October 17, 2025

Ula Pontikos, BSC captures unease in The Man in My Basement

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 329: Ula Pontikos, BSC

The psychological thriller The Man in My Basement is about Charles Blakey (Corey Hawkins), a Black man in Sag Harbor, New York, who is down on his luck, unemployed, and facing foreclosure on his ancestral family home. In a desperate financial situation, Charles accepts a bizarre and extremely lucrative offer from a mysterious, wealthy white businessman named Anniston Bennet (Willem Dafoe). Bennet proposes to rent Charles’s basement for a hefty sum—enough to clear his debts—for a few months.

To translate director Nadia Latif’s four-year vision from film to screen, cinematographer Ula Pontikos, BSC, chose to root the story firmly in Charles Blakey’s viewpoint. Ula and Latif meticulously planned the camera movement and character staging, choosing when characters would enter the frame together or remain distant to explore themes of togetherness and division. The Man in My Basement was shot in Wales, standing in for Sag Harbor, New York. Ula’s experience shooting in both the UK and the East Coast was a huge benefit. Though she had her doubts about filming in Wales for Sag Harbor, she found that the light in Wales was surprisingly similar to that of the eastern United States.

Ula used light and color to reflect Charles’s state of mind, trapped in a house he can’t afford, with a man literally caged in his basement. A feeling of oppression was created both inside and outside the house with yellow-orange sodium vapor lights enhancing the film’s claustrophobic and uneasy atmosphere. The house was a set with a greenscreen in the windows to show the outdoor scenery from inside. Charles’s nightmare sequences and scenes in outdoor locations were lit with cyan and greens. The film ultimately builds to a climax steeped in red.

The most intimate and thematically crucial scenes took place in the basement. Ula chose to shoot these sequences in order, allowing the light story to progress. The lighting shifts from somewhat dim and shadowy with shafts of daylight to completely dark once Charles covers the windows to prevent people from seeing a man caged in his basement. The basement’s color palette was created with yellowy, tungsten lights mixed with LED lights. Ula also acted as camera operator, with a single camera for the basement sequences. To maintain tension for the camera, actors Corey Hawkins and Willem Dafoe rehearsed the basement scenes separately.

For Ula, the most challenging aspect of the movie was the technical difficulties of shooting through the bars of the cell in the basement. The camera’s field of view and depth of focus constantly shifted. Ula had to change lenses frequently, adjusting between showing more of the actors’ faces and showing more of the bars. “Shooting characters and the bars is very hard,” Ula explains. “Inevitably, somebody is going to lose an eyeline and somebody is going to go strange-eyed. It’s super restrictive. It’s very technical and at some point all of us were swearing about the bars.” Her solution required meticulous technical work: careful blocking and making sure both the camera and the actors hit their marks precisely. She was greatly impressed by the results: “It’s a testament to extremely technical, professional actors like Willem and Corey.”

See The Man in My Basement on Hulu.
Find Ula Pontikos: www.ulapontikos.com
Instagram: @ulapontikos

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

By Illya Friedman

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October 10, 2025

Cinematographer Kira Kelly, ASC on the unique visuals of HIM

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 328: Kira Kelly, ASC

Cinematographer Kira Kelly, ASC, had a rare opportunity in the movie HIM: exploring the genres of horror and sports, which are not usually combined. She and director Justin Tipping focused their discussions on Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), specifically how football-related brain injuries often cause hallucinations. This condition was central to building the feeling of surrealism for the main character, Cam.

Before beginning the 8 weeks of prep on HIM, director Justin Tipping created an extensive lookbook with ideas for the atmosphere, lighting and costumes. To establish the film’s unique, suspenseful, and surrealistic look, he suggested Kira watch The Holy Mountain and Black Swan. “Justin was open to lots of collaboration,” says Kira. “I feel like this film does have such a strong visual look because we were all working together to make the movie.”

Camera movement, color, and lighting are all integral to the movie’s storytelling. As Cam descends deeper into the underground compound, Kira used specific colors and lighting. She created a document to track the emotional influence of color for each scene, integrating the lighting into the set and programming the colors to change per sequence. Red with orange highlights was used for the Saviors party, reflecting the oxblood red of the team colors. Fuchsia and magenta were used to show rage. For the scenes on the training field, Kira used top lighting, so that the skin tones of the players would have some reflectivity.

Kira’s camera work parallels Cam’s psychological journey. “At the beginning, it should be fun,” Kira explains. “He’s playing football. It’s much more loose.” The crew used handheld and body cameras, plus a boomerang rig that sent the camera flying down the field. Once Cam feels trapped in the compound, Kira shifted the style dramatically. “That’s where we get into more of these center- punched static frames. He’s trapped figuratively, and all the ways.”

One of HIM’s most unique visual elements was the use of a Flir thermal imaging camera. Kelly and Tipping wanted to use the thermal camera to visually represent the internal trauma of what was happening inside the players’ bodies and brains during tackles. Kira and her crew created a rig to mount the Flir camera right above the ALEXA 35 and found that the images could converge and focus enough to allow the two images to overlay. The shots could flick back and forth between the regular camera and the thermal camera. In post, VFX added the brains and accentuated the muscles. The thermal camera effectively showed blood flow and hot and cold areas, adding a chilling layer to the physical impact of the sport.

Kira feels gratified that her vision for the visual style of HIM tells an effective story. “As a DP, every challenge I have is if an audience is able to understand the story,” she says. “If they don’t have the wonderful dialogue, if they don’t have the music, if they don’t have all of those other things helping the story along, could they tell what’s happening just with the imagery? And I feel like with HIM, I say, yeah, I think so. You can see it happening. And that’s what’s super exciting to me.”

See HIM in theaters and on VOD.
Find Kira Kelly: Instagram @kirakellydp
Hear our previous interviews with Kira Kelly: https://www.camnoir.com/ep67/
https://www.camnoir.com/ep273/

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

By Illya Friedman

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October 3, 2025

Bryn Mooser and Paul Trillo of Asteria on AI in filmmaking

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 327: Bryn Mooser and Paul Trillo

Bryn Mooser and Paul Trillo of Asteria on AI in filmmaking

Asteria, an AI-driven film and animation studio, recently merged with Moonvalley, an AI research firm, to create generative video technology for filmmakers. Their AI model, Marey, is a visual intelligence model trained only on data that is fully licensed by the company. Unlike other AI companies that use large language models (LLMs) that process text, Marey is designed to understand and generate physical movement. Asteria hired a group of filmmakers who contributed to Marey’s research for six months, followed by a three-month alpha testing period with outside partners. Users can now access Marey online at Moonvalley with a subscription.

Co-founder Bryn Mooser and Paul Trillo, a director and partner at Asteria, saw a clear need to involve filmmakers and artists in the inevitable future of AI, which is already integral to the film and television process. As Paul puts it, “AI is a bunch of forking paths with different people approaching it in different ways.”

Asteria’s AI is just a tool for filmmakers to use. “We don’t need it to know how to make a movie,” Bryn says. “We make the movie, and we already know how to make the movie.” Both Paul and Bryn want to be thoughtful about how AI is used, and to constantly ask why they are using the tools, and if there’s a new way to use them. They don’t believe those in the film industry will be replaced or no longer have jobs.

“Right now, using AI is optional as a filmmaker,” says Bryn. “But learning about it is not optional right now. We have to learn about it. We know that this is an inevitability that a lot of it is gonna be in the way that we make stuff.”

Bryn sees it as another evolution and democratization of the filmmaking process. “My first documentary I was nominated for was shot on the Canon 5D with a GoPro,” he says. “That was a moment where the democratization of indie film and documentaries allowed me to be a filmmaker when I couldn’t have before. Now we sit at a time where the same opportunity for this democratization is happening, but it’s studio level films.”

Asteria will launch its first live-action feature with Natasha Lyonne’s film, Uncanny Valley, which will combine AI-generated footage with traditional filmmaking techniques.

Find Bryn Mooser: Instagram: @brynmooser @asteriafilm

Find Paul Trillo: Instagram: @paultrillo

Demo Marey online: https://www.moonvalley.com/marey

Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: https://hotrodcameras.com/

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

By Illya Friedman

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September 26, 2025

Matty Libatique: the NY of Highest 2 Lowest, Caught Stealing

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 326: Matthew Libatique, ASC

Cinematographer Matty Libatique, ASC, has had a productive year. Shortly after moving to New York, he began work on Spike Lee’s film, Highest 2 Lowest. Immediately after wrapping that project, Matty prepped for Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing, and then, following a short break, he collaborated with Bradley Cooper on Is This Thing On? (which releases in December.) He found it fascinating to explore New York City through the lenses of three distinct directors, feeling privileged to shoot three New York-centric movies back-to-back.

The New York depicted in Highest 2 Lowest and Caught Stealing are starkly different, depending on where people from different socioeconomic backgrounds live. Both films effectively convey the diverse realities of living there. “When you look at both films, separately, you have a feeling of New York, you feel like you’re living in New York inside of these films,” Matty explains. “And it’s because the directors live in New York and have grown up in New York.” During location scouting with both Lee and Aronofsky, Matty noted their deep familiarity and emotional attachment to where they chose to shoot. He feels that movies faking New York locations lack the inherent authenticity of shooting in the real city.

Highest 2 Lowest is a reinterpretation of the Akira Kurosawa classic, High and Low. Matty used High and Low as an influence, even though Lee was not making a direct adaptation. He found the Kurosawa film helped him see the hierarchy between the affluent and the poor, and the literal rise to the top of a hill by the wealthy industrialist from his humble origins. These themes became the seed of his visual inspiration.

In Highest 2 Lowest, Denzel Washington’s record executive David King inhabits a high-rise, literally looking down on the world from a high vantage point. The film is intensely character-driven, and with a large ensemble cast, Matty often shot with two to three cameras per scene. The film used an actual exterior of the Olympia building in Dumbo, Brooklyn while the crew shot on a volume stage set for the interiors. Matty found shooting on the volume stage and working with Unreal Engine to create the background images for the penthouse set to be the most challenging aspect of the shoot. It demanded far more advance planning and preparation to perfect the background images than the production schedule allowed. He had to make early, calculated decisions and plan far in advance for shooting the plates that would be used as the backgrounds.

Spike Lee frequently incorporates various film formats in his movies, and Matty saw an opportunity to use both a 16mm and a new KODAK Super 8 film camera once the action in Highest 2 Lowest shifted outside the controlled apartment environment. He use both the 16mm and the Super 8 on the subway and in scenes of the Puerto Rican Day parade, also combining them with different film stocks. Lee cut between these distinct formats, which made a sense of heightened chaos. Matty says, “It was just an effort to create chaos, you know, and having the unmatched visual images cut together to sort of just mimic a chaos around this character.”

Caught Stealing recreates the New York City of the 1990s, with Martin Scorsese’s After Hours serving as a major reference. Matty felt that the character Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) needed a distinct look to articulate the story. He thought about the rust-red tint of the Lee Marvin film, Point Blank, and used a Camtec Color-Con2 to deliberately bleed red color into a few key scenes.

Even though Caught Stealing is entertaining and full of action, it was important to Aronofsky to tell a strong, narratively-driven story, with performance and character making the sequences as exciting and brutal as possible. “Like all Darren movies, there’s a construct, there’s a box, he sets up the architecture of the film,” Matty says. “It’s always story driven and narratively driven. So you know you’re subjectively following a character or you’re adhering to a narrative precisely, because he’s very precise. And all his collaborators just sort of have the responsibility to bring their talents to the table.”

Matty enjoyed tackling a fun, popcorn genre film with Aronofsky, a cinematic space they hadn’t explored together before. “It was fun—it really was fun to work with somebody that I’ve worked with for years,” Matty concludes. “We’re much older than when we met. And we’ve made a lot of films together. And it was fun.”

Highest 2 Lowest is streaming on Apple TV+, Caught Stealing is in theaters, and Is This Thing On? will have its theatrical release December 19.

Find Matty Libatique: Instagram @libatique

Hear our previous interviews with Matty: 2019, 2021 pt. 1 and 2, 2022, 2024 

Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: https://hotrodcameras.com/

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

By Illya Friedman

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September 19, 2025

John Conroy on grounding the political thriller Zero Day

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 325: John Conroy, ASC, ISC

For the Netflix six-part political thriller, Zero Day, cinematographer John Conroy, ASC, ISC worked with director Lesli Linka Glatter to create a visual style that felt grounded in reality. Their goal was to make the story, which follows a cyberterrorist attack, feel like it could happen tomorrow. This approach allowed them to focus on the human element and the psychological impact of the events rather than sensationalized drama or violence.

John shot all six episodes of the series, a creative choice he found deeply rewarding, although he doesn’t feel the need to always be the lead DP. “Ultimately, if you’re lucky enough to be shooting, you should feel lucky enough that you’re shooting,” he says. “Doing all six was really great because I felt that I could curate the whole look of the show by episode by episode. But if I was only going to do two episodes, I would have enjoyed it just as much.” The cohesive approach was important since they prepped the episodes over 10 weeks as three separate films. John and Glatter shotlisted scenes on weekends, deciding what images would create the most impact for beginnings, transitions and exits for each scene. He made notes in his script to track the desired look, light, and emotion for each scene.

John says working with Robert De Niro was a pleasure. “It was one of the privileges of my career to shoot him. And he was very gracious and took notes and was very helpful with the camera crew and overall it was just like a really really good experience.” John found a subtle way to enhance De Niro’s performance through lighting and camera tests. “People’s faces look different when you light them from one side or the other,” he notes. “I found with Bob that when he was lit from his right hand side, that he looked more severe than when he was lit from the left hand side.” John used this technique in interrogation scenes to emphasize the character’s increasing pressure and tension. For more emotional scenes, he lit De Niro from the left to convey a more nuanced and serious tone. Framing each shot was important to the story as well. John always shot De Niro’s character, George Mullen, around high doorways and down long hallways, making him seem trapped and under increasing pressure.

A key element of the show’s look is John’s use of single-source lighting, keeping things simple and uncomplicated as much as possible. But he encountered a challenge with the Zero Day Commission offices, whose walls consisted of several layers of glass. John collaborated closely with the set builders to plan his shots and manage the numerous reflections in the office sets. To prevent unwanted double reflections, they created custom black panels to black out panes of glass behind the camera. The lights were cued to dim as actors walked through a shot, controlling reflections.

John’s passion for cinematography began at an early age, inspired by his father, Jack Conroy, who was also a cinematographer. At just 12, John began loading 16mm film for his father on documentaries and commercials. He then worked as a focus puller until he decided to move into cinematography after working on The DaVinci Code. He and his father were able to work together on the TV series Broadchurch, with Jack shooting second unit.

John’s current work can be seen on Wednesday Season 2, the upcoming Dune: Prophecy Season 2, and the upcoming Fallout Season 2.

Find John Conroy: Instagram: @jccine
See Zero Day on Netflix.

Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: https://hotrodcameras.com/
Sponsored by ARRI: https://www.arri.com/en

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

By Illya Friedman

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January 11, 2023

Director Antoine Fuqua and cinematographer Robert Richardson on the Apple TV+ film, Emancipation

To tell the story of Emancipation, director Antoine Fuqua and cinematographer Robert Richardson were influenced by the colors in the famous photo “Whipped Peter,” whose story and the photograph of his scarred back is still one of the most famous photos documenting the brutality of slavery today. They chose to desaturate the images to a sepia-tone with just hints of color. Antoine also felt the lack of color reflected the world of a slave- it’s bleak and hopeless, and he wanted the film to look beautiful but brutal. The Louisiana swamps Peter must navigate through as he escapes also looked more eerie and otherworldly with a lack of color.

Antoine says he and Bob spent a lot of time discussing the film, designing shots, laying out storyboards, and going over the story more than with any other cinematographer he worked with. Antoine wanted Emancipation to show that a movie about slavery could also be a taut, entertaining thriller. They both wanted to create an action movie with sustained intensity throughout, but at its heart, Bob saw the film as a love story about a man fighting against insurmountable obstacles, on the run to get back to his family. They decided to show the caring Peter has for his family in the opening scene of the film, as Peter gently washes his wife’s feet.

Bob chose to use long, sweeping one shots to build the tension throughout the film, rather than relying on quick cutting. This allowed the tension to build as the slaves run away into the swamps. He and Antoine didn’t do multiple takes or alternate shots if they didn’t think they needed it. Antoine created tension within the railroad camp scenes with many layers of action- it wasn’t necessarily what was going on right in front of Will Smith’s character, but also what was happening to the men and overseers behind him.

As a director, Antoine always wanted to work with Bob Richardson, but at first Bob said no to shooting Emancipation. Bob says that as a white man, he didn’t really feel comfortable making a story about race. Antoine points out that most human beings could feel compassion for someone else’s story, and slavery exists across races. Though it wasn’t Bob’s personal history, Emancipation was telling the story of our history in America.

Antoine Fuqua and Robert Richardson are currently shooting a second project together.

Find Antoine Fuqua: Instagram @antoinefuqua
Find Robert Richardson: Instagram @robertbrichardson

Emancipation can be streamed on Apple TV+.

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

By Illya Friedman

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January 4, 2023

Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF on shooting Babylon with director Damien Chazelle

We welcome cinematographer Linus Sandgren, ASC, FSF for his third time on the podcast. On his latest film, Babylon, Linus was happy to work with director Damien Chazelle again. The two had previously collaborated on La La Land and First Man. In all of his films, Chazelle thinks musically, and camera movement is essential to his films instead of just relying on editing. Linus liked Babylon’s script- though it was long, it had many fast moving pieces, and the story was told in a refreshing, unconventional way. He thought of it as a 2.0 version of La La Land- it expressed Chazelle’s love of cinema, and despite some of the dark places the story goes, he felt an affection for the characters in Babylon. Like La La Land, Linus combined long takes with complicated camera moves, while also using handheld verité techniques they developed on First Man. To prep for the film, Linus and Chazelle watched several Los Angeles-period films together, such as Chinatown, There Will Be Blood, and Boogie Nights.

The movie combines absolutely maximalist wide shots to intimate closeups and tracking shots on specific characters, in order to keep the film emotional. One of the biggest and most spectacular scenes in Babylon is the 32-minute pre-title opening sequence, depicting a wild Bel Air party complete with revelers, cocaine, and an elephant. They shot it in the lobby of the Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, crammed with hundreds of extras. Chazelle wanted a really high angle on the party, but they couldn’t fit a crane into the space, so Linus rigged a cable cam corner to corner from above to capture the action. They spent a long time blocking and rehearsing the party sequence, filming the overhead shots, then shot with a Steadicam through the party the second day.

Babylon is about the early days of cinema, when the silent movie era is transitioning to sound. The crew had to show the process of shooting film in the first days of “talkies” and the filmmaking equipment of the time had to be historically accurate. Though Linus didn’t use vintage film cameras on the movie, the production designer found film cameras to use as props and they were able to use old arclights that were fitted with HMIs so they actually worked on set.

Find Linus Sandgren: Instagram @linussandgren_dp
Babylon can be seen in theaters nationwide.

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

By Illya Friedman

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December 28, 2022

Matthew Libatique, ASC on shooting Don’t Worry Darling and The Whale

We welcome cinematographer Matthew Libatique, ASC for his third time on the podcast. For this interview, Matty, Ben and Illya have a more technical discussion about lenses, LUTs and cameras used on Don’t Worry Darling, A Star is Born and The Whale.

For the film Don’t Worry Darling, Matty found it easy to find the right mid-century modern visual style, since the production design, costumes, hair and makeup were all influenced by that distinctive look from the 50’s and 60’s. Director Olivia Wilde wanted to invoke the Rat Pack era of Las Vegas and Palm Springs. She also heavily referenced the 1975 movie The Stepford Wives, along with an 80’s and 90’s thriller element from movies like Devil’s Advocate. They were able to shoot some of the exteriors at the historic Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs, while all the interiors were sets. Matty chose the Arri Alexa Mini LF camera for the larger sensor, so they had more focus fall off on the wider focal lengths. He also wanted as much color in the frame as possible, and chose a LUT that accentuated the reds, oranges and yellows without affecting or oversaturating the skin tones. The lenses he used were Blackwings and Sigma Classics, because he liked the multiplicity of lens flares.

Matty immediately went from shooting Don’t Worry Darling into prepping and shooting The Whale with director and frequent collaborator Darren Aronofsky. They spent some time figuring out how to take a play and translate it into a film, where Charlie, the main character, spends most of his day stationary on a couch. Matty and Aronofsky realized that using 4:3 framing to hold the vertical in the foreground solved the problem. Aronofsky also wanted to block the scenes so that the camera wouldn’t be stationary and static the entire time. Matty chose to use the Sony Venice camera for the first time, due to its light sensitivity, with Angenieux Optimo Prime lenses. The camera movement was dictated by the characters who come and go around Charlie, so different scenes were marked with a wide shot, then pans and forced cuts to make it more visually interesting. As for the composition of each scene, the camera had to follow the eyeline of where each character is looking. Matty also used as much minimalist, naturalistic lighting to tell the story. He used the windows as a light source to show subtle changes in the weather outside of the apartment, and while there were not a lot of windows, it helped show the passage of time and affected the mood of the film as the days pass in the story.

Find Matty Libatique: Instagram @libatique
Don’t Worry Darling is available streaming on Hulu and HBO.
The Whale is currently 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

By Illya Friedman

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September 14, 2022

Brendan Uegama, CSC on Moonshot, Riverdale, Truth Be Told, Child’s Play and Mike, the Hulu Mike Tyson dramatic series

Cinematographer Brendan Uegama, CSC enjoys shooting many different genres, from romantic comedies such as Moonshot, to horror movies such as Child’s Play (2019). He enjoys changing his approach to each project depending on the needs of the script. Brendan feels that a good filmmaker knows that the cinematographer is there to serve the story and builds trust with the DP to create the look and feel.

As a kid, Brendan was always into photography and art. He and some high school friends shot skate videos of themselves, and soon after he began making motocross videos. He knew then he wanted to get into film and went to film school in Vancouver, Canada and began working his way up.

Brendan shot 26 episodes of the CW series Riverdale, including every episode of season two. Being the DP for every chapter of the show meant prep time was very short, and Brendan relied on and trusted his team to do location scouts and work ahead. Riverdale was a great show to do that was fun, creative and led to many other projects for him, such as the show Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and later, Moonshot.

The film Moonshot is a romantic comedy set in space, rather than just a science fiction movie. Mars has been terraformed and colonized and the two main characters are traveling to see their significant others, but fall for each other. Because of the science fiction aspect, everything was storyboarded out and had a decent amount of prep time, and much of Moonshot’s science fiction aspects were done with practical effects. Brendan knew where they needed to rely on visual effects ahead of time. The most challenging part of the film to shoot was the spacewalk scene, which involved extensive wirework and visual effects.

Brendan’s latest project, Mike, a dramatic biography series on Hulu about heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson, is currently streaming.

Find Brendan Uegama: https://www.brendanuegama.com/
Instagram: @brendanuegama_dp
Twitter: @brendanuegama

Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: https://camnoir.com/ep183/

Sponsored by DZOFilm: https://www.dzofilm.com/
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

By Illya Friedman

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June 15, 2022

Director Chloe Okuno and DP Benjamin Kirk Nielsen, DFF on directing and shooting the film Watcher

Watcher is a psychological thriller about a young actress, Julia, who has just moved to Romania from the U.S. with her boyfriend. A serial killer is on the loose in the city, and Julia begins to feel like she is being followed and watched from the apartment across the street. She has trouble convincing her boyfriend and the police that she’s being stalked, and the film builds on her increasing sense of dread.

Director Chloe Okuno and DP Benjamin Kirk Nielsen first met at American Film Institute, and collaborated on their thesis film, a short horror movie called Slut. They both believe in extensive organization, preparation, shotlisting and planning for their projects. Chloe was hired to direct Watcher in 2017, and it took some time to get the movie off the ground. They ended up shooting in Romania during the summer of 2021 under strict COVID protocols. Chloe liked that the script was a simple thriller that could be told from one character’s point of view. Chloe and Benjamin looked at Rosemary’s Baby, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, and David Fincher films Seven and Gone Girl as references to impart the sense of terror Julia feels. Benjamin wanted to find a simple, straightforward way to portray Julia’s isolation in a foreign city as her fear escalates. He chose to start with longer camera focal lengths and longer shots, then progressively move closer and closer as the Watcher creeps closer and closer to Julia.

Watcher premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and is currently playing in theaters. https://www.watchermovie.com/

Chloe Okuno: Twitter @cokuno_san

Benjamin Kirk Nielsen: http://benjaminkirk.dk/
Instagram: @b_kirk

Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: https://camnoir.com//ep172/

Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com
Sponsored by DZOFilm: https://www.dzofilm.com/

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Twitter: @ShortEndz

By Illya Friedman

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