The Cinematography Podcast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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 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 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 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 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 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 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

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 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 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 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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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/

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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/

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.