December 21, 2022

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Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

Cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom on the film Thirteen Lives and working with director Ron Howard

The film Thirteen Lives is about the rescue of the Thai soccer team who were trapped in an underwater cave in 2018 for 18 days. Cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, who is Thai, knew that it was important to make the film seem as realistic as possible since everyone in Thailand was very familiar with the story. He liked director Ron Howard’s movie Apollo 13, which vividly dramatized a real-life event, so he was excited to work with Howard on Thirteen Lives, a true story he was familiar with. After reading the script, Thirteen Lives was a movie he could clearly see in his head, because it dealt with people against the elements.

Sayombhu decided to approach the film like a documentary, as though the viewer is right there in the cave with the characters. His first task was to think about how to shoot and light underwater, and he worked closely with the second unit crew to find the best methods. When shooting, Sayombhu did a lot of handheld camerawork, operating the B camera on first unit. He would actually occasionally duck underwater with the camera, so that it looked as dynamic as possible, even though the second unit handled most of the underwater work.

The caves were all a set built in Australia, except for some exterior shots of the real cave in Thailand. Because the caves had no light sources at all, Sayombhu knew all the light had to be motivated. He had to pick the color and intensity of the light, and figure out where to place lights and cameras during the cave design set build. The actors became part of his lighting crew, since much of the light had to come from their flashlights and headlamps. Sayombhu would often ask them to hold the lights and point them up or down to help illuminate the scene- actors Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell practically became a part of the lighting crew, he jokes.

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1178928/

Thirteen Lives is currently on Amazon Prime

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

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December 15, 2022

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Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

Cinematographer Abraham Martinez on Queen of the South, the Disney+ show National Treasure: Edge of History, the upcoming Netflix series Obliterated and more

On our 250th episode, we welcome returning guest and longtime friend of the show, cinematographer Abe Martinez, who catches up with Ben and Illya about his work around the world for the past few years.

Most recently, Abe completed the new Disney+ show National Treasure: Edge of History and a new Netflix action-comedy series, Obliterated, by the creators of Cobra Kai. Abe has been learning and perfecting his technique of using video walls for action on big sets, creating a version of “poor man’s process” to shoot cars and figuring out the exact size video walls needed. They coined the phrase “middle class process” because it looks much better than the old poor man’s process. Using video walls requires a lot of math and tech setup, but it also offers plenty of opportunities for creativity without spending a lot of money to actually go to locations. Abe enjoys the challenge of trying to create realism with the proper lighting and angles.

After working as a loader and camera operator on many films, Abe began working on the series Queen of the South on USA Network. Working on Queen of the South launched Abe’s career into director of photography work, where he became the lead DP in season 3 and worked on the show for the next three years. As a Latino person who grew up in a rougher area, Abe felt he could really relate to the storylines about gangs. He also sees a throughline from his real life as a nomadic world traveler to the storytelling he’s drawn to lately- many of the shows he has been shooting are about characters who are being displaced, or who feel displaced.

Abe’s passion is doing street photography everywhere he goes. He enjoys exploring color and movement and experimenting with different film stocks or digital color science. This often gives him the creative spark for shots and compositions to use in his work. You can see Abe’s street photography on Instagram.

Find Abe Martinez: https://www.abemartinez.com/
Instagram: @abe.martinez.dp

National Treasure: Edge of History is currently showing on Disney+
Obliterated is coming to Netflix in 2023.

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

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December 7, 2022

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Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

Florian Hoffmeister, BSC on TÁR, working with director Todd Field and Cate Blanchett

In TÁR, Cate Blanchett plays Lydia Tár, a fictional world famous female conductor and composer whose life takes a dramatic downturn after serious allegations are made against her. Cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister and director Todd Field made a conscious choice to “not put a hat on a hat”- keeping the cinematography very restrained and still throughout most of the film. The focus remained on the music and the performances, with little camera movement save for a few orchestra scenes and the finale of the movie. Florian found Field to have a very precise visual sensitivity so he was able to light the space and still allow the actors to have freedom of movement within the scene while shaping the light more precisely as needed.

Florian wanted the precision of his cinematography to reflect the precision of the orchestra. His work also aided the storytelling- carefully deciding where to place the camera and what to focus on allows TÁR to unfold in a slow burn, as the movie purposefully omits information and significant details at first. Florian feels that really good cinema leaves room for reflection and allows us to develop our own perceptions about the story. TÁR allows the audience to see itself and think about the time we’re living in, and it feels both timeless and contemporary. He found it an equal privilege to work with an actor like Cate Blanchett because she has a dedication to her craft and a focus on getting the best out of every single shot. She has a good understanding of the technical elements necessary to showcase the best performances.

Florian is currently shooting the new season of HBO’s True Detective in Iceland.
TÁR is currently playing in theaters

Find Florian Hoffmeister: http://florianhoffmeister.de/
Instagram: @florian.hoffmeister
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

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November 30, 2022

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Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, ASC on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Loki, and more

Unsurprisingly, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been a huge hit, and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw was excited to join the crew. She had worked with Marvel on the Disney+ series Loki and felt her creative vision on the show was really supported there. Autumn felt ready to step into a huge movie like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever after she spoke with original Black Panther DP Rachel Morrison and meeting with director Ryan Coogler. Rachel and Autumn were friends from AFI, and Rachel was not available to shoot the sequel as she has been transitioning into directing. Director Ryan Coogler had Autumn join the Black Panther team early for storyboarding and previs for the movie. She and Coogler had lots of time to discuss the images and were on the same page visually. Even though the movie has a huge scope and a massive amount of people making the film, Autumn felt like her ideas were supported and her images were well represented on screen.

Early in her career, Autumn worked on many projects for free both during and after film school, so that anyone could find her and see who she was through her visual approach. She approaches each film with passion, putting all of her creative energy into her work. Autumn’s breakout early work was on director Gia Coppola’s indie film, Palo Alto. The two bonded and worked together on more projects, and Autumn met director Spike Jonze through her. She worked with Jonze on Aziz Ansari: Right Now, a Netflix standup special, and Beastie Boys Story, a 2020 documentary about the band.

Autumn enjoys framing her shots with symmetry and low angles, with a lower eyeline, pointing towards the ceiling rather than the floor. For the series Loki on Disney+, she shot a lot of scenes from below, but the production designer Kasra Farahani embraced it, creating visually interesting ceilings that could be rigged with controlled lighting. They worked together to create a space in the Time Variance Authority (TVA) that felt full, with motivated light. Building practical ceilings was a big part of their design discussions during production meetings. Normally on a set, the ceiling is not built and isn’t ever seen, so adding it to the set design always adds to the cost. Autumn knew that shooting low in those spaces would create the desired effect of something looming over you.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently playing in theaters

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

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November 16, 2022

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Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

Ben Davis, BSC on The Banshees of Inisherin, My Policeman, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more

Cinematographer Ben Davis enjoys working on both big budget Marvel movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel and Doctor Strange as well as smaller films such as The Banshees of Inisherin, My Policeman, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Ben feels that the challenges of shooting large scale movies vs. small intimate movies might be different, but each film speaks for itself and needs to be told in a particular visual style.

Ben and The Banshees of Inisherin director Martin McDonagh have enjoyed working together regularly, beginning with Seven Psychopaths, then Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. When McDonagh called him about shooting Banshees, Ben agreed before even reading the script, because he knows McDonagh’s scripts are lyrical with humor sprinkled into the drama. They were shooting during the pandemic, so the two had to spend 10 days quarantined in a house together, which was a great opportunity to talk through and visualize the film. McDonagh knew that he wanted a period piece about a remote, gray and dreary place, but he wanted to bring in a more colorful palette, so costume design became important to bring in more colors.

Ben found Banshees difficult to shoot emotionally and physically, with everything shot on location on a couple of small, uninhabited islands- Inisherin is not actually a real place. They had to build all the sets for the movie from scratch on the coastal Atlantic islands, so everything had to withstand powerful winds and storms. The wide landscape vistas Ben shot were influenced by John Ford and Terrence Malick, and he enjoyed going off independently in the early morning with a camera to shoot small intimate aspects of the island. For the night exteriors using moonlight, Ben couldn’t use large equipment like cranes due to high winds. He used old techniques of lighting black and white, making shapes with mesh over hard light.

The Banshees of Inisherin is currently playing in theaters.

My Policeman can be found on Amazon Prime.

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

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