The Cinematography Podcast Episode 353: Isaac Bauman
Cinematographer Isaac Bauman captured the visual identities of two different sides of the horror spectrum in They Will Kill You and Faces of Death. Both horror films are currently in theaters. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s one of those instances of when it rains, it pours,” he says. “This has happened to me before, for Loki season two. And that same month, I had another two horror films come out, The Haunting of the Queen Mary and Deliver Us. I feel incredibly blessed to have two great movies coming out at the same time.”
Bauman discusses the intricate technical gymnastics required to give each film a distinct, cinematic feel, starting with the kinetic chaos of They Will Kill You. He and director Kirill Sokolov had a long preparation process, where Sokolov had every scene storyboarded. Unlike many DPs who arrive with curated lookbooks, Bauman prefers a slower, more intuitive approach. “Finding the look of a film to me is a conversation and it’s a process,” he says. “It’s not something I do before I have an interview. I like to sit with something and I like to spend a couple of weeks in pre-production watching films with the director, reading the script several times. I like the process of look development to be organic and slow and intuitive.”
The look of They Will Kill You leans into high detail and deep focus. Bauman chose the Alexa 35 paired with Panavision VA large-format lenses, staying wide with a stopped-down aperture, so that backgrounds remained sharp. To accommodate complex rigging, most sets were built without ceilings. Because the wide lenses would catch the rafters, every shot was treated as a potential VFX shot from the start.
One of the film’s best practical effects was a puppeteered eyeball that crawls using its optic nerve. Using a real effect instead of CGI was difficult and definitely took longer, but Bauman says shooting it practically was worth it. “The puppetry is difficult because every movement needs to be controlled by a different function, operated by a different puppeteer. But it’s worth it because you see it and you just know it was executed practically. As good as VFX and CGI get, there’s still just no replacement for the real thing.”
The climax of They Will Kill You was shot over 9 days. Bauman found it to be the biggest lighting challenge for the entire shoot. It featured a sacrificial altar lit with candles, while he simultaneously had to illuminate a warehouse for the final fight. Bauman knew that the massive 18k light needed for the fight would wash out the delicate candlelight at the altar. Moving the 18k light, which was rigged on an exterior truss, took precious time to move back and forth for different setups. “I realized right away that if I tried to shoot anything with the light in the same place, there was no way to have it work,” Bauman says. “Even though it cost me 20 minutes to move the light back and forth, over a dozen times, we’re going to keep this consistent. We’re going to have a game plan.”
In contrast to the vibrant They Will Kill You, Faces of Death is an investigative thriller drawing heavy inspiration from Michael Mann’s Manhunter and Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs. Bauman shot Faces of Death entirely on an ARRI LT with 35mm film stock to combat the sensitivity of modern digital sensors. To replicate the look of 80s thrillers, Bauman chose to keep the blacks as dark as possible. “As soon as the there’s not enough light, the exposure just falls off a cliff,” he says. Shooting on film also meant navigating a tight shooting ratio to keep on budget, allowing for only 72 minutes of footage per day.
Find Isaac Bauman: Instagram @isaacbauman
See They Will Kill You and Faces of Death in theaters.
Hear our previous interview with Isaac Bauman.
CAMERAS: They Will Kill You: ARRI Alexa 35
Faces of Death: ARRI Arricam LT, Kodak VISION3 500T (5219) film stock
LENSES: They Will Kill You: Panavision VA Primes
Faces of Death: Leica Summilux
Close focus: Some news highlights from around Hollywood: ARRI has been acquired by the Reidel Group, Disney lays off Marvel staff with more cuts on the way, Atomos, the visual display screen monitor company, has acquired Flanders Scientific.
Ben’s short end: Exit 8, a Japanese horror film based on the indie videogame.
Illya’s short end: I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom, a book by author Jason Pargin.
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SHOW RUNDOWN:
02:12 Close Focus
10:28-01:00:24 Isaac Bauman interview
01:00:45 Short ends
01:07:34 Wrap up/Credits
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Podcast Credits:
Producer: Alana Kode
All web and social media content written by Alana Kode
Host and editor in Chief: Illya Friedman
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Check out Kays’ new YouTube Channel, Kays Labs, where he repairs old synthesizers.
Editor: Alana Kode
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