Cinematographers
Interviews - Cinematographers
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“Filming in 44 Locations in 22 Countries on Six Continents”: DP Nicholas de Pencier on Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
DP Nicholas de Pencier has long collaborated with his wife, director Jennifer Baichwal, on her projects. One of their most acclaimed films, Manufactured Landscapes, was a profile of large-format landscape photographer (and fellow Canadian) Edward Burtynsky. Now, on Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, Burtynsky moves from subject to collaborator on a large project tackling nothing less than humanity’s impact on the planet. Filmed over four years, the project involved a great deal of travel, technical planning and risk; via email, de Pencier answered questions about his work on the ambitious documentary. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of […]
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Director/DP Luke Lorentzen on Making Midnight Family as a Solo Shooter (with Two Cameras)
In Mexico City, there are only 45 publicly operated ambulances for a population of nine-million-plus, creating a need filled by private labor. Luke Lorentzen, whose first feature New York Cuts premiered at IDFA in 2015, embedded himself with one privately operated ambulance run as a family business, tagging along night after night. Operating as his own shooter for Midnight Family, Lorentzen’s sophomore feature is a formally controlled, sympathetically embedded portrait of multiple instances of economic inequity (with car chases!). Via email, the director/DP spoke to the challenges of operating two cameras as a solo shooter, depending on Mexico City’s existing nighttime light […]
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DP Patrick Sheehan on Always in Season, Shooting B-Roll in Darkness and Operating While Hidden
For her feature debut, Jacqueline Olive examines the death of Lennon Lacy, a black 17-year-old who was found hanging from a swing set in his North Carolina home town. Though his death was quickly ruled a suicide by the authorities, his mother, Claudia, was understandably suspicious, given America’s long, far from resolved history of racialized violence. Nashville-based DP Patrick Sheehan was brought onto the project after shooting had began, staying until the end of production. Via email, Sheehan discussed matching the look of his footage with what already existed, taking visual inspiration from Errol Morris and lighting B-roll despite generally […]
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Shadows Under Strain: DP Lol Crawley and the Cipher of Vox Lux
When it comes time to “punish” the image of a film, say with filtration, grease (generously applied to the front of the lens), or underexposure, cinematographers regress from their dear and safe technical jargon and assume the barbarous dialect of medieval executioners. They don’t just underexpose their picture to see how it reacts under strain, they “suffocate” it, “break” it, and “destroy” it — sometimes in spite of itself. The digital image is nary embraced and mostly worked against, its sterile lines deliberately corroded and beaten to a duller moosh. Cinematographer Lol Crawley BSC (Ballast, 45 Years) tortures the film […]
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Destroyer DP Julie Kirkwood on Working with Karyn Kusama, Nicole Kidman and the Blinding L.A. Sun
A gritty crime story set in Los Angeles, Destroyer finds Nicole Kidman in an unexpected role as Erin Bell, a cop at the end of her rope. Directed by Karyn Kusama, the movie was shot by Julie Kirkwood (Hello, I Must Be Going; I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House). During a whirlwind visit to Camerimage, Kirkwood took time out to discuss with Filmmaker how to shoot action and violence, how to cram 38 locations into 33 shooting days, and how to make a glamorous Oscar-winner look as dissolute as possible. Filmmaker: Why did you decide to […]
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Finding the Perfect Angle, Shooting Academy Ratio and Collaborating with Pawel Palikowski: DP Lukasz Żal on Shooting Cold War
Cinematographer Łukasz Żal’s first feature, Ida, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Collaborating with director and co-writer Paweł Pawlikowski, Żal devised a distinctive visual approach that used black-and-white camerawork in the 1.37 Academy aspect ratio. Żal worked with Pawlikowski again on Cold War, another film using black-and-white and the Academy aspect ratio. He spoke with Filmmaker about the film at the recent Camerimage festival in Bydgoszcz, where he was awarded the Silver Frog for cinematography. Filmmaker: Pawlikowski took an “Image” credit for Cold War. What does that mean? Zal: You should ask Paweł. Filmmaker: He has said that […]
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“Like Most Looks in Film, It’s a Bit of a Recipe”: Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel on Using Varying Cameras, Lenses and LUTs on Bohemian Rhapsody
If you’re a fan of the music of the 1970s, your favorite artist may soon have a biopic on the way. An Elton John flick is already en route. We’ll probably get a Bowie movie. Maybe Zeppelin. I’m crossing my fingers for The Jim Croce Story. You can thank Bohemian Rhapsody for that potential onslaught. The Queen biopic has grossed more than $600 million worldwide so far on a budget of roughly $50 million. With the film still out in theaters, cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel (Drive, Three Kings, The Usual Suspects) spoke to Filmmaker about recreating Queen’s epic concert lighting, […]
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Getting the Job, Learning from The Master and Goodfellas, and Shooting with Cleaner Glass: Cinematographer Sean Porter Talks Green Book
Viggo Mortensen always seemed like the kind of actor who would insist on eating a dozen hot dogs in a scene if his character did the same. Green Book cinematographer Sean Porter confirmed those suspicions. “We shot a hot dog eating contest and Viggo was cramming them in at full speed every take,” laughs Porter. Green Book provided Mortensen (and his digestive system) with ample opportunities to display that kind of commitment to authenticity. In the based-in-fact story, Mortensen plays Tony Vallelonga, a Bronx bouncer with a penchant for gluttony who accepts a job driving a refined piano virtuoso (played […]
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How Can the Camera Show Love? Cinematographer James Laxton on Shooting If Beale Street Could Talk
Cinematographer James Laxton’s latest project, If Beale Street Could Talk, marks a further step in his collaboration with director Barry Jenkins. Based on the novel by James Baldwin, it follows a troubled romance between Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James) in the New York City of the early 1970s. If Beale Street Could Talk screened at the closing night celebration at the recent Camerimage Festival, where Laxton had a packed schedule. He participated in a two-part panel,”The Language of Cinema Is Image,” conducted a four-hour Arri Master Class on large-format digital capture, presented a Creative Light Experts roundtable, and […]
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“We Wanted to Keep the Light as Unobtrusive as Possible”: A Star is Born Cinematographer Matthew Libatique
This is not a good time to be in love. At least not if you’re a movie character in an awards season that is awash in tragically doomed romances. In the last week alone I’ve seen couplings quashed by systemic racism (If Beale Street Could Talk), politics (Cold War), and unconquerable inner demons (a second go-round for me with A Star is Born). No one seems to be swimming off into the sunset with their fishman this year. In addition to ill-fated relationships, Beale Street, Cold War and A Star Is Born share another common element — sumptuous cinematography. In […]
