
“I Had to Relearn How to Look at and Respond to the World”: DP Jon Shenk on Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore

Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore trains its camera on Marlee Matlin, who became the first Deaf performer to win an Oscar when she took home Best Actress for the 1987 film Children of a Lesser God. The film is directed by Deaf director Shoshannah Stern in her directorial debut.
Jon Shenk, whose previous credits include Athlete A and Ruth: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words, served as director of photography. Below, he explains how cinematographic techniques taken for granted when shooting with hearing actors and spoken dialogue cannot be implemented when shooting Deaf conversations and how he and Stern adjusted their filmic language.
See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here.
Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job?
Shenk: As one of the founders of Actual Films (we celebrated our 25th anniversary last year), I have very often served as the DP on the projects that we produce. Many times, I shoot films that I direct or co-direct, and it’s a special treat for me to have worked in the capacity of DP with director Shoshannah Stern on Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore. From the early stages, I knew this film would be special in a visual way based on the way Shoshannah spoke about it. I had the feeling that she was trying to re-invent the way documentaries are made for Deaf audiences and demonstrate something important to the hearing audience about the experience of being Deaf. I asked her if she had any references for interviews or observational, and she said, “No. There aren’t any!”
Filmmaker: What were your artistic goals on this film, and how did you realize them? How did you want your cinematography to enhance the film’s storytelling and treatment of its characters?
Shenk: Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore investigates the very nature of language itself. How does language define us? And, most importantly, how does language deprivation inflict harm on Deaf people? Shoshannah wanted the film to celebrate American Sign Language, which is an inherently visual language and give ASL the respect it deserves.
There has been a long tradition in movies and TV to have hearing characters speak for Deaf people, to focus on interpreters versus the person speaking, and to gloss over the language and experience of Deaf people. We designed the interviews so that a conversation between two Deaf people or between a Deaf person and a hearing person would be seamless, emphasizing the richness of the dialogue. We shot the interviews with four cameras in order to accomplish this. In the movie, the audience will see dramatic and epiphanic moments that occur between Shoshannah and Marlee in part because we set up a big wide shot of the entire interview set-up, which reveals the lighting, blocking, etc. Kudos also to the sound department on this project. There was quite a complicated use of wireless devices, invisible earpieces and extra microphones, which allowed Shoshannah and hearing participants to speak in a completely uninterrupted manner. The authenticity is inherent in every frame. As a viewer, you feel the magic of people thinking on the spot, connecting, and emoting. It’s a magical feeling that documentarians are always chasing!
For the observational moments, we also had to re-think the way we covered scenes. Shoshannah reminded us that because ASL is a visual language, the camera operators would not be able to drift away from a person using ASL knowing that their part of the conversation would be captured on the soundtrack. ASL can’t be captured by mics! I was trained to shoot vérité with a single camera, and that is always how I have worked. I have years and years of muscle memory, learning to anticipate where to move the camera based on the fact that I am a hearing person. I—and the crew — had to relearn how to look at and respond to the world. For this film, we often had at least two cameras during observational scenes so that we could capture 100 percent of the signing space of people using ASL. This also had a deep impact on the edit of the film. Viewers will see that this film has very few L-cuts. When a Deaf person is speaking, you see them. Shoshannah accomplished this with the clever use of split screen and good old-fashioned patience with the way scenes play out.
Filmmaker: Were there any specific influences on your cinematography, whether they be other films, or visual art, of photography, or something else?
Shenk: Bonni Cohen (one of the producers of this film) and I have been talking for some time about how to shoot interviews in a way that turns them into scenes. Interviews are conversions. They should be spontaneous and authentic. The film Spotlight was a reference for our documentary; Athlete A—the way the camera captured scenes in offices and homes—inspired us to think about interviews in a different way. In the film, Shoshannah wanted to push that to a new level. I love what the crew was able to accomplish.
Filmmaker: What were the biggest challenges posed by production to those goals?
Shenk: Once we worked out the “system” of how to shoot the observational scenes and interviews, we couldn’t wait for each shoot. We worked hard and also laughed a lot. I think you can feel the energy on screen. Shoshannah and Robyn Kopp, the main producer, did an incredible job.
Filmmaker: What camera did you shoot on? Why did you choose the camera that you did? What lenses did you use?
Shenk: We are in the Sony family. We used the Sony Burano, FX9 and FX6. They are great cameras. We shot the interviews mostly on Leica R primes that have been converted for cine use. They have a gorgeous quality and response to light.
Filmmaker: Describe your approach to lighting.
Shenk: As naturalistic as possible. I love windows. I love them in the frame and I often use them to light scenes and/or motivate the lighting in a scene. The lighting tools for documentaries have gotten so absurdly good! When I started, we used 1000 watt tungsten bulbs with a small, reflective umbrella. Now, I routinely travel with collapsable 6X6 frames with rags, silks, and egg-crate style light control. We can use a shaded window for a key light or create our own “window” vibe with a large soft source. Also, when possible, we worked with small grip teams. For a few interviews, we had the luxury of gaffers and key grips—we were able to net windows, use 8X8 frames, etc.