November 22, 2023

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret cinematographer Tim Ives, ASC

The film Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is an adaptation of the 1970 Judy Blume book about a pre-teen girl coming of age. Cinematographer Tim Ives, ASC was drawn to working on the film because with three kids, including two daughters, he was interested in opening up the conversation about girls going through puberty and getting their first period. Tim also admired screenwriter and director Kelly Fremon Craig’s work on The Edge of Seventeen.

Tim had previously shot the series Stranger Things, so he had a comfort and familiarity with kids in their early teens. Tim also appreciated that Kelly Fremon Craig brought so much enthusiasm, love and commitment to the film, and deeply respected the book by Judy Blume. Though the film is set in the 1970’s, neither Tim nor Craig wanted Margaret to feel too dusty and faded. They wanted the film to have a nostalgic feel while still seeming contemporary. At first, they had trouble finding just the right look, until Tim showed Craig a book of photographs by Tina Barney. Her photos influenced the look of the movie, with a very amber, Kodak Gold film look. Tim wanted every scene in the movie to feel like it was a snapshot taken from real life.

In his work, Tim most enjoys working on stories with flawed characters with hopes of redemption. He first broke into narrative storytelling through the HBO series Girls, then went on to shoot the pilot for Mr. Robot and several seasons of Stranger Things. Tim enjoyed working on Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret because he likes the timeframe of film, where it’s working on one thing for about half a year, with one singular vision from one director. In series television, it usually means working intensely on one thing for almost a year, with a few different directors.

Tim Ives’ latest project, Love & Death, another period piece set in 1980, is currently on Max.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is currently available on VOD or DVD.

Find Tim Ives: https://www.timives.com/
Instagram: @timives

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By Illya Friedman

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In Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

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August 18, 2022

Girl Picture director Alli Haapasalo and cinematographer Jarmo Kiuru, FSC

Girl Picture is a Finnish film about the friendship between three young women as they experience the emotional ups and downs of life as they transition from teenagers to women. Director Alli Haapasalo felt the English title perfectly described the finite time of girls who are trying to figure out their own life’s picture and who are developing an identity as women through their friendship. The film follows the girls as they chat and hang out over a few nights together during the dark winter in Finland.

Sex, sexual identity and finding pleasure is also a theme in Girl Picture. It was important to Alli to depict the young women discussing and exploring their sexuality in mature ways rather than with shame or drama. So much of coming of age is not just about finding who you are, but what you want and need. In the sex scenes, Alli worked with an intimacy coordinator, chose not to show nudity and to portray the characters asking for consent in natural, casual ways.

Cinematographer Jarmo Kiuru had worked together with Alli on three previous projects. For Girl Picture, they wanted to find a way to bring the energy and movement of being a teenager, and also wanted a natural, documentary feel, so the film was shot entirely handheld. Jarmo also decided to shoot the movie in the 4:3 aspect ratio. He felt that 4:3 not only frames the face better, giving the film a more intimate feeling, but he also wanted to show how the world is limited by parents and other rules when you’re a teenager.

Girl Picture won the Outfest Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Performance in an International Narrative Feature and also won the World Cinema Audience Award at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

Girl Picture is in limited theatrical release and will be available to stream in the fall.

Find Alli Haapasalo: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1641519/

Find Jarmo Kiuru: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoPJarmoKiuru
Instagram & Twitter: @jarmokiuru

Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: https://camnoir.com/ep179/

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By Illya Friedman

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March 4, 2020

Sundance 2020-Coming of Age: Beast Beast director Danny Madden, DP Kristian Zuniga; Blast Beat director Esteban Arango, writer Erick Castrillon

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: https://camnoir.com/sundance2020comingofage/ ‎

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By Illya Friedman

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