Cinematographers
Interviews - Cinematographers
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Cinematographer Fraser Rice on Finding Poetry in the Shipyards for Sundance Short Mining Poems or Odes
Appearing in the Shorts Program #5 at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, Mining Poems or Odes tells the Scotland-set story of an ex-shipyard welder turned writer. The short was shot by Fraser Rice, a cinematographer on a number of UK TV series. Rice is also the brother of the film’s director, Callum. Below, Rice discusses the origins and creative goals of Mining Poems or Odes. 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? Rice: I am a director of […]
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Shane Bruce Johnston and Charles J. Gibson on the Everyday Naturalism of The 4th
Shane Bruce Johnston and Charles J. Gibson are two first time feature film cinematographers on The 4th, the debut feature from director/actor Andre Hyland. Both DPs have worked with Hyland before. Johnston shot Hyland’s 2014 Sundance short Funnel, while Gibson has worked with Hyland in addition to his work such bigger-budget films as Her and Cake. In this interview with Filmmaker, the two DPs discuss shooting without full script, using only natural light, and the “16mm film grittiness” of the Blackmagic Film Camera. The 4th debuted as part of the NEXT program at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: How and why did you […]
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DP and Co-Director Lou Pepe on Direct Cinema and the High School Doc The Bad Kids
Lou Pepe has worked with long-time collaborator Keith Fulton ever since the two directed a feature length documentary about the making of 12 Monkeys in 1996. Their latest film, The Bad Kids, is a documentary in the American direct cinema tradition of Frederick Wiseman. In this interview with Filmmaker, DP and co-director Pepe discusses the difficulties of shooting direct cinema with a single camera, working in natural light, and scheduling around teenagers. The film premiered in the U.S. Documentary section of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the […]
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“We Got Attacked by the Taliban”: Pieter-Jan De Pue on Sundance Doc The Land of the Enlightened
Belgian filmmaker and photographer Pieter-Jan De Pue makes his feature film and Sundance debut with The Land of the Enlightened. Shot over five years in Afghanistan, the documentary tracks a group of Kuchi children who unearth old Soviet land mines and sell them to child workers at a nearby mine. De Pue shot, edited and directed the film. Below, he shares stories of a dramatic, at times violent production that placed him and his crew in the Taliban’s crosshairs. The Land of the Enlightened had its world premiere at Sundance 2016 in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. Filmmaker: How and why […]
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DP Tom Bergmann on Filming Autism Up Close in Sundance Doc Life, Animated
An autistic young man finds speech with the help of Disney animated movies in Life, Animated, a documentary based on the best-selling book by Ron Suskind about his son Will. The film was shot by Tom Bergmann, a cinematographer with more than 20 documentary shorts and features to his credit. Below, Bergmann discusses how he and the filmmakers worked to become “like a silent extended family” to Will and his family. Life, Animated premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to […]
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“The Camera Lens Was Almost Touching the Puppet’s Face”: DP Joe Passarelli on Anomalisa
Joe Passarelli has spent the last decade serving as a cinematographer and electrician on more than 30 shorts, features and TV series. In 2015, he had his breakout film with Anomalisa, the long-awaited stop-motion feature written and co-directed by Charlie Kaufman. Below, Passarelli speaks with Filmmaker about the film’s singular visual design, which seeks to capture the mood of its troubled protagonist Michael Stone. This interview was conducted in conjunction with “Behind the Scenes of Anomalisa,” a panel at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to […]
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Puppets and Pantyhose: DP Joe Passarelli on Anomalisa
Watching Anomalisa – the painfully human stop-motion animation film from co-directors Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman – the same thought flitted through my head as when I viewed The Revenant: “This is incredible, but it was probably a nightmare to work on.” Though free from the threat of hypothermia, the production of Anomalisa offered equally maddening difficulties. A tale of a depressed customer service guru (voiced by David Thewlis) and his fateful one-night stay in a Cincinnati hotel, Anomalisa took the greater part of two years to complete. Collecting mere seconds of usable footage per day, the film’s crew pieced […]
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DP Mackenzie Mathis on Slamdance World Premiere Chemical Cut
A cinematographer on nearly a dozen shorts since 2008, Mackenzie Mathis makes his debut as a feature film DP with Chemical Cut. The film, written and directed by America’s Next Top Model contestant Marjorie Conrad, held its world premiere at Slamdance 2016. In this interview, Mathis discusses his influences and technique as a DP. 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? Mathis: I was introduced to Marjorie Conrad through our producer Barret Hacia, for whom I’d shot a short film some years back. Marjorie […]
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“Like Illustrations from a Children’s Book”: DP Kuba Kijowski on Sundance Entry The Lure
Jakub “Kuba” Kijowski has served as cinematographer on two feature-length films: 2013’s Floating Skyscrapers and The Lure, aWorld Cinema Dramatic Competition selection at Sundance 2016. Kijowski has also acted as a camera operator on a number of short films, including the Oscar-nominated In Darkness. Below, he discusses the fairy tale and musical-like aesthetic he sought to achieve for Agnieszka Smoczynska’s The Lure. 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? Kijowski: I actually didn’t know the director, Agnieszka Smoczynska very well. We […]
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“Rough and Spontaneous”: DP Eric Yue on the Wyatt Cenac-Starring Jacqueline (Argentine)
Jacqueline (Argentine) marks the debut feature film from both director Bernardo Britto and DP Eric Yue. Starring former Daily Show correspondent Wyatt Cenac, the film unfolds as an playful blend of mockumentary and political thriller. Below, Filmmaker speaks with Yue about what he calls the film’s “documentary/stylized” aesthetic. The film premiered in the NEXT program at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. 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? Yue: I was approached by Bernardo and the producers who are friends of mine from college. […]
