Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? The most memorable day was the day Mark, Lili, Betty, the whole crew—especially the camera operators—and I started laughing and couldn’t stop during a random scene. In the scene my character, Hal, tells everyone he got a job at J. Crew and they all are like “okay,” “interesting decision,” “why?” etc. And it just […]
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? Rebuilding was shot in the San Luis Valley, the oldest part of Colorado. It is a great desert plain cut through by the high Rio Grande. The San Juan Mountains mark it to the west. They are old, eroded, and gentle. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains line the Valley to the east. They are […]
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? The most significant day was the day our production coordinator’s apartment caught on fire. That morning, we drove to set and noticed a smoking apartment tower. We went about the day as normal. At a point, we hear all of these sirens. Our production coordinator gets a call to inform her that her apartment […]
The 2025 Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition feature Plainclothes, the feature debut of writer-director Carmen Emmi, mixes a paranoid, anxious police thriller with a coming out narrative. It follows a police officer, Lucas (Tom Blyth), tasked with arresting gay men whose job gets complicated when he falls for one. Plainclothes mixes lo-fi surveillance footage with a contemporary digital aesthetic. The film’s cinematographer, Ethan Palmer (Ted K, Goat) discusses mixing formats and using cinematography to highlight the protagonist’s journey. 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 […]
Lucas is a young undercover police officer tasked with cracking down on gay communities whose job gets complicated when he falls in love with one of his targets in Plainclothes. The film is the feature debut of writer-director Carmen Emmi and is part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition. Erik Vogt-Nilsen (Big Boys) served as the editor on Plainclothes. Below, he explains how his own coming out, as well as his background in both dance and commercials, helped him shape the narrative and striking a balance between observing Lucas and inhabiting his point of view. See all responses […]
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? I think it would have to be the first scene we shot. We were filming in a beautiful cabin we had built on location in eastern Washington, and Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones were just starting to bring their characters to life. What was scripted as a simple dialogue-free moment naturally grew into a […]
In Kiss of the Spider Woman, director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) of the 1985 film of the same name amid Argentina’s Dirty War. Set partially in a prison as Molina (Tonatiuh) recounts his favorite Hollywood musical to his cellmate Valentin (Diego Luna), the film blends period realism with Technicolor glamor. Tobias Schliessler, who has also worked frequently with Peter Berg, served as director of photography on the production, his seventh time working with Condon. Below, he explains how he altered his lighting, equipment, and style to contrast the film’s 1981 prison scenes with its musical sequences, which seek […]
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? The magic of moviemaking goes hand-in-hand with collaboration. It takes a village to make a film, and every step and person along the way feels vital, but nothing can exist without that initial spark. When I search in my mind over the last four-and-a half-years it took to make this film, the day that […]
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? We shot Sunfish on location in rural Northern Michigan. Our basecamp and primary shooting location—a cottage on Green Lake belonging to my grandmother—was chosen for story over logistics. Getting our crew, cast and gear to location was a logistical nightmare that included planes, buses and shuttles (and my dad, who graciously drove to Chicago […]