The Cinematography Podcast (The Cinematography Podcast)

The Cinematography Podcast Holiday Special 2018 with Alonso Duralde Alonso Duralde, film critic and author of Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, discusses great (and not so great) Christmas movies to watch. Hosts Illya Friedman and a reluctant Ben Rock sit down with film critic and Christmas movie expert Alonso Duralde. Alonso shares his extensive knowledge of holiday films from his book, Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas. Ben insists his movie, Alien Raiders, falls into the Christmas movie category, along with other movies with Christmas as a backdrop such as Die Hard and Gremlins. They discuss favorites such as A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. A few movies fall into the darker category such as Eyes Wide Shut, The Ice Harvest, and some are absolute stinkers like Six Weeks featuring Dudley Moore and Mary Tyler Moore. Alonso also points out a hard to find gem worth a look called I'll Be Seeing You. With so many choices on the holiday movie spectrum, will Ben open his heart to the Christmas spirit or will it stay two sizes too small? Also mentioned in the interview: Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas (On Amazon) Alonso Duralde Official Site Linoleum Knife Podcast Alien Raiders (Amazon Streaming) I'll Be Seeing You (Free Streaming on It's Old Movie Time) Podcast Credits: Episode Sponsors Hot Rod Cameras         Editor in Chief:  Illya Friedman Host: Ben Rock Producer: Alana Kode Composer: Handsome & Gretyl Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or click on the link below to listen here

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 28 - Leonard Maltin Legendary film critic Leonard Maltin began writing about movies at the age of 13. He talks about his enduring love of movies, his experience writing and interviewing cinematography icons for his book The Art of the Cinematographer, his love of Disney films, how certain films endure over time, film genre oversaturation and sequels, film criticism today, and much more. Check OutLeonard Maltin - Offical Website Podcast: Maltin on Movies Twitter: @LeonardMaltin Instagram: @LeonardMaltin Books: The Art of The Cinematographer Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie GuideLeonard Maltin's Author Page on Amazon War Story is from Rob Hummel about Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC Ben's Short End is Escape at Dannemora, a Showtime series starring Patricia Arquette, who won a Golden Globe Award and a Critic's Choice Award for her performance. Illya's Short End is the American Society of Cinematographer's 100 Milestone Films of the 20th Century. Podcast Credits: Episode SponsorsHot Rod Cameras Editor in Chief:  Illya FriedmanHost: Ben RockProducer: Alana KodeComposer: Kays Alatractchi Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or click on the link below to listen here

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 29 - Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC Vitorrio Storaro, ASC, AIC  is an Italian cinematographer widely recognized for his work on numerous classic films including The Conformist, Apocalypse Now, and The Last Emperor. In the course of over fifty years, he has collaborated with directors like Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty, and Woody Allen. He has received three Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, a BAFTA Film Award for Best Cinematography, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Goya Award, and a David di Donatello Silver Ribbon Award, in addition to numerous lifetime achievement honors from various film organizations.  Vitorrio is a proponent for a revolutionary data archiving system, DOTS, and in this interview is joined by his long time friend Rob Hummel to discuss the technology.  Vitorrio's name appears 5 times on the ASC's "100 Milestone Films in Cinematography of the 20th Century" and twice in the top 10, you can find a link in the Short Ends of Cinematography Podcast Episode 28. Check Out Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC - IMDB Robert Hummel - Group 47 Official Site War Story by Newton Thomas Sigel Ben's Short End is the Hue Home Lighting System Illya's Short End is Freedive the Amazon / IMDB movie and television streaming service Podcast Credits: Episode SponsorsHot Rod Cameras Editor in Chief:  Illya FriedmanHost: Ben RockProducer: Alana KodeComposer: Kays AlatractchiEditior: Benjamin Katz Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or click on the link below to listen here

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 30 - Newton Thomas Sigel, ASC Over the past 5 decades, Newton Thomas Sigel has amassed an amazing filmography.  His work as a cinematographer is a veritable who's who of famous auteurs.  In this feature interview co-hosts Ben Rock and Illya Friedman dive into the craft behind such famous films as The Usual Suspects, 3 Kings, Drive, X-Men, Bohemian Rhapsody and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Check OutNewton Thomas Sigel - IMDBNewton Thomas Sigel - Instagram Illya's Short End is the TV Series Counterpart Season 2Ben's Short End is the 3900 Notebook Pages of Paul Klee   Podcast Credits: Episode SponsorsHot Rod Cameras Editor in Chief:  Illya FriedmanHost: Ben RockProducer: Alana KodeComposer: Kays AlatractchiEditior: Benjamin Katz Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or click on the link below to listen here

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 31 - Barry Alexander Brown Spike Lee has relied on editor Barry Alexander Brown for the past 3 decades.  His latest effort, BlacKkKlansman, earned an Academy Award nomination, his 2nd nomination after receiving one in 1980 for Best Documentary Feature.  Barry joined Illya for a conversation about Klansman, collaborating with Spike Lee and how his team and the work has changed over the years. Check OutBarry Alexander Brown - IMDB Illya's Short End is the 2019 Sundance Film FestivalBen's Short End is the Conversations with a Killer the Ted Bundy Tapes   Podcast Credits: Episode SponsorsHot Rod Cameras Editor in Chief:  Illya FriedmanHost: Ben RockProducer: Alana KodeComposer: Kays AlatractchiEditior: Abby Corbett Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or click on the link below to listen here

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 32 - Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC “Cinematographer's cinematographer" Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC discusses his Academy Award nominated work on “The Favourite.”  He breaks down using natural light to compose shots and the love of making shorts. Find Robbie Ryan on IMDBBen's Short End is Blackmagic Design DaVinci ResolveIllya's Short End is Too Funny To Fail: The Life and Death of The Dana Carvey Show, a documentary onHuluPodcast Credits:Editor in Chief:  Illya FriedmanHost: Ben RockProducer: Alana KodeComposer: Kays Al-AtractchiEditor: Ben Katz Episode SponsorsHot Rod Cameras       Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or click on the link below to listen here

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 33 - Matthew Libatique, ASC The filmography of two time Academy Award nominated cinematographer Matthew Libatique, ASC is filled with fantastic looking movies.  Including films such as the recent smash hit, A Star is Born, indie festival darling, Pi, Marvel franchise films like Iron Man, as well as commercial and critically successful films like Black Swan.  In this interview, Illya Friedman sits down with Matty to discuss his career behind the camera and his collaborations with several of the most successful directors working in Hollywood today, such as Bradley Cooper, Spike Lee, Darren Aronofsky and Jon Favreau.    Find Matthew Libatique, ASC on IMDB, and on Instagram.Ben's Short End is the Amazon series, Lorena Illya's Short End are Skateboard Decks from Kodak/Girl Skateboard Company & Spike Jones.Podcast Credits:Editor in Chief:  Illya Friedman / Contributors PageHost: Ben Rock / Contributors PageProducer: Alana KodeComposer: Kays Al-AtractchiEditor: Ben Katz Episode SponsorsHot Rod Cameras       Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or click on the link below to listen here

In The Cinematography Podcast's first of four episodes, Illya and Ben discuss the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. We had the opportunity to interview several of the most buzzed about filmmakers while in Park City.  This episode covers some of our personal favorites of the festival.

In The Cinematography Podcast's second of four episodes, The Cinematography Podcast's Sundance 2019 Special, Illya and Ben discuss the “Comingof Age” film- a perennial topic at film festivals.

Episode 3 of The Cinematography Podcast's Sundance 2019 Special - DRAMA, as in DRAMAtic films. Ben and Illya discuss some of the dramatic films and documentaries at this year's Sundance Film Festival for The Cinematography Podcast.

Episode 4 of The Cinematography Podcast's Sundance 2019 Special - Midnight Movies, horror and occult! In our FINAL episode covering the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. We talk to 3 filmmaker and discus their features. The first is Hail Satan? is at its heart an examination of the right to religious freedom. Next is “Little Monsters” writer-director Abe Forsythe sat down with Illya to talk about his zombie-romantic comedy-buddy-horror movie. The film stars Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o. Finally we chat with JD Dillard about his midnight movie, “Sweetheart.” The horror/thriller movie stars Kiersey Clemons (“Hearts Beat Loud,” “Dope”) as a woman who is stranded on a desert island and stalked by a mysterious monster.

Writer, Director, Producer, Lije Sarki talks to Illya about his latest project, Concrete Kids. The movie follows two nine year old boys on one adventurous night in Los Angeles. Lije discusses wearing many hats as the writer, director, and producer of the project, willing a project like this into being and aesthetic choices that served the production .  Concrete Kids was shot in 17 nights with a budget of only $25K.  Lije talks about the challenge of the search for the two young leads, shooting with kids almost entirely at night, and then securing sales and distribution for feature film.

Swedish cinematographer Linus Sandgren talks to Illya about his extensive career working with high profile directors like Damien Chazelle on First Man and La La Land, Gus Van Sant on Promised Land, and David O. Russell on the films American Hustle and Joy. For the film First Man, Linus used 16mm, 35mm and IMAX formats to portray different looks throughout the movie. While working on Promised Land, he and director Gus Van Sant decided to use Super 35mm 1.3x anamorphic. He also discusses lighting choices and his passion for drawing his own storyboards.

Acclaimed Danish cinematographer Dan Laustsen talks to Illya about working with Guillermo del Toro on The Shape of Water, Crimson Peak and Mimic.  Del Toro's frequent collaborator discusses the ease of shooting digital cinema now vs. the old days of relying on a lab to process the film correctly.  For the John Wick films, lens choices and tricks played a big part in how he and director Chad Stahelski accomplished a flare effect on the films.  In John Wick-Chapter 3- Parabellum, Dan discusses shooting mainly at night and created a glistening, rainy look.

In our second LIVE podcast, Checco Varese, ASC discusses his collaborations with Guillermo Del Toro on “Pacific Rim” and “The Strain,” his upcoming movie, “It: Chapter 2,” working on many TV pilots and music videos, his early days in South America as a war correspondent and much more.

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 37 Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC Talks Bad Times at the El Royale, shooting Black Mirror's “Nosedive” episode with director Joe Wright, The Avengers, Nocturnal Animals, Atonement, High Fidelity and The Greatest Showman. Mulit-Academy Award nominee Seamus McGarvey sits down with Illya for an intimate conversation about his work on High Fidelity, shooting the episode “Nosedive” for the Netflix series Black Mirror with director Joe Wright, and how much he loved working on Bad Times at the El Royale. Seamus discusses how each film can be a very different creative collaboration with each director, and the importance of creating an intimacy between the cinematographer, the director and the actors, no matter how big or small the movie. Instagram: @seamiemc Sponsored by Arri- Check out the new Arri Alexa Mini LF Ben's short end: DC Universe canceling Swamp Thing the day it premiered. DC Universe streaming service Save Swamp Thing on Twitter: #SaveSwampThing Illya's short end: The trailer for Brittany Runs a Marathon and Amazon's marketing for the movie feels like a misfire. Ben Rock: @neptunesalad twitter @bejamin_rock instagram Illya Friedman: @hotrodcameras Kays Alatrachi: www.musicbykays.com Editor: Abby Corbett  

DP Matthew Clark talks to Ben about his early career, getting his big break on the NBC comedy series “30 Rock” from cinematographer Vanja Cernjul and working with the brilliant Tina Fey, Robert Carlock and Alec Baldwin. He discusses the importance of creating a look for a comedic series that keeps viewers happy and comfortable, and how to light for comedy to make it more dramatic and interesting but not distracting from the story. Matt's recent film “Late Night,” starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling, was directed by his film school friend Nisha Ganatra. The two crafted a very naturalistic and approachable look for the movie.

Manuel Billeter discusses his early career and getting his big break working in post production editing “Y Tu Mama También” for director Alfonso Cuarón, who encouraged him to pursue a path in cinematography. He talks about the high profile series he's worked on, such as “Law and Order,” and “Person of Interest,” how a show getting canceled or getting fired can lead to better opportunities, working in urban settings with night exteriors and the incredible energy it can generate. When creating the unique noir feel for “Jessica Jones” and “Luke Cage,” Manuel loved the look of sodium vapor streetlights, but most of New York has converted to LED lights, so each individual streetlight was gelled to get the yellower look.

Academy Award winner Russell Carpenter, ASC has a huge Hollywood career that's spanned decades, though he got his start working in public television and didn't even go to film school. He discusses his early experience on films like the cult classic “The Wizard of Speed and Time,” “Cameron's Closet,” and “The Lawnmower Man,” and still enjoys shooting small films like the Indian movie “Parched.” For “Hard Target” with director John Woo, each scene was meticulously timed and shot with multiple cameras. Russell first worked with director James Cameron in 1994 on the film “True Lies” and then again on “Titanic,” which won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. He tells a few stories about the movie tricks he and James Cameron used on “Titanic.” Russell is currently working again with Jim Cameron on Avatar 2 and 3.

Vanja Černjul began his career in the U.S. filming small independent films like “Wrist Cutters, A Love Story” before breaking into television, shooting the pilot for “Ugly Betty” then going on to DP the first season of “30 Rock.” He developed the realistic, naturalistic lighting looks for “Nurse Jackie” and “Orange is the New Black,” and created the grainy, gritty 70's look for HBO's “The Deuce.” Vanja's biggest project to date is “Crazy Rich Asians,” which has become the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the last 10 years. He talks about its success, working with director Jon M. Chu and finding a gorgeous, unconventional look for a romantic comedy.

Cinematographer Shana Hagan has decades of experience shooting documentaries, reality television and even scripted work on “Parks and Recreation” and “Arrested Development.” She discusses her verite approach to shooting, the DP/director relationship, and the huge style variations in documentary film. One of her earliest jobs was as an assistant editor on the documentary “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse.” Shana's current work includes the Michael Apted series “63Up” and the doc “The Kingmaker” about the Marcos family's reign in the Philippines.

Bill Wages' motto: complicated is easy, simple is hard. He talks about his work on the film, "The Forgiven," the TV series "Burn Notice," "Sun Records," "Into the West," and working with poet Maya Angelou on her directorial project "Down in the Delta." Bill also invented a number of groundbreaking cinematography tools: Tiffen Glimmerglass diffusion filters and two flagging devices known as WagFlags and WagBags.

Ellen Kuras believes that following your gut and listening to your inner voice makes you a great filmmaker. Ellen got her start shooting documentary and indy movies such as “Swoon,” “I Shot Andy Warhol” and “Personal Velocity,” plus several films with Spike Lee including “Bamboozled” and “Summer of Sam.” She discusses working with Michel Gondry, the unique challenges of shooting “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” working with documentarian Errol Morris on “Wormwood” and shooting the Netflix series “Ozark.” Ellen also directed and shot her documentary “The Betrayal-Nerakhoon,” which received an Academy Award nomination. Her current work includes directing some episodes of Hulu's “Catch-22” and directing the Netflix series “Umbrella Academy.”

Cinematographer Mike Gioulakis is best known for shooting horror films “Glass," “Split,” and “Us.” He got a foothold in filmmaking with the cult indy film “John Dies at the End.” With “It Follows,” Mike and director David Mitchell created a retro, timeless look for the movie. He also discusses the meticulous storyboard sessions directors M. Night Shyamalan and Jordan Peele both have for their films.

Checco Varese gives us the scoop on shooting IT Chapter Two with director Andrés Muschietti. Checco and his crew's commitment to their craft has paid off: at the time of this post, IT Chapter Two has grossed more than $320 million worldwide.

Legendary cinematographer Don Morgan shot “Used Cars” and “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” with Robert Zemeckis; Steven Spielberg's “1941,” and John Carpenter's “Starman” and “Christine.” Don also filmed the iconic aerial scenes in “Seven” for director David Fincher and talks about his long television career with director Joseph Sargent.

Sal Totino grew up in Brooklyn NY and began his career as a music video and commercial DP before landing his first feature on Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday. He's worked with director Ron Howard on eight films such as The Missing, Cinderella Man, Frost/Nixon and The Da Vinci Code. Sal has two upcoming films out soon- The Postcard Killings and The Tax Collector.

Ruben Fleischer began his career directing music videos, commercials and comedy shorts. He landed his first big directing gig with Zombieland, followed by the films 30 Minutes or Less, Gangster Squad and Venom. He's also produced TV shows such as Superstore and Stumptown. Ruben Fleischer's latest movie Zombieland: Double Tap is out October 18th.

Benoît Delhomme discusses his work on the Oscar-nominated The Scent of Green Papaya, The Theory of Everything, the 2014 biopic about Stephen Hawking, At Eternity's Gate, about artist Vincent Van Gogh, and his experience shooting The Proposition in the Australian outback.

We talk with Visual Effects Supervisor Jason Chen, Makeup and Hair Designer Dannelle Satherley, and Production Designer Ra Vincent who were all part of the production team for the film Jojo Rabbit. The entire group has worked with director Taika Waititi on many of his past films. They each explain their craft and some of the tricks and techniques they used on the film. Jojo Rabbit is currently playing in theaters.

Natasha Braier is known for her eye-popping, bold visuals and enjoys shooting in an experimental style. She seeks out directors with a strong voice who are willing to take artistic risks such as Nicolas Winding Refn on Neon Demon, Sebastian Lelio on Gloria Bell, and Alma Har'el on the upcoming Honey Boy.

Sandwich's commercials and video spots are typically funny, bold, and colorful. Adam Lisagor started the company ten years ago, directing and acting in many of the ads to save money. The first professional DP Adam hired was his college friend, Rachel Morrison. Another frequent cinematographer for Sandwich commercials is Charles Papert, the DP behind Key and Peele.

Writer/Director/Composer/Photographer and experimental filmmaker Mike Figgis has never restricted his art to just one medium. In our interview, he discusses his love of filmmaking and his transition to digital after Leaving Las Vegas with the film Timecode.

Cinematographer Mihai Mălaimare Jr. discusses his experience of shooting three films with Francis Ford Coppola and working with Paul Thomas Anderson on The Master. For his most recent film, Jojo Rabbit, Mehai and director Taika Waititi developed a very vibrant and colorful look for the film to emphasize Jojo's fantasy world.

Rodrigo Prieto has shot many different movies with numerous looks and feelings. The Irishman is Rodrigo's third collaboration with Martin Scorsese, who has always been a huge inspiration for him, and it was also an amazing experience working with such skilled actors on the film.

David Mullen got his start making straight-to-video low-budget genre movies. He went on to shoot six films with Michael and Mark Polish, including Twin Falls Idaho and Northfork. David's cinematography on the Amazon show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel recently earned him an Emmy award. Season 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel begins December 6th on Amazon Prime.

When setting out to make Joker, Lawrence Sher and director Todd Phillips decided to go for an intimate, 70's style of movie that's character-driven, rather than the large scale, elaborate looks typical of today's comic book superhero/villain films. Joaquin Phoenix had some leeway to improvise and play with the character. Larry and Todd Phillips' background of working with comedians on movies such as The Hangover made them feel comfortable with improvisation.

Phedon Papamichael and director James Mangold created an exciting, visceral experience of auto racing for Ford v. Ferrari, rather than the basic panning wide shots used in sports broadcasting or car commercials. Phedon had to shoot extremely close to the speeding cars in order to capture the effect of high velocity.

Walt Lloyd happened upon John Boorman's crew shooting Deliverance in Georgia and decided he wanted a job in the movie business. His first big break was as a camera assistant on the 1983 film Never Cry Wolf, directed by Carroll Ballard. One of Walt's earliest films as director of photography was on sex, lies and videotape for first-time feature filmmaker Steven Soderbergh. Host Ben Rock and Walt Lloyd also have a personal connection- Walt was the DP for Ben's feature film, Alien Raiders.

Alik Sakharov shot many feature films and television series such as The Sopranos, Rome, and Game of Thrones before moving into the director's chair. Alik feels cinematography, directing and writing must work together to create a story, and it's difficult to separate one from the other. He is currently executive producer of the Netflix series The Witcher.

Paula Huidoboro first became drawn to telling a story with images as a young teen while taking photography classes at the local museum of modern art. One of her early learning experiences was as a camera intern for well-known cinematographer "Chivo" Emmanuel Lubezki. Paula was thrilled to work with actor/creator Bill Hader on finding the balance between violence and comedy on the HBO hitman/dark comedy “Barry.”

The Farewell is based on Lulu Wang's own true story about her family conspiring to hide her grandmother's terminal cancer diagnosis from her. Producer Alana Kode sat down with Wang at the Sundance Film Festival last year to talk about how she developed real events in her own life into a film, selecting her cinematographer, and how she cast Awkwafina in the lead role. Awkwafina recently won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in The Farewell- the first Asian American to win in this category.

An extremely seasoned director of photography, Byron Werner began shooting anything and everything that came his way once he graduated film school. Byron faced several challenges on his upcoming film, The Last Full Measure. Shot on location in Thailand, the film has many practical effects shots and very little VFX. The camera crew shot from helicopters and with multiple cameras- sometimes as many as 5 or 6. The Last Full Measure starring Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Plummer, and Bradley Whitford opens wide Friday, January 24.

James Laxton attended Florida State University film school, where he met fellow student Barry Jenkins. He worked steadily on several small and acclaimed movies before Laxton and Jenkins had breakout success with Moonlight, winning Best Picture in 2017. The two followed up that success with If Beale Street Could Talk, which also won several awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Regina King. James Laxton is currently shooting The Underground Railroad, a limited television series for Amazon directed by Barry Jenkins, which is an adaptation of the Colson Whitehead novel.

Long-time friend and colleague Jenelle Riley of Variety magazine chats with Ben and Illya about this year's Oscar nominations- what will win, what should win, and their favorite movies of the year that may not have been recognized. Jenelle Riley on Twitter, Instagram: @jenelleriley LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

McDonald's Monopoly Game ran from 1989-2001, netting $24 million in cash and prizes for the winners. But the biggest prize “winners” were actually all part of a crime ring recruited by a mysterious figure called “Uncle Jerry” to cheat the game. Filmmakers James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte got the FBI on board along with a cast of quirky real characters to tell a fun, engaging and fascinating story about the fraud. McMillion$ is a six-part documentary series currently airing on HBO. You can also listen to The McMillion$ Podcast each week. James Lee Hernandez: @iamthejlh Brian Lazarte: @blazarte LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Dinner in America is a surreal punk-rock comedy filled with gleeful anarchy directed by Adam Rehmeier and shot by cinematographer Jean-Phillipe Bernier. It took awhile to cast the characters Simon and Patty, played by actors Kyle Gallner and Emily Skeggs, who are two oddball loners looking to take down all the a**holes in their “normal” Midwestern town. Dinner in America premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and has yet to receive a release date. http://camnoir.com/ep65/ Adam Rehmeier: Twitter @AdamRehmeier Jean-Phillipe Bernier: Instagram @jpbernierdop LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/

The Cinematography Podcast interviews the filmmakers for three documentaries at Sundance 2020. First up- Ron Howard, who talked about shooting his first documentary, Rebuilding Paradise. We present some selected soundbites of the conversation. Next, filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw ventured deep in the forests near Alba, Italy for their documentary, The Truffle Hunters. The filmmakers chose to keep the camera on a tripod and to observe the subjects at a distance, except for special leather harness rigs for POV doggy-cams that Dweck and Kershaw had specially made. Finally, Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story is both a story that will please fans of the beloved cartoon Ren & Stimpy, but it's also a critical look at the cartoon's volatile creator, John Kricfalusi. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/sundance2020docs/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/ Hot Rod Cameras is giving away TWO professional, cinema quality Aputure MC lights! One for you AND a friend you tag! Go to http://hotrodcameras.com/giveaway to enter. Contest ends March 30, 2020.

Sundance 2020 Special Part 2: Location, Location, Location These two very different movies both had striking locations that set the tone for the films. The Night House director David Bruckner and writers Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski enjoy working in the horror genre, and wanted to explore making a film that doesn't make you “feel safe” with many dense layers. The film deals with the horror of grief, loss and loneliness faced by the main character, Beth, played by Rebecca Hall. The Night House was shot mostly at night in a lake house in upstate New York. The Night House was one of the first deals to close out of Sundance this year. It sold for $12 million to Disney-owned Searchlight. Black Bear takes place in a large lake house estate, and director/writer Lawrence Michael Levine wrote the script with a specific location in mind. Unfortunately, the original location fell through, and Levine had to find another spot, which turned out to be quite remote but amazingly striking on film. The movie stars Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon, whose characters and performances script-flip midway through the film, but we are never meant to know what the characters actually think. The movie wittily explores issues of gender and feminism, and later, has a funny take on indie filmmaking. Black Bear has yet to find distribution. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/sundance2020location/ ‎ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/ Hot Rod Cameras is giving away TWO professional, cinema quality Aputure MC lights! One for you AND a friend you tag! Go to http://hotrodcameras.com/giveaway to enter. Contest ends March 30, 2020.

Sundance 2020 Special Part 3: Coming of Age Beast Beast explores the lives of three different teens who cross paths with tragic results. Director Danny Madden handles each character with sympathy and nuance. He and cinematographer Kristian Zuniga used different camera looks for each character, staying wide and documentary-style for some sequences and tight and controlled for others. The film came to the attention of Alec Baldwin who came on board as an an executive producer who helped fund its development into a feature. Blast Beat is about two teen metalhead brothers from Colombia, uprooted from their lives in Bogota and struggling to find their place in suburban America. Director Esteban Arango and writer Erick Castrillon cast real life brothers Moises and Matéo Arias, who brought an added layer of authenticity to their characters' relationship. It was also important to Arango and Castrillon to make a personal movie about their own culture, and they cast Colombian actors who spoke Spanish with authentic accents in the movie. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/sundance2020comingofage/ ‎ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/ Hot Rod Cameras is giving away TWO professional, cinema quality Aputure MC lights! One for you AND a friend you tag! Go to http://hotrodcameras.com/giveaway to enter. Contest ends March 30, 2020.

Jakob Ihre believes that making movies is very personal, and it's important to create a connection to the material that the audience can feel. He graduated from the National Film and Television School in London knowing that he wanted to do smaller, quality projects that told personal stories. Jakob collaborated with fellow NFTS graduate Joachim Trier on several films, including Reprise, Louder Than Bombs, Oslo, August 31 and Thelma. The 2015 film, The End of the Tour, about writer David Foster Wallace, marked the Swedish cinematographer's first English language movie. The HBO TV series Chernobyl came to Jakob through the series' director, Johan Renck. The two were friends but had not had the chance to work together. Writer and creator Craig Mazin had a completed 600-page script, and once Jakob read it, he knew he had to work on the project. The story was so gripping and mesmerizing, everyone involved felt a calling to tell the story in a way that was solemn about the material and accurate about what it looked like. Chernobyl shot for eight months in Lithuania and Ukraine and has won multiple awards. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep66/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/ Hot Rod Cameras is giving away TWO professional, cinema quality Aputure MC lights! One for you AND a friend you tag! Go to http://hotrodcameras.com/giveaway to enter. Contest ends March 30, 2020.

Cinematographer Kira Kelly had years of experience before director Ava DuVernay approached her to shoot her documentary, 13th. For 13th, DuVernay was interested in creating artful, composed shots rather than the typical “talking heads” of most documentaries, and pushed Kira and the team to get creative about how it was framed. The film examines the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, yet the mass incarceration of African-Americans continues to this day as its own kind of slavery. 13th was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2017. Kira collaborated with DuVernay again on the second season of the critically-acclaimed series, Queen Sugar. When she was first starting out, Kira worked as a gaffer before moving into the camera department and establishing herself as a cinematographer, shooting a small independent film called Were the World Mine. Producer/director Carlos Portugal noticed her work and hired her to shoot four seasons of Hulu's Emmy-nominated series, East Los High. Kira Kelly's latest show is a limited series for Netflix called Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madame C.J. Walker, starring Octavia Spencer. The series is based on the real-life story of an African American washerwoman who builds a hair product empire to become the first female self-made millionaire. Self-Made is on Netflix beginning March 20. https://www.netflix.com/title/80202462 Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep67/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/ Hot Rod Cameras is giving away TWO professional, cinema quality Aputure MC lights! One for you AND a friend you tag! Go to http://hotrodcameras.com/giveaway to enter. Contest ends March 30, 2020.

It's a very special Shelter In Place episode as we stay home and dig into our archives to bring you some past podcasts you might have missed. Enjoy our show and these films from the comfort of your safe space. Illya sat down with director Jason Orley and DP Andrew Huebscher during 2019's Sundance Film Festival to talk about their movie about arrested development, "Big Time Adolescence." Starring SNL’s Pete Davidson, Griffin Gluck, and John Cryer, the story follows a teen whose idolization and friendship with a twenty-something stoner college dropout has destructive effects on his life. Orley and Huebscher discuss the close director/DP working relationship on the movie, creating the look of the film, working with production company American High, and using the Chemical Wedding Artemis Pro App and Hollywood Camerawork shot designer App to plan out where to place the camera and lights. You can stream Big Time Adolescence right now on Hulu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3PcDo4YcnY Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/bonusbigtime/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/ Hot Rod Cameras is giving away TWO professional, cinema quality Aputure MC lights! One for you AND a friend you tag! Go to http://hotrodcameras.com/giveaway to enter. Contest ends March 30, 2020.

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 68: Stefan Ciupek Stefan Ciupek became interested in film while growing up in East Germany, but his options were limited in what was then a Communist country. His family managed to escape to Poland, and movies became a refuge from difficult times. In fact, Stefan and his mother were able to pirate Western films and re-sell them as bootlegs. His family managed to move to West Berlin, and by the age of 16, Stefan had a videocamera and started studying film in Germany. Stefan became one of the first adopters of digital camera technology, and became an early digital imaging technician (DIT) and colorist. He helped pull off an amazing achievement with 2003's Russian Ark, a 90 minute film shot entirely in one take, in one location. After his accomplishments on Russian Ark, cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle found him and the two worked on several projects, including 127 Hours and Slumdog Millionaire, which became the first digital film to win an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Best Picture. As digital technology became more technical, Stefan decided he wanted to be more involved in the creative process and returned to cinematography. He shot director Lulu Wang's first film, Posthumous, as well as several episodes of the upcoming season of The Spanish Princess on Starz. For Guns Akimbo, Stefan read the script and immediately knew how he would shoot it. Everything in the action movie is highly exaggerated and over-the-top. Stefan used the Red Monstro camera, a variety of different lenses and high key lighting to highlight some of the humor. You can see Guns Akimbo streaming now on Vudu and Amazon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOFatKD0Vzo Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep68/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/ Hot Rod Cameras is giving away TWO professional, cinema quality Aputure MC lights! One for you AND a friend you tag! Go to http://hotrodcameras.com/giveaway to enter. Contest ends March 30, 2020.

The Cinematography Podcast Bonus Episode: Director J.D. Dillard It’s another very special Shelter In Place episode as we stay home and dig into our archives to bring you some past podcasts you might have missed. Enjoy our show and these films from the comfort of your safe space. One of Illya’s favorite movies at Sundance in 2019 was J.D. Dillard’s midnight movie, Sweetheart. The horror/thriller movie stars Kiersey Clemons (Hearts Beat Loud, Dope) as a woman who is stranded on a desert island and stalked by a mysterious monster. J.D. discusses the difficulties of shooting on a small island in Fiji, on a short time schedule, while being entirely outdoors and subject to the whims of nature. As a black filmmaker, he feels like it’s important to put people who look like him in genre films such as fantasy and horror. Blumhouse, known for their horror movie slate, produced Sweetheart and you can currently stream it on Netflix. J.D. is currently developing a new Star Wars project. Find J.D. Dillard: @JGDillard (Twitter & Instagram) Sweetheart is now streaming on Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyg3gU09SX8 (trailer) Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/bonussweetheart/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 69: Laura Merians Gonçalves As a kid, Laura Merians Gonçalves would play around with a Super 8 camera and make visual collages. But it was only for fun, and she had a degree in philosophy and was planning on traveling and studying martial arts in Japan when she got a summer job in Florida working as best boy electric on Bully,  directed by Larry Clark and shot by Steve Gainer. The film unionized and Laura was able to make a career in movies as a best boy and electrician. Her experience with martial arts influences her perspective on cinematography- learning a craft requires time, commitment, patience and practice. It took time for her to gravitate to the camera department and develop a skill through shooting short films, documentaries and reality TV. She further honed her skill with music videos for Bjork, Beyonce, Atoms for Peace, and Snow Patrol. Laura's most recent film, Pacified, takes place in the favelas of Brazil and won Best Cinematographer’s Debut at last year's Camerimage International Film Festival. Find Laura Merians Gonçalves: www.lauramerians.com Instagram: @lauramerians Laura was recently featured in American Cinematographer's Rising Stars of 2020: https://ascmag.com/articles/rising-stars-2020 Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep69/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 70: Michael Dallatorre As an immigrant kid growing up in South Central L.A., Mike Dallatorre joined his high school's performing arts group called Colors United. He was a featured performer in the Oscar-nominated documentary Colors Straight Up. Seeing a documentary crew in action made Mike realize that being behind the camera could be a legitimate career choice, so he started studying film at Los Angeles City College. Mike landed a job in the shipping department at Panavision, quickly moving up to prep tech where he was mentored by optical engineer Dan Sasaki. He was able to take gear out on the weekends to shoot short films and music videos such as koRn's “Hater.” Director David Yarovesky asked Mike to DP the horror films The Hive and Brightburn. His next film, Clive Barker's Books of Blood, directed by Brannon Braga, will air on Hulu in September. You can stream Brightburn now on Hulu. Find Mike Dallatorre: https://www.michaeldallatorre.com/ Instagram: @dp_miked Mike was recently featured in American Cinematographer's Rising Stars of 2020. https://ascmag.com/articles/rising-stars-2020 Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep70/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/

BONUS EPISODE: Jeff Sengpiehl, chief technologist at Key Code Media, gives tips for remote editing and other post production options from home Finding the right technologies and new ways to work from home is becoming a necessity right now. Jeff Sengpiehl discusses ways to remotely access your work edit bay from your computer, edit from the cloud, consolidating the project onto hard drives and physically taking it home, and how to proxy edit from your editing facility. In this episode: Hewlett Packard's Z Central Remote (Remote Graphics Service, or RGS)- Free to those with HP systems, or it can be used through Apple's boot camp partition and paying the HP Z Central Remote license fee. A plus: Still allows collaboration so everyone knows who is doing what. https://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations/zcentral-remote-boost.html VPN: Virtual Private Network, can be used to connect to another network as if you're there which allows more bandwidth. https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-vpn-services Adobe editing systems, such as Premiere can be “lifted and shifted” into the cloud https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwm9D0BRCMARIsAIfvfIajfwAVEc8MQudttNTgB56iKpQsARUo2pzuLJdsue-bPw2KKfcB1iwaAgKEEALw_wcB&sdid=KKQOM&mv=search&ef_id=Cj0KCQjwm9D0BRCMARIsAIfvfIajfwAVEc8MQudttNTgB56iKpQsARUo2pzuLJdsue-bPw2KKfcB1iwaAgKEEALw_wcB:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!3085!3!383822034471!e!!g!!adobe%20premiere Studio Network Solutions has a product called Nomad, with asset management proxy files available through a shared browser software. NOT collaborative, but there is an “over-the-shoulder” mode for a producer to give notes. https://www.studionetworksolutions.com/nomad-remote-workflow-offline-editing/ Teradici- For PCs only, software to access your workplace's shared cloud using PCoIP (PC-over-IP) https://www.teradici.com/ Good and fast, not inexpensive. See Jeff's YouTube video explaining some of the technology mentioned in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzsHG3IbVcA Find Jeff Sengpiehl: https://www.keycodemedia.com/ Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/bonusremotework/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 71: Brendan Davis Producer Brendan Davis tells his story about fleeing China before it was shut down for coronavirus Brendan Davis has been producing film and television for the Chinese and U.S. market in Beijing for the past few years. He was in the midst of developing the feature film My Favorite Season and was planning a trip back to the U.S. when he got word from a doctor friend that the city would be shutting down and a stay at home order was imminent. Fearing an extended lockdown, Brendan got on one of the last flights headed to San Francisco, keeping his mask on nearly the entire time, and is temporarily living in Los Angeles, which is under a mandatory stay at home order. He talks about the differences he's noticed between the Chinese and American governments and how people have been reacting to the crisis. Brendan Davis also hosts a few podcasts: If I Knew You Better (with an episode featuring Ben Rock) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-i-knew-you-better/id1457785319 Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom https://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com/ How China Works https://www.howchinaworkspodcast.com/ Find Brendan: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/ “My Favorite Season”: https://www.myfavoriteseasonmovie.com IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0204272/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandavis/ Brought to you by Hot Rod Cameras: Find your next camera, lens, light or accessory at https://hotrodcameras.com/ Aputure: https://aputure.com/ The Aputure MC- Any color, any time. You can buy Aputure products at Hot Rod Cameras. Here are the winners for the MC light contest sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras! DP Casey McBeath and his pal Drew Kowalski will each receive an Aputure MC Light. Close Focus: With some weekly and nightly TV shows being shot via webcam or conferencing apps, will this become something more common post-coronavirus? The technology has definitely started to catch up. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/super-janky-but-it-works-how-late-night-producers-have-adapted-remote-filming-1288279 Ben's short end: A YouTube channel called Cinema Tyler, by Tyler Knudsen, who does video essays into various topics. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7GV-3hrA9kDKrren0QMKMg Illya's short end: John Krasinski's YouTube show Some Good News is feel-good content for these times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5pgG1M_h_U Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep71/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast BONUS Episode: The Sound of Silence director Michael Tyburski It's a very special Shelter In Place episode as we dig into our archives to bring you some past podcasts you might have missed. Illya sat down with director Michael Tyburski during 2019's Sundance Film Festival to talk about his film, The Sound of Silence (in a rather noisy setting!) The movie is about a “house tuner” in New York City- a fictional job he made up for the film. Peter Saarsgard plays the house tuner, who listens for discordant tones in the home and adjusts them to create emotional resonance and harmony. Michael Tyburski talks about directing his first feature film shot by cinematographer Eric Lin. He discusses the color palette, directing Peter Saarsgard and Rashida Jones, and of course the importance of sound, music and sound design in the movie. You can stream The Sound of Silence right now on Hulu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejZ75QFesgE Find Michael Tyburski: http://www.michaeltyburski.com/ Twitter: @michaeltyburski Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/bonussoundofsilence/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Jeff Cronenweth comes from three generations in the film business and followed his father, cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth (Blade Runner) into a career as a director of photography. Growing up on film sets and working alongside his father enabled Jeff to take a hands-on role in the camera department. He started as a loader and camera assistant, getting into the union while attending USC. He met David Fincher while working on the Madonna music video "Oh Father" as a camera assistant. Fincher gave Jeff his first opportunity to DP for the film Fight Club. Jeff's collaboration with Fincher later earned him two Oscar nominations- one for The Social Network and one for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He also began working with director Mark Romanek on music videos, such as Eels “Novocaine for the Soul” and Nine Inch Nails' “The Perfect Drug.” Jeff and Romanek also worked together on the feature film, One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams. The film presented many lighting challenges since the bulk of it takes place inside a store with flat white lights before the darker undertones of the movie are revealed. Jeff also shot the pilot for Tales from the Loop with director Mark Romanek, streaming now on Amazon Prime. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1htuNZp82Ck Find Jeff Cronenweth https://www.ddatalent.com/client/jeff-cronenweth-asc-commercial Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep72/ LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Special: The Cinematography Podcast War Stories Vol. 1 It's our first War Stories Special! Each of our featured guests shares an insightful, interesting, humorous or crazy story of an experience they had while on set. Russell Carpenter talks about shooting the iconic “I'm flying” scene from Titanic, Jakob Ihre tells the sobering story about working in Lithuania while shooting HBO's “Chernobyl,” Ellen Kuras shares a funny story from the set of The Mod Squad, David Mullen on avoiding a landslide while scouting for Big Sur, and Kira Kelly tells about how she endured a particularly difficult work experience. Do you have a War Story you'd like to share? Send us an email or reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/warstories1/ COMING SOON! War Stories Vol. 2. Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 73: Carlos González Venezuelan-born cinematographer Carlos González graduated with a degree in architecture before attending film school at AFI in Los Angeles. While attending architecture school, he designed some film sets, and still enjoys collaborating closely with production designers. Carlos says that the experience of discovery when walking into a room as a cinematographer is very similar to the way an architect thinks, but focused on lighting placement and camera movements rather than walls and doors. Carlos started out making low-budget films for Roger Corman with director David Prior such as Raw Justice and Mutant Species. Working on low-budget films enabled him to become “the fast guy” and to develop a quick, basic lighting scheme for each film, a skill he was able to take with him into television series work. He's shot many episodes of Grey's Anatomy and the remake of Party of Five on Freeform. In the past few years, Carlos has moved into directing, and he is currently in postproduction on a family-friendly movie, The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. You can see the new Party of Five on Freeform. https://freeform.go.com/shows/party-of-five Find Carlos González: https://www.gonzalez-svc.com/ Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep73/ Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Illya sat down with producer Natasha Gregson Wagner and director/producer Laurent Bouzereau at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to talk about their documentary, Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind. As the daughter of famous actress Natalie Wood, Natasha Gregson Wagner wanted to tell the story of her mother's life, while working through her grief and loss over her mother's tragic death at the age of 43 in 1981. Natasha and Laurent discuss their approach to the film, which is full of personal photos, home movies, and interviews with friends and family. It was important for the filmmakers to celebrate Natalie Wood's life and work, and the documentary is an intimate look at her through the people who knew her best. You can see Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind right now on HBO. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JRzLBVxWik Natasha Gregson Wagner: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0906031/ Find Laurent Bouzereau: https://www.nedlandmedia.com/ @laurent_bouzereau Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/bonusnataliewood/ Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Special: The Cinematography Podcast War Stories Vol. 2 It's our second War Stories Special! Each of our featured guests shares an insightful, interesting, humorous or crazy story of an experience they had while on set. Walt Lloyd, ASC still remembers a crazy nightmare he had during a shoot, Shana Hagan on getting locked inside a prison while shooting the documentary Shakespeare Behind Bars, Byron Werner recounts shooting in Colombia at a very dangerous time, Claudia Raschke describes her experience of being perilously close to a calving glacier for A Sea Change, Sal Totino, ASC shares a tense story from the set of Any Given Sunday, and director Ruben Fleischer on a nearly disastrous experience directing a rap video for Who Ate All the Pies? Do you have a War Story you'd like to share? Send us an email or reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/warstories2/ COMING SOON! War Stories Vol. 3. Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 74: Toby Oliver Toby Oliver was an experienced cinematographer in his native Australia for a few decades before moving to the U.S. and establishing himself as a DP. He worked with fellow Aussie director Greg McLean on Wolf Creek 2 and other horror genre movies for Blumhouse Productions such as The Darkness. When shooting any genre or time period, Toby believes color palette is important and enjoys working with production designers to fine-tune the look. This was especially true for the Mötley Crüe biopic The Dirt, which takes place across the 1980's. Consistency and continuity of visuals have also played a big part in Toby's films, such as Happy Death Day and the sequel, Happy Death Day 2 U. Both films rely on the “Groundhog Day Trope”- as in, the main character must repeat the same day over and over again, so keeping continuity in sets, camera setups and lighting was important. Toby met director Jordan Peele through his connections at Blumhouse. Jordan Peele, as a first time director, needed an experienced DP and hired him for Get Out. They collaborated closely and created the look of “The Sunken Place” in the movie. For Season Two of Netflix's Dead to Me, Toby tried to keep the look of the show consistent with the first season, just tweaking lighting and camera angles to be more flattering to the actors. It took a little bit of adjustment getting used to shooting series television, but Toby also got to rely on his horror background for some of the creepier scenes. Dead to Me Season Two is currently streaming on Netflix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmU7ylnmn_M Find Toby Oliver: https://tobyoliver.com/ Instagram @tobyoliverdp Twitter @tobyoliver67 Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep74/ Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Bonus Episode: Xiaoding Zhao Illya sat down with cinematographer Xiaoding Zhao and Shadow producer and translator Ellen Eliasoph at Cameraimage 2019 to discuss the film Shadow. Director Zhang Yimou and Zhao worked together to create a very distinctive color palette, wanting it to appear to be like a Chinese ink brush painting. The costumes are also all in gray or black for the same ink washed look. It also enabled the color of red blood to show bold and bright against the duller background. For Shadow, Zhang Yimou chose to make most of the action design in constant rain, which proved a huge challenge for Zhao. Getting the proper lighting was difficult, because he wanted to use a softer light on the actor's faces, but illuminating the hard contrast on a wet and dark exterior was also important. Zhao actually started off life as a professional speed skater, but got injured and couldn't continue, so he began taking photos and videos of his speed skating team. He found he really enjoyed the work and was admitted to the prestigious Beijing Film Academy. Zhao and Zhang Yimou have made 11 movies together, including the acclaimed House of Flying Daggers, for which Zhao received an Oscar Nomination in 2004. You can stream Shadow right now on Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGetemRDuVY Find Xiaoding Zhao: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1618536/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr31 Special thanks to Shadow producer and translator Ellen Eliasoph Zhao was featured in the May issue of American Cinematographer: https://ascmag.com/articles/asc-close-up-zhao-xiaoding Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/bonusshadow/ Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 75: Trevor Forrest A note: We were sorry to hear of director Lynn Shelton's passing. Her most recent directing and executive producing project was the Hulu series, Little Fires Everywhere. Her death is also a huge loss to the independent film community. Trevor Forrest leads off the episode with a tribute to Lynn. Trevor Forrest grew up in England and the Bahamas, and went to art school to study painting. He began making photo compositions and moving into fashion photography, traveling the world and letting it lead him into storytelling through cinematography. One of Trevor's early films, Una Noche takes place in Cuba, and he captured the rhythm and feel of the island through mostly hand-held camera work. Una Noche won Best Cinematography at the Tribeca Film Festival. Noble, an award-winning biopic about children's rights advocate Christina Noble, allowed Trevor to use vintage lenses to capture the look of the time period. Trevor's art school training came into play when he shot the dramatic series, I Am The Night, about the possible killer of the Black Dahlia. He used a darker lighting technique, using lights only to highlight the actors and scenes, allowing the viewer to peer into the darkness and pick out the details. In Little Fires Everywhere, the show explores the complicated world of race, class and motherhood through the dueling protagonists Elena (Reese Witherspoon) and Mia (Kerry Washington). Despite it being shot in Los Angeles, Trevor wanted the series to evoke the look and feel of Ohio, including the difference in the quality of light and the changing of the seasons as the show progresses through the year. Capturing that feeling on film required warmer and cooler lighting techniques and careful lens choices and calibration. The fiery finale was a combination of practical and special effects done with sets, models and computer graphics. Little Fires Everywhere is currently streaming on Hulu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWGkX8ClhBI Find Trevor Forrest: www.trevorforrest.com Instagram: @tforrestdop  Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep75/ Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 79: Yance Ford and Alan Jacobsen Yance Ford's powerful documentary, Strong Island, is about the murder of his brother, William Ford Jr. in 1992. The man who killed William, who is white, claimed self-defense when William, who was black and unarmed, confronted the man over shady car repairs. The decision by an all-white grand jury not to prosecute caused Yance's family even more devastation. The film conveys the personal agony and visceral grief in tight closeups on family, friends and Yance himself. Interestingly, at first Yance had a set of rules for how he wanted the documentary to be shot. Number one: he did not want to be on camera. But cinematographer Alan Jacobsen broke the rules, secretly shooting Yance from a corner one day while he was absorbed in looking at old photographs. They both saw how powerful it was to have Yance take a front-and-center role in the documentary. That intimacy proved to be the most important aspect of Strong Island, but the most difficult part for Yance. A first time director at the time, Yance felt fortunate to have the luxury of working on Strong Island for ten years as a two person team with Alan, and every creative decision of what the film would look and feel like was carefully and deliberately made. Alan used the camera as a tool to maintain the intimacy of the film. He would never pan or tilt, and he kept most shots tightly framed. Every shot was held for at least 60 seconds to hold the intensity and force the audience to watch, even if it became uncomfortable. Strong Island was nominated for an Academy Award in 2018 and also won a Creative Arts Emmy. You can stream Strong Island right now on Netflix. https://www.strongislandfilm.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h64qugj_iDg Yance Ford is a transgender director, and he talks about his experience in Hollywood in the documentary Disclosure, on Netflix June 19. http://www.disclosurethemovie.com/about https://www.facebook.com/netflixus/videos/disclosure-netflix/1566941396799781/ Find Yance Ford: Twitter @yford Strong Island: @strongislandfilm Find Alan Jacobsen: https://www.alanjax.com/ Instagram @alanjax7 Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep79/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Bonus Episode: Alexandra Cunningham Showrunner Alexandra Cunningham talks about season one of her hit series Dirty John with producer Alana Kode at the 2019 Produced By conference. She tells the story of adapting the podcast for television and explains her role as the showrunner, executive producer and writer on the series. Alexandra hadn't listened to a podcast prior to hearing the Dirty John podcast, and she developed an instant love for the podcasting medium. As a showrunner, she sees a great future in adapting podcasts into television shows and loves the crossover partnership of shows such as HBO's Chernobyl and Watchmen that included a weekly podcast in addition to the TV show. You can watch season two of Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story right now on the USA Network: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EE2cnrGeH4 Hear the companion podcast, Dirty John Season 2: The Podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dirty-john-season-2-the-podcast/id1513500047?ign-mpt=uo%3D2 Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/bonusdirtyjohn/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 80: Xavier Grobet Mexican-born DP Xavier Grobet grew up surrounded by visual images. His mother was a professional photographer, and from an early age, Xavier made his own Super 8 movies every summer with his cousins and family members. He started out going to architecture school, but soon decided his passion was film. Xavier's generation of fellow Mexican filmmakers, “Chivo” Emmanuel Lubezki, Rodrigo Prieto, and Alfonso Cuarón were also attending film school at one of the two main colleges in Mexico City. One of Xavier's early experiences was operating the third camera on a French film, Les Pyramides Bleues, with Alfonso Cuarón as the assistant director. Many American productions were shooting in Mexico at the time, so Xavier was able to work on huge movies like Tony Scott's Revenge and Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Once he moved to America, it took awhile to get established again, but he got a big break shooting the Julian Schnabel film Before Night Falls and the series Deadwood. Xavier Grobet's most recent work has been on HBO's phenomenal series Watchmen, on episodes three, five, and seven. Going into the world of Watchmen proved to be a huge challenge, because each episode works as its own separate piece, but required a familiarity with the script for the entire series to ensure the consistency and look of the story. He always found ways to shoot from different angles, and used blue lighting selectively to suggest and reveal Dr. Manhattan. It was daunting working within the framework of the show's look and following its guidelines, but Xavier embraced it and made it his. See Watchmen on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/watchmen Find Xavier Grobet: http://xmexdp.com/ Instagram: @xmexdp Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep80/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 81: John Downer and Richard Jones Director John Downer and cinematographer Richard Jones have always had a love of animals. John went to work for the BBC after film school and quickly moved into the BBC Natural History division. Richard grew up in Kenya and started out in the film industry, then went to work with a wildlife filmmaker in Botswana, soon picking up a camera and teaching himself. They both agree that to be a good wildlife documentarian, it's important to spend a great deal of time around the animals, in order to understand and anticipate what they are going to do and capture it on camera. For the Discovery Channel/BBC series Serengeti, John and Richard felt for the first time that all the camera technology was finally advanced enough to capture the true nature of the animal's lives. They were able to use small, high quality hidden remote cameras that are durable and “lion proof,” as well as a special array of cameras with long lenses on a stabilization system attached to their vehicles, so Richard could shoot while the jeep was driving. While wild animals are definitely not directable, John and Richard knew what wildlife they wanted to follow as characters with the script following the changing seasons as an overarching story plotline. Serengeti follows the interconnected stories of a cast of savannah animals over one year, capturing the drama of the wildlife up close. It was important for John and producer Simon Fuller to show that animals are a lot like us and we are all in this world together. See Serengeti on Discovery GO: https://go.discovery.com/tv-shows/serengeti/ Find John Downer: http://jdp.co.uk/ Find Richard Jones: http://rmjfilming.com/ Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep81/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 82: John Brawley John Brawley began his career shooting television series in his native Australia, coming to the U.S. to shoot the USA series, Queen of the South. John approaches each project with a “visual manifesto,” or a set of rules for yourself and the crew to follow with the camera, lenses, lighting, and color story defining what you're doing. John's recent project, The Great, stars Elle Fanning as Catherine The Great and Nicholas Hoult as Peter, the (not great) king of Russia. John worked closely with series creator Tony McNamara, a fellow Aussie who also received an Oscar nod for writing The Favourite. While shooting, John, Tony and the production designer determined that all the light sources be consistently candlelight, daylight, or firelight. Since it was Catherine's story, she was always in the center of the frame and her close-ups were always just a little closer. The UK is the home of period drama, but Tony McNamara wanted The Great to be “punk history” or satire, taking liberties with the Catherine The Great story, both in costuming and language. He and John also resisted the urge to do period cliché visuals- for example, they did not use any “sweeping” crane shots and avoided using excess smoke for atmosphere. The Great was just renewed for a second season. Find John Brawley: http://johnbrawley.com/ See some tech tests from John's projects: https://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/ Instagram: @johnbrawley See The Great on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/welcome Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep82/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 83: Jody Lee Lipes Cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes has always enjoyed working on diverse projects with intimate stories. Shortly after film school, Jody collaborated with actor/director Lena Dunham on her first film, "Tiny Furniture," which led to Jody's shooting the HBO series, "Girls." He also shot the acclaimed indie thriller, "Martha Marcy May Marlene," directed by Sean Durkin, about a woman who escapes a cult and grows increasingly paranoid. Larger projects soon followed, including Academy Award nominated films, "Manchester by the Sea" and "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" with director Marielle Heller. When Heller asked Jody to be the director of photography for her film about a journalist writing a profile piece on Mr. Rogers, he was extremely moved by the script and it gave him a renewed passion for his craft. Jody's most recent project, the HBO series, "I Know This Much is True," is the story of Dominick, who is struggling with caring for his mentally ill twin brother, Thomas. Mark Ruffalo plays both twins, one of whom is much heavier than the other. Jody had to first shoot the “A” side of Dominick, then the B side of his brother Thomas several weeks later after Mark Ruffalo had gained weight. Director Derek Cianfrance decided he did not want to rely very much on special effects, and they discovered that often, a single two-shot of the “twins” would sell the idea that there were two people in the room. Shooting "I Know This Much is True" proved challenging in other ways as well. It was shot on film, with extreme closeups on long lenses, and controlling the light was key so that it would match each shot. Find Jody Lee Lipes: https://www.jodyleelipes.com/ Instagram: @jody_lee_lipes See I Know This Much is True currently on HBO:https://www.hbo.com/i-know-this-much-is-true Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep83/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 84: Alex Winter Many people know Alex Winter as the iconic character Bill S. Preston, Esq. from the hit Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and its sequels, but over the past few decades, Alex has become a prolific director of several TV, film and documentary projects. Alex was a child actor, with roles on Broadway, film and television, shooting his own projects on a wind-up 16 mm Bolex camera in his spare time. As a young actor, he followed cinematographer Michael Chapman (Jaws, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver) around on the set of The Lost Boys whenever he had downtime. After graduating from NYU film school, Alex and creative partners Tom Stern and Tim Burns created The Idiot Box, a sketch comedy show for MTV. They had creative control but not much money, so Alex, Stern and Burns moved on, making their own comedic film, Freaked, which has become a cult favorite. Alex went on to shoot and direct several music videos for bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Helmet. For his most recent documentary film, Showbiz Kids, Alex found his personal experience and sensitivity as a fellow child actor immensely helpful for interviewing his subjects. The film profiles actors Evan Rachel Wood, Wil Wheaton, Henry Thomas, Mara Wilson, Todd Bridges, Milla Jovovich, Jada Pinkett Smith, the late Cameron Boyce and Diana Serra Cary (“Baby Peggy”) who tell their own stories and Hollywood experiences, bad and good, of growing up as child actors. The doc also follows two aspiring child stars as they try to break into the business or further their careers. For his upcoming documentary Zappa, Alex wanted to tell the definitive story of Frank Zappa's life and work. With the cooperation of the Zappa family, he had unprecedented access to Frank Zappa's home movies and recordings. Alex will also be seen acting once again as Bill with buddy Keanu Reeves in Bill & Ted Face The Music, as soon as a release date is set. Find Alex Winter: http://alexwinter.com/ Instagram: @alxwinter Twitter: @Winter See Showbiz Kids on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/showbiz-kids Zappa, coming soon: http://www.zappamovie.com/about Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep84/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Special: The Cinematography Podcast- War Stories Vol. 3 In this super-sized War Stories Special, we feature eleven of our guest's harrowing, hilarious or heartwarming stories of an experience they had while on set or when starting out in the film industry. Find full interviews with each of our featured cinematographers in our archives at www.camnoir.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Cinematographer Laura Merians Gonçalves tells of a scary experience while shooting Pacified in the gritty favelas of Brazil, Seamus McGarvey on his first time using a Super 8 movie camera in film school, Charles Papert talks about working with Eddie Izzard on a grueling TV pilot, Charlotte Bruus Christensen's story of shooting The Hunt with director Thomas Vinterberg almost entirely handheld while pregnant, Mike Dallatorre on dealing with the Mexican federales while working on Quantum of Solace, James Laxton's early experience as a loader for an Errol Morris-directed commercial, Jaron Presant tells a funny story about making a huge error as a set PA, Don Morgan on getting hired because of a mistaken film credit, Roman Vas'yanov tells about his entirely too-real experience while shooting in the hood for End of Watch, Benoît Delhomme talks about crew issues while shooting The Proposition in the Australian outback, and documentary filmmaker Thorsten Thielow's experience of shooting during an actual war. Do you have a War Story you'd like to share? Send us an email or reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/warstories3/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 85: Greig Fraser World-renowned director of photography Greig Fraser grew up in Australia, working as a still photographer before he moved into cinematography, shooting shorts, TV shows and films for several Australian directors. Greig's most recently completed project is The Mandalorian, which recently earned him an Emmy nomination. At first, Greig felt incredibly nervous about working on the frontline development for The Mandalorian because of the massive amount of technology involved. His usual approach as a DP has been naturalistic lighting, in a real setting, rather than an entirely manufactured environment on a soundstage. The Mandalorian brought together gaming technology and set design, which could only be done with the support of ILM and Lucasfilm. The Star Wars series used 3D digital environments built with Epic Games' Unreal Engine gaming technology that was capable of interacting with the cameras and was projected on huge LED screens for very realistic backgrounds on the soundstage. Greig was not a Star Wars newbie- prior to The Mandalorian, he was the cinematographer of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. As a fan of Star Wars, Greig felt some trepidation at first about shooting Rogue One, because he was worried about losing that passion in the day-to-day while on set. Greig met with Rogue One director Gareth Edwards and loved his early film Monsters, so he was convinced to take the job. Grieg also discusses his work on the 2016 film, Lion, for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. Greig was extremely excited to shoot Lion- he and fellow Australian director Garth Davis had worked together a number of times. As a photographer, Greig had traveled and shot in India, and he loved being able to return to India and Melbourne to shoot such a great story. For Lion, Greig and Garth Davis wanted to be very respectful of Indian culture, and be careful of their choices not to oversensationalize images of poverty. Greig shot many of the railway scenes in the film at the level of a small child to capture the character Saroo's feelings of loss and helplessness. Grieg Fraser is the cinematographer of two hugely anticipated films coming soon: Dune with director Denis Villeneuve and The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves. Find Greig Fraser: Instagram @greigfraser_dp Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep85/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Oscar-winning director Ron Howard talks about directing his first documentary, Rebuilding Paradise, about the devastating Camp fire that completely wiped out the town of Paradise, California on November 8, 2018. The film follows the people in community over time as they deal with the tragedy and begin rebuilding. Directing a documentary was a new experience for Ron, and he felt a personal connection to the town- his mother-in-law had lived in Paradise. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's production company, Imagine, had wanted to start producing documentaries and they sent out a crew to begin shooting just one week after the fire. Ron picked up some new skills while working on the unscripted project. He had to learn how to let the cameras follow the flow of the conversation, and to be minimalist in covering every possible angle. The experience has led him to make directorial choices in his scripted work that are more verité. Director of photography Lincoln Else worked closely with Ron and the Imagine production team, and developed a unified visual language for Rebuilding Paradise that he communicated with the other shooters. Lincoln learned documentary filmmaking at an early age, loading 16mm mags and assisting his father, documentarian and professor Jon Else. He likes a very simple hand-held style, opting to just put a camera on his shoulder in order to be as reactive as possible. Though footage from many different news sources and people's personal videos was used, the bulk of the interview content in Rebuilding Paradise was “fly on the wall” style. See Rebuilding Paradise online and support your local theater! https://films.nationalgeographic.com/rebuilding-paradise#screenings Find Ron Howard: https://imagine-entertainment.com/ Instagram @realronhoward Twitter: @realronhoward Find Lincoln Else: http://www.novusselect.com/ https://lincolnelse.com/ Instagram: @lincolnelse Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep86/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Cinematographer and director Brandon Trost enjoys exploring different genres and styles of filmmaking, trying different things that push him outside of his comfort zone. Brandon grew up around film- he is the fourth generation of his family working in the movie industry. He attended LA Film School and soon began working as a cinematographer. One of Brandon's early films, the action movie Crank: High Voltage, was shot much like a skateboarding video, with several small cameras strategically placed to capture the frenetic pace so that it would feel electric. Brandon loved working with director Rob Zombie on Halloween II, which was shot on 16 mm film for a very grainy and gritty look. Shooting the comedy film MacGruber was Brandon's first experience working in the humor genre. He and director Jorma Taccone wanted it to look like Die Hard, taking all the action movie tropes to an extreme, which is what made it funny rather than choosing to shoot it like a conventional comedy movie. MacGruber helped launch Brandon's career into shooting comedy movies This is the End, The Interview, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Neighbors and The Disaster Artist with Seth Rogan, Andy Sandberg, and James Franco. When shooting with comedians, Brandon found it's important to be prepared for improvisation and to light the space so there's flexibility for the actors to move within it, keeping shots fairly wide. For the films Diary of a Teenage Girl and Can You Ever Forgive Me? Brandon had the opportunity to switch gears again, working with director Marielle Heller. They chose a camera and lenses for Can You Ever Forgive Me? that gave the film a real, naturalistic, even unflattering look to Melissa McCarthy's character. Brandon got to explore dark comedy again in the pilot for the HBO series, Barry. Creators Bill Hader and Alec Berg wanted the violence to feel very real, dark and yet funny, so Brandon chose to treat the pilot like a Coen brothers movie, using moody lighting and shooting with a single camera. An American Pickle is Brandon's first time directing a large feature film. Frequent collaborators Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg asked Brandon to take a look at the script with an eye to directing, and the story appealed to him. Directing An American Pickle was challenging since Seth Rogan plays both main characters. Much of the film had to be shot twice- once with Seth Rogan as the character Herschel and then as the character Ben. Brandon found that choosing a director of photography when you're also a cinematographer can be difficult, and he chose DP John Guleserian (Like Crazy, About Time, Love, Simon, the upcoming Candyman) to shoot the movie because he has a great sense of humor and is very collaborative. Find Brandon Trost: https://www.brandontrost.com/ Twitter: @b_tro See An American Pickle on HBO Max Our interview with DP John Guleserian will be coming in October. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep87/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Paul Cameron, ASC got his start guerilla-shooting live music with borrowed equipment from film school. Starting off in the budding world of music videos and fast-paced commercials creatively prepared Paul for the action/thriller genre. Paul met cinematographer-turned-director Dominic Sena, who gave him the opportunity to shoot Paul's first feature, Gone in 60 Seconds. They were able to collaborate and communicate with a shared visual language. Later, Paul's work on the film Man on Fire with director Tony Scott allowed him to really hone his look. Though he prefers to use film cameras, Paul had the opportunity to shoot Michael Mann's Collateral with digital cameras, one of the first major films to use the technology. Jonathan Nolan, the director and producer of the HBO series, Westworld, asked Paul to shoot the pilot before there was even a script. They quickly decided to shoot on 35 mm to capture the grand scale of the western landscape. For season three of Westworld, Paul was the director of photography for the first episode, and has earned an Emmy nomination for his work. He also had the opportunity to direct episode four of the series for the very first time and really enjoyed it. Westworld will return for Season 4. Find Paul Cameron: https://paulcamerondp.com/ Instagram: @paulcameron_dp See Westworld on HBO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvGE7Cz9VDA Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep88/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Jas Shelton's career has spanned nearly every genre, from comedy to horror and suspense. Jas grew up in East Texas and attended the University of Texas in Austin. He had difficulty getting into the film program, so he started shooting music videos for bands, then began shooting student films. Austin was a hub for fairly large films at the time, where Jas found work as a gaffer or on second unit, including Miss Congeniality, Varsity Blues, and The Ladykillers. When he and director Kyle Alvarez began planning for the second season of Homecoming on Amazon, they chose to use a different color palette from season one, with darker, moodier looks for the flashback sequences vs. the present day. They were influenced by the look of 70's movies and Brian DePalma films, with slow push-in zooms on the characters, several split-screen sequences and off-center framing. Jas shot all seven episodes of the series, and has received an Emmy nomination for his work. Jas had also worked with Kyle Alvarez on The Stanford Prison Experiment, which was another challenging project since most of it was shot on a white laboratory set, but careful use of close-ups and shadow helped bring more depth to the film. Jas's tight camerawork and careful planning for Homecoming was a much different approach from Jas's previous work with the Duplass brothers on the series Togetherness, The Do-Deca-Pentathalon and Cyrus. Mark and Jay Duplass favor a rough, homemade, documentary style, with lots of improvisation, so scenes often began with close ups on long lenses, with wider shots at the end. For the film Keanu, Jas's experience with more improvisational filmmaking was useful, since Jordan Peele would often rewrite scenes right before shooting. See Homecoming season 2 on Amazon Prime Find Jas Shelton: https://www.jasshelton.com/ Instagram: @jasshelton Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep89/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Mandy Walker believes that her job as a cinematographer is not just to make pretty pictures, but to enhance an emotion with lenses, camera placement and lighting. She works on a gut and emotional level for films, getting across the feelings of the characters- a DP's arsenal of tricks should only help convey what's going on in the scene. For Mulan, Mandy and director Nikki Caro wanted to take a different approach from the Disney animated version, and were free to interpret the film as they wished. Mandy watched several Chinese action films such as House of Flying Daggers and went on location scouting trips to China to find the look and inspiration for the film. Mandy grew up in Australia and always loved photography, film and art, so she felt a passion to become a cinematographer right from the beginning. She skipped film school and began as a production assistant and loader in Australia, learning as she went on films such as Lantana, which was shot using almost only available light. Shattered Glass, which tells the true story of a journalist who made up the majority of his articles, was her first American film. Working with Baz Luhrmann on Australia was a huge jump into bigger budget movies, and she learned how to organize and delegate an entire camera department with multiple cameras. For the film Hidden Figures, Mandy worked closely with the costume designer and makeup artists to ensure that how the characters were dressed and what they looked like matched the feel of what each scene is meant to convey. She watched a lot of archival footage from NASA, some of which was used in the film, and was thrilled to meet Katherine Johnson, one of the real-life subjects of the film. Mandy Walker is currently working with director Baz Luhrmann again on a forthcoming biography film about Elvis Presley. See Mulan on Disney Plus Find Mandy Walker: https://www.mandywalkerdp.com/ Instagram: @mandywalkerdp Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep90/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com WIN a Sony A7SIII, Gitzo tripod and $100 Hot Rod Cameras gift card! Worth over $4,000, for one lucky winner! Follow us on Instagram @thecinepod and click on the link in bio to enter by September 29, 2020. Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 76: Suzie Lavelle Irish cinematographer Suzie Lavelle loves to be very hands on and involved in visual storytelling. From a young age, Suzie had an interest in photography, went to art school and was accepted into the renowned National Film and Television School in London. She began working on short films and features, one of which, The Other Side of Sleep, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival. Shortly after, Suzie landed her first television job shooting an episode of Dr. Who Season 7, an amazing opportunity that led to a long career on large scale shows such as Vikings, His Dark Materials, A Discovery of Witches, and Sherlock. Sherlock: The Abominable Bride is a single 90-minute long episode which takes place during the Victorian era and Suzie was Emmy nominated for Best Cinematography. Suzie was excited to work with director and fellow countryman Lenny Abrahamson on the new Hulu series Normal People. Normal People is about the often rocky, romantic relationship between Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) who grew up in the same small town in Ireland. Abrahamson and Suzie worked together to create very beautiful, close up and intimate scenes between the actors, which required a small footprint, few lights and the use of a single handheld camera. Normal People is currently streaming on Hulu. Find Suzie Lavelle: http://www.suzielavelle.com/ Instagram: @suziecine Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep76/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 77: Bradford Young, PART 1 Oscar-nominated cinematographer Bradford Young feels every story has a personal connection to tell and translate through the language of images. As an African American, telling the story of Selma was very important and close to him. He'd heard the story of Dr. Martin Luther King's march from Selma and the fight for civil rights from his aunt and grandparents as a kid. He sees the essence of his existence coming from those struggles. Growing up, at first Bradford thought he'd go into the family mortuary business. But he always felt drawn to the arts and his father encouraged him to pursue it as a career. He went to Howard University to study journalism and soon switched to film. Bradford attended graduate school with director Dee Rees who hired him to shoot her film Pariah, which went to Sundance and won multiple awards at film festivals. But small independent films with black voices don't get a lot of mainstream attention, and he was told his reel didn't have enough “scope” to get bigger jobs. When seeking an agent, Bradford was told his talent for cinematography was seen as a “fluke.” He found he had to be resilient and continue to tell his own story through his work with diverse filmmakers. Ava DuVernay was familiar with his work and hired him to shoot her film Middle of Nowhere and then Selma, about the march from Selma to Montgomery to secure equal voting rights for African Americans in 1965. For Bradford, the cultural resonance of Selma was not the Oscar nomination, but that Ava DuVernay, a black woman director, was seen with respect and shown to be an important and powerful voice in Hollywood. Listen for Bradford Young Part 2- coming next week! He talks about Arrival, When They See Us, Solo: A Star Wars Story and much more. Find Bradford Young https://luxartists.net/bradford-young/ You can stream When They See Us right now on Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHbOt2M8md0 You can find Selma streaming on Amazon, Vudu, or iTunes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6t7vVTxaic Bradford Young was featured in the May 2020 issue of American Cinematographer. https://ascmag.com/magazine-issues/may-2020 Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep77/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 78: Bradford Young, PART 2 Bradford Young continues our conversation from his busy household. One lesson he's learned is that the cinematographer's job is to make the director happy. Bradford was drawn to the science fiction film Arrival because it had an intimacy and a perspective about who we are that many sci-fi movies lack. Arrival takes us on a journey of discovery while keeping the human experience at the center of the film, with the camera following Louise, played by Amy Adams, the entire time. At first, Bradford found it difficult to find the visual language of the story, since it was so much about decoding the aliens' language. But his collaboration with Denis Villeneuve and the rest of the team makes Arrival feel cohesive and engaging. When Bradford was approached to shoot Solo: A Star Wars Story, he knew it would be a power move for his career, although it was uniquely challenging to work with four cameras plus huge action sequences and special effects. He also had to adjust to the turmoil of Lucasfilm's decision to fire directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who were replaced by director Ron Howard in the middle of the Solo shoot. But Bradford felt fortunate to be able to continue shooting Solo and to work with a seasoned and respected director like Ron Howard. Bradford was happy to work with director Ava DuVernay again on When They See Us, which was his first episodic series. He and DuVernay wanted to bring weight and care with their approach to the story of the Central Park Five, using minimal lighting, composed photographic shots and anamorphic lenses. For Bradford, When They See Us was a hard story to tell and they told it the best way they could. He feels that while films are powerful, they are also fleeting- sometimes it takes longer to tell and inform a story, and the injustices done to Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray and Yusef Salaam was better served as a series. Find Bradford Young https://luxartists.net/bradford-young/ You can stream When They See Us right now on Netflix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHbOt2M8md0 You can find Selma streaming on Amazon, Vudu, or iTunes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6t7vVTxaic Bradford Young was featured in the May 2020 issue of American Cinematographer. https://ascmag.com/magazine-issues/may-2020 Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep78/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Director and writer Potsy Ponciroli was scouting a location for another movie in the countryside just outside Nashville, Tennessee when he saw a historic old house built in the early 1900's at the bottom of a valley. He began thinking about how lonely and isolated a person living in that house might be, and it planted the seed of an idea to write Old Henry. Potsy ended up using that exact location, shooting in that house and the surrounding area. He and cinematographer John Matysiak set out to capture the feel of a classic western- a simple story taking place in the old west, showing how hard life was at that time. Old Henry is an action western starring Tim Blake Nelson as a farmer with a teen son living alone on their farm. Against his better judgement, Henry takes in a wounded stranger with a bag full of cash. Soon enough, a posse comes looking for the wanted man and Henry and his son must defend their homestead. Potsy approached Tim Blake Nelson to star in the film, and the two met several times over Zoom to discuss ideas from their favorite westerns. Soon, Nelson was also on board as an executive producer. During preproduction, Potsy and DP John Matysiak walked around the location, reading the scenes from the script, checking out different angles and shotlisting each moment. Shooting in a real homestead built in the 1900's was very challenging due to the small rooms with low ceilings and small windows that didn't let in much natural light. To keep the look fresh in such a limited space, they carefully figured out what scenes would be in what rooms and made sure they weren't shot back-to-back. John first met Potsy when they were working on a television show in Nashville together. When Potsy showed him the Old Henry script, John liked the ideas he had for keeping the film small and plot driven until it builds to the finale. John is passionate about finding a visual language for the world he's creating with the art of cinematography. He did as much research as he could for that time period, looking at old photographs and paintings from the early 1900's Old West to get a feel for how people lived at that time. He was influenced by more recent westerns such as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Hostiles. John Matysiak and Ben Rock actually met through the group Filmmakers Alliance and John worked on Ben's short film, Conversations as a gaffer back in 2003. Find Potsy Ponciroli: Instagram @getpotsy Find John Matysiak: Instagram @john_matysiak Old Henry premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is currently playing in theaters and will be on demand on October 15th. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep143/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 Sponsored by DZO Film: DZO Film makes professional high quality, short zoom lenses for smaller cameras, such as the 20-70mm T2.9 MFT lens and the 10-24mm T2.9 MFT. You can buy them at Hot Rod Cameras. https://www.dzofilm.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

After working together for 25 years, cinematographer Robert Yeoman, ASC and director Wes Anderson share a similar aesthetic and creative process. Bob finds he can anticipate what Anderson wants to see and exactly how he wants to shoot things. The trademark of a Wes Anderson movie is a sense of humor and whimsy, and each film has a distinct color palette that deliberately tells a story. Both Bob and Anderson love the symmetrical style of Kubrick movies, but the symmetry in the frame of Anderson's films draw on comic elements rather than those of horror. Anderson is involved in all the decisions on art direction, choices of textures, colors, costume, hair and makeup, testing many of his choices on film before making a decision. During their very long prep period, Anderson will make an animatic of the entire movie before the shoot, and try to match the reality to the animatic as much as possible. Bob finds this incredibly helpful, since Anderson's movies are very complex- many shots are oners and use complicated dolly movies. In the movie The French Dispatch, Bob and Anderson had planned on shooting at least one section in black and white. They fell in love with the black and white stock, so Bob ended up shooting a lot more than they had originally planned. Anderson also decided to mix three aspect ratios in the film to delineate different time periods and different stories, which Bob thought wouldn't work very well, but ended up liking the end result. On every movie he makes, Anderson has a library of DVDs, photo books and research books that are available for the cast and crew to borrow. Naturally, for The French Dispatch, French movies were often referenced. It made it easy for Bob to have a shorthand way to communicate with Anderson on which French film they were emulating for framing, lighting and aspect ratio. The 1989 film, Drugstore Cowboy, directed by Gus Van Sant, helped Bob make his name as a cinematographer. He used a much looser style, with the camera reacting to the actors rather than carefully planned out movements such as those favored by Wes Anderson. Bob found it a pleasure working with Van Sant, who is more of an experimental filmmaker, and from the moment he read the script for Drugstore Cowboy, he loved it. Bob's work on the comedies Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters (2016), and Get Him to the Greek also presented him with a different challenge- everything is cross shot with multiple cameras because so much of those movies are improvised. On both Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters, director Paul Feig's style is to allow the actors freedom to do what they like, and as the cinematographer, Bob let them have the space and simply moved with them, lighting in a more generalized way. The French Dispatch opens in theaters on October 22. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep144/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 Sponsored by Aputure: https://www.aputure.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

When director Ruth Platt first wrote and developed Martyrs Lane, it started off as much more of a horror film rather than a psychological thriller. She had the opportunity to develop the film into a feature from a short through BFI, the British Film Institute. In its feature form, Ruth pulled Martyrs Lane into a more unsettling ghost story that's told from the point of view of Leah, a 10 year old girl, who lives in a large old house with her family. Her mother always seems very sad and distant, and Leah doesn't know why, until a strange nightly visitor gives her a new clue to unlock every night. The visual palette of Martyrs Lane has a timeless and impressionistic feel, creating an atmosphere of hovering between the conscious and unconscious world. The house Leah and her family lives in is a reflection of the interior and exterior world of the family. Ruth knew that finding the perfect “haunted house” was key, and they were lucky to have found the perfect location. With two inexperienced child actors as the leads in the movie, Ruth focused on trying to keep the lines sounding natural instead of scripted, and kept the kids energy up in between takes and setups. Because she and the crew only had a short amount of prep time for the movie, they had to creatively problem solve for a few issues and were able to do almost all the special effects in camera. You can see Martyrs Lane on Shudder. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep145/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Dan Attias has directed dozens of episodes of critically acclaimed television shows such as The Wire, The Sopranos, Homeland, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Americans, Billions, and many more. His years of experience led him to write the book, Directing Great Television: Inside TV's New Golden Age. The book is not only for those who want to direct, but also for fans who want to know how these shows are made. In college, Dan studied acting and had to make a short film as part of his film studies. He found he enjoyed being behind the camera as a director, and continued to study film with an eye to directing. Dan started working on several big movies as an assistant director, such as E.T., One From the Heart, Airplane! and Twilight Zone: The Movie. His first directing job was on Stephen King's Silver Bullet, a werewolf horror movie produced by Dino De Laurentiis. Dan finds the best way to approach directing a television show is to get invested in the story by finding what interests you in the script. In series television, directors often don't even get the script until a few days before they're going to direct it. If the show already exists, Dan likes to immerse himself in the show, watching several episodes and asking the production to send over past scripts. Directing one episode of a long-running show is like writing just one chapter of a novel- it needs to fit in seamlessly to the entire story, while still feeling compelling and propelling the story forward. A director of episodic TV has to balance making it their story while still executing the showrunner's vision and honoring the intention of the writers. Dan also likes to explore every scene of the episode he's directing with the writers during a tone meeting. He often asks, what is the story being told? The story isn't simply what happens, but the meaning that you give to what happens- where you're directing the audience's focus. Make sure you keep asking yourself, how does it make me feel? The director must be able to dig down with the actors and come up with an interesting subtext to the story if the scene needs a boost. Find Dan Attias: www.danattias.com Directing Great Television: Inside TV's New Golden Age is available on Amazon. WIN an autographed copy of Directing Great Television! Follow us on Instagram @thecinepod and comment on our post for this episode! Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep146/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 Sponsored by Aputure: https://www.aputure.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Our host Illya Friedman had the opportunity to speak to one of his former film instructors, Jay Rosenblatt at CamerImage back in 2019. Jay taught Super 8 Filmmaking at San Francisco State University and has made over 30 short films. As a member of the jury for the Energa CamerImage film festival in Poland for the past several years, Jay looks for innovative storytelling in the films they screen. Jay's latest short film is When We Were Bullies, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and will be screening at CamerImage next week. The 2021 CamerImage film festival begins in Torun, Poland next week. Find Jay Rosenblatt: https://www.jayrosenblattfilms.com/ WIN an autographed copy of Directing Great Television by last week's guest, director Dan Attias! Follow us on Instagram @thecinepod and comment on our post for this episode! Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep147/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 Sponsored by DZOFilm: https://www.dzofilm.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Cinematographer Miahi Mălaimare Jr. understands the power of images to communicate a feeling right away, and in a more straightforward way than with spoken language. For The Harder They Fall, Mihai discovered that as both a director and a singer-songwriter, Jeymes Samuel communicates through music, and the two enjoyed working together to find the visual language of the film. The Harder They Fall is a mashup of blaxploitation, spaghetti Western and musical in one sprawling and stylish package. Samuel had previously made a shorter Western called They Die By Dawn, but Mihai had never shot a Western before. They were prepping to shoot in March of 2020 in New Mexico, then everything was halted due to the pandemic. Finally, in July of 2020 Jeymes called up Mihai to see if he could be ready to shoot within a few weeks. They headed out to New Mexico and shot the film while under strict COVID protocols. Both Mihai and Samuel took visual ideas for The Harder They Fall from The Wild Bunch and several Sergio Leone movies. Finding the rhythm within a scene was a huge part of the film. Samuel had a few songs written into the script and would often play music on set. The script was very challenging with several complicated shots, a large cast, dealing with horses, guns, set pieces and period costumes, but Jeymes Samuel and Mihai were able to achieve Samuel's vision with prep, discussions every night, and many, many rehearsals. You can watch The Harder They Fall on Netflix. Mihai recently wrapped the currently untitled HBO drama series about the Lakers in the 1980's. Find Mihai Mălaimare Jr. Instagram: @malaimarejr_photography @malaimarejr_cinematography WIN an autographed copy of Directing Great Television by our recent guest, director Dan Attias! Follow us on Instagram @thecinepod and comment on our post for this episode! Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep148/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Cinematographer Eduard Grau, ASC thinks it's important to take risks in filmmaking because it sparks creativity and passion for what you're doing. Passing director Rebecca Hall had worked with Edu on several films as an actor, and trusted him to bring his creative skill to her first directorial project. Based on the 1929 novel by Nella Larsen, Hall had been trying to get the movie made for several years. She held firm on her vision from the beginning that Passing would be a black and white film, and she wanted it to be in the square 4:3 aspect ratio as a throwback to the movies of the 1930's time period, so that the characters were more intimately centered in the frame. Edu was excited to work on such an exceptional film, in which cinematography is so integral to both the look of the film and the storytelling narrative. Passing explores race and identity in the lives of two former friends who reconnect in late 1920's Harlem. Ruth Negga's character Clare is passing as white while Tessa Thompson's character Irene is a respected member of the black community. Hall wanted the film to feel very restrained, as the characters are feeling under constant scrutiny, and the story is told mainly through the women's faces. Edu kept the shots close and intimate, with very natural lighting. Edu grew up in Spain and became interested in cinematography in high school. He went to film school in Barcelona and the UK. He made a short film that went to Cannes, then had a chance meeting with a producer at the Edinburg Film Festival. She passed his reel to Tom Ford who needed just the right DP to shoot A Single Man. Ford saw exactly what he was looking for in Edu's reel and asked him to fly out to the U.S. It was Edu's first movie on 35mm, his first movie in the United States, and his first movie with such big movie stars. After A Single Man, Edu went on to shoot Buried starring Ryan Reynolds, whose character is buried alive. He loved the challenge of shooting Buried in an interesting way with such extremely limited space constraints. You can watch Passing on Netflix. Find Edu Grau: http://www.edugrau.com/ Instagram: @eduardgrau Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep149/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Jeff Cronenweth, ASC understands that creating a period piece such as the film, Being the Ricardos, involves lighting and set design, period costumes, hair and makeup styles, and of course, positioning the camera. For today's more sophisticated and contemporary audiences, everything must be shot in a more dynamic way than in the staid 1950's style. Jeff and director Aaron Sorkin had the TV show I Love Lucy to work from as well as photographs from the I Love Lucy set, which were invaluable for recreating scenes for the movie. They also watched films that take place in the 1950's such as LA Confidential, Carol, and Peggy Sue Got Married, to see how those filmmakers approached the time period, while carefully crafting their own unique vision of what 1952 looked like. Jeff created four looks for the time periods within Being the Ricardos: 1952, where most of the story takes place; contemporary interviews from the mid-90's by the story's narrators; the 1940's with flashbacks to when Lucy and Desi first met; and then black and white footage paying homage to I Love Lucy that represents what is going on in Lucy's imagination. For the black and white sequences, Jeff embraced the theatrical “fashion noir” look using a starlight/hard light method for portrait photography from that time period. Jeff and director Aaron Sorkin had previously worked together on The Social Network for just one scene. Being the Ricardos was their first real opportunity to collaborate for a longer amount of time. Aaron Sorkin is known for crafting fast and complex back and forth dialog, and his writing style was similar for Being the Ricardos- tight, structured, and well thought out with brilliant dialog. Jeff found Sorkin's script created a sturdy framework for the entire movie- when the script is really confident and solid, everyone else on the film has a clear map of how and where they can be creative within those parameters. As the cinematographer, Jeff knew the actors would have fast, overlapping lines and were on an emotional roller coaster as they navigate through a crisis. He used lenses with a very close focus to give the feel that the characters were in a world that made them feel vulnerable and alone. He decided to use as much contrast as possible, balancing light and dark throughout the movie while still creating richness and depth with points of light in the background. Being the Ricardos is in theaters December 10 and will be on Amazon Prime Video December 21, 2021 Find Jeff Cronenweth: https://www.ddatalent.com/client/jeff-cronenweth-asc-narrative Instagram: #jeffcronenweth Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep150/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 Sponsored by Arri: https://www.arri.com/en The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Legendary cinematographer Robert Elswit has shot a wide range of movies, including Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood- which won him the Academy Award for Best Cinematography- Magnolia, Good Night and Good Luck, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Bourne Legacy, two Mission Impossible movies, and of course Return of the Living Dead Part 2. Robert's latest film is King Richard, a biopic that tells the story of how Richard Williams, the father of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, was determined to shape his daughters into champions. From the beginning, Robert and director Reinaldo Marcus Green wanted the tennis to be realistic. They watched many other tennis movies and didn't find the speed and athleticism of the actors to be believable. They knew it was going to be tricky dealing with actors pretending to be tennis players. Fortunately, the story was about Venus and Serena developing and honing their tennis skills, so the playing didn't have to look perfect. The matches were carefully designed around scripted beats that moved the story forward. Robert and Green decided to show only specific moments of the matches, including how Venus and Serena interacted with other players, how the parents interacted with their kids, and how Richard interacted with the coaches and his kids. They were careful in thinking about how to shoot the match, keeping it as interesting and as believable as it could be in terms of speed and athleticism but also making sure that the audience understands what is happening emotionally with the characters. For the look of King Richard, Robert chose several different types of filters and diffusion to represent the light in Compton, but didn't use as many for Florida, so that the sun could feel more bright and harsh. Robert's throughline for Los Angeles for the film Nightcrawler was shooting the ribbons of freeways that run through the Valley, as the main character Louis Bloom drives around LA looking for crime as a news stringer. It was impossible to fake it with a green screen. Robert, the cast and crew had to literally drive around and shoot Los Angeles at night. They had no time or budget to light things, so they scouted locations that were already lit. He took advantage of the street lights and the ambient light from billboards and stores. This approach gave the movie its distinctly seedy look, and Robert felt it was clearly the only approach that fit the script. You can see King Richard on HBO Max. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep151/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 Sponsored by Aputure: https://www.aputure.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Cinematographer Dan Laustsen's latest movie with director Guillermo del Toro is the film noir psychological thriller, Nightmare Alley. Unlike many of del Toro's previous films, Nightmare Alley features no monsters or creatures, exploring instead the drama of the monsters within humans. Dan and del Toro had extensive prep and discussion about how to tell the story in a classic film noir way, except with lush vibrant colors instead of in black and white. Part of the movie takes place in the carnival world, so del Toro and Dan had extensive discussions about the color palette. Del Toro had a very precise idea of what colors he wanted and he uses very little color correction in post. Dan decided to paint with light, and draw attention to the beautiful sets as much as possible. The movie was shot mainly at night and indoors so they were able to carefully control the lighting. They chose to light using mainly a single source, and lit the character of Lilith Ritter, played by Cate Blanchett, like a classic movie star. Her lighting was important to the storytelling so the audience sees her as a powerful force in the film. In fact, the lights would also move on a dolly track with Blanchett, or Dan would use a small 1K as a follow spot. For the camerawork, Dan and del Toro wanted all of the shots in Nightmare Alley to be on the move-everything is shot either on a dolly, with a Steadicam or from a crane. Del Toro & Dan first began working together on Mimic, and they found what Dan considers a similar European sensibility of lighting with a single source, keeping things very dark and having the courage to not show everything. The two didn't work together again until Crimson Peak but del Toro and Dan have a great rapport, and Dan found that they could pick right back up again. Find Dan Laustsen: Instagram @dan.laustsen You can see Nightmare Alley in theaters. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep152/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 Sponsored by DZOFilm: https://www.dzofilm.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey is very happy about being a DP, and his love of the job always takes him through the difficult times. When he sees a movie that actually works beautifully on screen, it makes everything worthwhile. The new musical Cyrano is based on the stage play by Erica Schmidt, which caught the attention of director Joe Wright, who knew he wanted to adapt it into a film. Stars Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett also reprise their roles in the movie as Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne. Wright used the stage play as a guide for what the film should look like, and hired his frequent collaborator, Seamus McGarvey as the cinematographer. The two have now worked on five films together. Seamus wanted the film to feel more intimate than a play, so he chose close up portraiture of the actor's faces, capturing sensitive performances. Because of the pandemic, Wright felt even more strongly about the story of Cyrano being an outsider, craving love and human connection. They began shooting in the fall of 2020, creating a bubble of performers in the town of Noto, Sicily, with many background actors playing a few different parts. Since Sicily was still locked down for COVID with no tourism and few people out and about, most of the town became the entire set- the locations were all real houses and buildings. The crew was able to shoot with little distraction or interference, and with no bars or restaurants open, they became a tight-knit group. In his adaptation of Cyrano, Wright was guided by the musical and wanted the dialog to roll naturally into song, which were recorded live during the shoot. Playback had to be done through earpieces for all of the performers so they knew when to sing and dance. Fortunately, all of the actors were such good singers that they didn't have to do a lot of takes, and they had time to focus on rehearsals and blocking first. Seamus had previously shot the musical The Greatest Showman, and he enjoyed the experience on Cyrano of playing with the rhythm of photography with song, creating a beat to the pictures themselves. The “Every Letter” song sequence in Cyrano reminded him of working on music videos in his early career, and he and the crew had fun creating lens flares with flashlights throughout the scene. They worked with lots of candles and torches, with some LED torches with CGI flames for a nighttime staircase fight scene in the film. The filming of Cyrano literally ended with a bang. Mount Etna is an active volcano, and Wright chose to film the final battle sequences up the side of it. The weather had turned unseasonably cold and it started snowing, creating a real problem for the set which had to be relocated. The snow would start to melt because the earth beneath was hot with molten lava. Finally, within days of completing shooting and beginning to wrap out of the location, Mt. Etna erupted and the sets were covered in ash. The entire crew quickly evacuated. Find Seamus McGarvey: Instagram @seamiemc Twitter: @mcseamus You can see Cyrano opening in theaters December 31. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep153/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Director of photography Greig Fraser says that cinematographers always strive to create images with dimension, so that audiences are able to experience almost feeling and touching what they are seeing. Film has always had the dimensional and realistic feel that filmmakers appreciate, such as grain and color. But with today's advances in digital filmmaking technology, Greig understands and embraces using the tools that are appropriate to the project he's working on, and the technology just keeps improving. For Greig, no matter what he's shooting or how technical it can be, what draws him to every film project is the characters in the movie. On Dune, Greig and director Denis Villeneuve tested on film and also on digital, but they didn't like either look that much. They decided to take a hybrid approach: the film was shot on digital, then output to film, and then back out to digital, which gave it the look they wanted. Villeneuve was a huge fan of Dune the novel, and had a clear vision of what his version of the Dune story should be. He extensively storyboarded the film in pre-production, and they did not reference the previous Dune movie at all. During the shoot, Greig and the VFX supervisor Paul Lambert championed getting the lighting exactly correct with the blue or green screen background so that the shots and perspective would look the most realistic and there would be very little adjustments needed in post production. Greig also talks about using the iPhone 13 ProMax to shoot a demo film with director Kathryn Bigelow. The phone has several camera options that make it cinematic, and he finds that phones are getting better and better to shoot with. Greig's next film is The Batman which will be released in March. Find Greig Fraser: Instagram @greigfraser_dp Twitter: @GreigFraser_dp You can see Dune in theaters now, on Blu-ray, or soon returning to HBOMax. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep154/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 Sponsored by Arri: https://www.arri.com/en The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Cinematographer Quyen Tran, ASC enjoys telling stories that are compelling and have impact and meaning. Q's previous work on the show Unbelievable led showrunner Molly Smith Metzler and executive producer John Wells to ask her to shoot Maid, a limited series for Netflix. Maid deals with the complex issues of poverty, domestic abuse, the working poor, addiction, single parenthood and mental health. With amazing performances by Margaret Qualley, Andi McDowell and young actor Rylea Nevaeh Whittet, the series handles all of these heavy and heartbreaking issues with sensitivity, peppered with moments of levity and joy. For Q, shooting Maid was incredible, and incredibly challenging. It was her first job during the pandemic, beginning in August of 2020, and the crew had to quarantine for two weeks in Victoria, British Columbia, wear masks, get frequent COVID tests and follow strict COVID protocols. Quyen thought she would only do the pre-production and shoot the pilot because she didn't want to leave her family for very long. Quyen shot extensive tests for the look of Maid. She knew it would be primarily handheld, which creates intimacy and forces a personal perspective on the viewer. Q decided she wanted to use the Alexa Mini and Panaspeed lenses because of the vintage, soft look, and they allow for close camera to subject distance. As part of the pre-production process, Q created a look book for the whole series that the other DPs could pick up and reference. After shooting the pilot, Q returned to Los Angeles. Then, right after the holidays, director/executive producer John Wells asked Quyen to come back and direct episode eight of Maid. Although Q had a little bit of experience directing, it was very scary for her to even think about directing in a narrative format. She never went into filmmaking to become a director, and never had the desire to be one. But she knew she could do it because she was so familiar with the characters and the story. As both DP and operator on the show, Q already had a rapport with the actors, but now as a director, it was about discussing the motivation of why their characters were doing certain actions. She also had to keep three year old actor Rylea Whittet engaged with the action. As Maddy, single mom Alex's daughter, Rylea is in nearly every scene and Q often entertained her with piggyback rides and games. For her directorial episode, Quyen camera prepped everything and storyboarded the entire episode. One of the most visually interesting and challenging elements in the episode Q directed is the couch that literally pulls Alex in and swallows her. Q and the production designer worked together for about three weeks to create the couch that Alex could sink right into and disappear. During the pandemic and in their down time, Quyen and her friend and fellow DP, Jeanne Tyson, found a passion for making sourdough bread. They started Doughrectors of Photography and in exchange for a donation to the LA Food Bank or other charity, patrons receive bread, cookies or other goodies. You can check out Doughrectors of Photography and find out how you can donate and get some delicious baked goods on Instagram at @doughrectorsofphotography Find Quyen Tran: https://www.qtranfilms.com/ Instagram: @qgar You can see Maid on Netflix Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep155/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 Sponsored by DZOFilm: https://www.dzofilm.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Ari Wegner, ACS became a fan of director Jane Campion after seeing her short films in high school. Seeing those films opened Ari's eyes to the possibilities of choosing filmmaking as a career. Several years later, she had an opportunity to work with Campion on a commercial in Sydney, Australia and found they shared a similar working aesthetic. Campion contacted her next about shooting The Power of the Dog, and wanted to work closely with Ari on prepping the film over the course of a year. Most DPs only have a few weeks to meet with the director, location scout, and prep the film. They began with location scouting in New Zealand, Campion's home country, searching for the right mountains as the backdrop. The Power of the Dog takes place in 1920's Montana, so finding the right location to build an entire ranch set was also important. Ari and Campion agreed that the colors in the film should reflect the natural environment of cattle, sun, dust, golden grass, and brown leather. The color palette was key to unifying the look of the film, from the costumes to even the color of the cows. Ari and Campion spent the last month before the shoot storyboarding every scene, in a cabin closer to the set. As the set was being built, they would go to the location and walk through it to figure out if the shots were going to work. The ranch house exterior was built on location, while the interiors were built on a stage. The script also required knowing exactly where the actor's eyelines would be as the characters stalk and spy on each other, so Ari needed to know the layout of the house very well so that the shots lined up just right. Campion always uses storyboards as plan A, and is open to things changing once the actors physically embody the characters and find their own unique moments and flow. Ari often filmed handheld in order to move in on the actor's faces to capture the quiet moments, expressions and unsaid private thoughts of each character. Ari's work on The Power of the Dog was just nominated for an ASC Award. Find Ari Wegner: https://luxartists.net/ari-wegner/ Instagram: @ariwegner You can see The Power of the Dog on Netflix Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com//ep156/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Assemble: Assemble has amazing production management software. Use the code cinepod to try a month for free! https://www.assemble.tv/ Be sure to watch our YouTube video of Nate Watkin showing how Assemble works! https://youtu.be/IlpismVjab8 Sponsored by Aputure: https://www.aputure.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

God's Country, starring Thandiwe Newton, is about Sandra, a Black woman college professor living alone who is dealing with the recent loss of her mother and the subtle and not-so-subtle racism and sexism in a cold, remote Western town. Two hunters boldly start trespassing on her property, and when she asks them to stop, it begins a tense and escalating clash of uncompromising aggression by both parties. Director Julian Higgins and cinematographer Andrew Wheeler had previously made God's Country as a short in 2014, based on the short story Winter Light by James Lee Burke. When Julian began thinking about turning the story into a feature, he connected with writer and fellow AFI graduate Shaye Ogbonna to reimagine the story with a Black woman rather than a white man as the central character. As co-writers, Shaye and Julian had long conversations about what they valued and cared about in their own lives. They wanted to take a big bite out of contemporary themes of racism and sexism and still tell a contained thriller story. Together, they wrote and reworked the script for months, knowing they wanted to show everything on the screen with little dialog. They wanted the audience to feel the tension escalate as the movie builds to what feels like its inevitable conclusion. Envisioning this inevitability and seeing everything happen rather than telling through dialog meant knowing exactly where to place the camera. Cinematographer Andrew Wheeler was involved right from the beginning, which helped everyone maintain the same vision. Julian listened to Andrew's instincts and suggestions, so the whole process was very collaborative. Andrew also lives in Montana, where the film was shot, so he is intimately familiar with how to photograph those surroundings. He expressed Sandra's extreme aloneness in long shots against the mountains and snow, or gazing out from her house onto the vastness of the landscape. Andrew felt that he was able to put his time and best work on the screen. God's Country premiered at the Sundance 2022 Film Festival and is seeking sales and distribution. Find director Julian Higgins: https://julianh.com/gods-country Instagram: @filmjulian Find writer Shaye Ogbonna https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4252592/ Twitter: @ShizzleObizzle Find cinematographer Andrew Wheeler: http://www.wheelsdp.com/ Instagram: @wheels41215 Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/specialgodscountry/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz