January 22, 2025

Rina Yang, BSC: Igniting The Fire Inside

The Fire Inside is the true story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, a boxer from Flint, Michigan and her trainer, Jason Crutchfield. She became the first American woman to win Olympic gold in boxing. The Fire Inside is the feature directorial debut for Rachel Morrison, the first woman cinematographer nominated for an Academy Award.

Cinematographer Rina Yang, BSC enjoyed the ability to speak with director Rachel Morrison in a shorthand way about shooting the film. “It did help that I’ve known Rachel for a while, just being female DPs in this boys’ game,” she says. “It was nice to be able to skip the tech chat and get to the point, because we had a really insane schedule.” The film’s production had faced numerous challenges, having to shut down during COVID in 2020 which halted filming for two years. Once The Fire Inside was greenlit again, they faced an accelerated production schedule in Toronto. Rina prepped by watching a documentary about Claressa Shields called T-Rex and watched all her fights in the 2012 Olympics as references. She and Rachel meticulously shotlisted every scene and entered it into a detailed spreadsheet so that they knew what they needed each day.

The Fire Inside focuses on capturing the intensity of Shields’ journey, both inside and outside the ring. “Rachel and I talked about how we wanted to shoot the boxing,” Rina explains, “but we decided that ultimately, we just wanted to feel the fight from Claressa’s point of view rather than doing cool boxing shots.” This approach led to a raw and intimate portrayal of the sport, emphasizing the emotional and physical toll on Shields. Actor Ryan Destiny underwent rigorous training to perform all the boxing scenes herself, and Rina often opted for handheld cameras to capture the raw energy of the story. Rina and Rachel both operated a few of the boxing scenes. Rina didn’t hesitate to tell Rachel how her camerawork was looking. “I was really honest. She would ask if she did a good job. I’d say that was good, or suggest a move that’s less active and a little bit more quiet with the camera.”

Rina’s path to becoming a cinematographer was not a direct one. After moving to London from Japan at 21 with limited English, she decided to pursue film school. While working on a film set, Rina was inspired by Sara Deane, a female cinematographer, and realized that cinematography was her true calling. She subsequently honed her skills through a series of short films, music videos, and commercials.

You can see The Fire Inside currently in theaters and streaming on VOD January 28.

Find Rina Yang: Instagram @the_rinayang

Hear our previous interview with Rachel Morrison about her work as a cinematographer on Mudbound: https://www.camnoir.com/ep19-2/

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The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
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March 13, 2024

House of Ninjas showrunner and executive producer Dave Boyle

The Netflix series House of Ninjas has become a hit show, rising to #1 in the streaming service’s top 10 list. The story follows the Tawara family, who have been ninjas, or shinobi, for generations. Tragically, the oldest son and brother disappeared six years before in a battle with their rivals, leading the Tawaras to stop being ninjas. But the family must fight together again as the rival clan gets more powerful and threatens the entire country.

Showrunner Dave Boyle was first brought on as showrunner for House of Ninjas by an executive at Netflix Japan, who knew he was familiar with the culture. Dave’s second language is Japanese, which he studied as a Mormon missionary in Australia. He had written and directed a few independent Japanese American and Japanese language films, such as Man from Reno, Daylight Savings and Surrogate Valentine, which all took place in the U.S. This was his first experience with shooting anything in Japan. He was drawn to the tone of House of Ninjas, which combines both drama, action and violence with comedy and warmhearted playfulness. “Tone was the reason why we all wanted to make this project. It’s more than the plot mechanics and the story. It was all about creating this atmosphere, this tone that an audience could sink into and enjoy for many, many episodes. And so I think that tone was something that we were talking about from the very, very get-go and something that we really wanted to nail and get right.”

Once he was on board, Dave began working on the preproduction and show bible for House of Ninjas. The show bible had to be written in three weeks, which is a very fast process, especially since Dave knew the show’s foundation required a deep understanding of shinobi culture and history. He found the preproduction process in Japan to be much different from the U.S., with casting happening even before the show’s scripts were written. The script format in Japan read from right to left, and the top half of the page is left blank for the director to draw storyboards and a shotlist, as a clear way for the director to show what they’re planning to do.

House of Ninjas is available on Netflix.

Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com
Sponsored by ARRI:

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Twitter: @ShortEndz

July 7, 2021

Cinematographer Stuart Biddlecombe on The Handmaid’s Tale Season Four

As a filmmaker, director of photography Stuart Biddlecombe wants to visually put his ideas on screen, telling stories that he genuinely connects to with true creative collaborators who listen and contribute. When Stuart came aboard to shoot part of season three of The Handmaid’s Tale, he knew he was taking on the mantle of what has become an iconic show. He had read the book in high school, and feels that the television series does an incredible job of putting the book into pictures, continuing to tell a meaningful and important story. Stuart was fortunate enough to begin working on the show with former cinematographer and Emmy winner Colin Watkinson, who had moved into directing. He was able to learn the ropes from Watkinson and continue the look of The Handmaid’s Tale smoothly into season four.

Stuart was very involved in the production of the fourth season of The Handmaid’s Tale, and he loved the extraordinary creative input he’s had on the show. He would meet with lead actor and executive producer Elisabeth Moss and showrunner Bruce Miller to talk though each episode, discussing with them what they wanted to shoot and what direction each episode should go. Color on The Handmaid’s Tale plays a very important role- Gilead is presented with strong red, blue and black costumes while the colors and tones representing Canada are muted and softer. In season 4, as the story follows the main character, June (Elisabeth Moss) as she escapes to Canada, Stuart knew they needed to change the color palette, shifting into stronger colors and contrasts to push the look forward.

Stuart began working in television in the UK before he went to film school, on game shows such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, but felt no love for the job. He decided to attend college at the National Film and Television School in order to learn more about the art of telling stories using a camera. He was in a very small film class with fellow cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen. After film school, he shot several episodes of Call the Midwife and Doctor Who. Working in television taught Stuart how to shoot quickly, creating storytelling in the purest form, without the need for a lot of coverage. Stuart finds working on many of today’s television shows such as The Handmaid’s Tale to be very satisfying, as the lines of quality storytelling are blurring between television and film, with many television shows matching or even exceeding much of what can be seen in the cinema.

Find Stuart Biddlecombe: https://www.stuartbiddlecombe.co.uk/
Instagram: @stuartdop

You can see The Handmaid’s Tale season four streaming on Hulu

Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: https://camnoir.com/ep131/

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