pembroke College.
- While working on low-budget films, Murphy was promoted to production manager due to her strategic decisions to save money by using the same crew and actors and shooting movies back-to-back.
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