December 12, 2025

Eric Lin and Lyle Vincent tell a tragic story in Rosemead

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 337: Eric Lin and Lyle Vincent

Rosemead tells the tragic, true story of Irene (Lucy Liu), a terminally ill single mother, and her son, Joe (Lawrence Shou). As Joe battles schizophrenia and urges toward violence, Irene is left isolated from her Chinese American community in Southern California, facing impossible choices without a safety net.

After decades behind the camera, director Eric Lin connected deeply with the personal nature of Rosemead. He grew up in Southern California and frequently visited the San Gabriel Valley, where the film takes place. Producer Mynette Louie, who he’d know since NYU Film School, sent him the script, and Eric decided to take it on as his first directorial feature. “I’ve shot a lot of features and I’ve been side by side with directors, watching how difficult it is to make a feature,” he says. “The thing that sort of lured me into the director’s chair was that it’s a story that I felt like I’d never seen before on screen.”

Recognizing the film’s nuanced demands, Eric knew he didn’t want to pull double duty as cinematographer. Instead, he asked Lyle Vincent, another NYU alum with whom he shared a cinematic shorthand. “Knowing what a DP does, especially on a film like this, where I felt like I had to be so present, that would be a fatal mistake,” Eric explains. Lyle appreciated the trust, describing Eric as a director who “is extremely visual and who has amazing visual references and language.”

Together the two shotlisted and discussed each scene emotionally and visually. To capture the film’s emotional landscape, Lyle chose a subjective camera style. Handheld camerawork and portrait lenses help mirror Joe’s psychological state and the looming sense of danger. Using E-series anamorphic lenses, he created a shallow depth of field that softened the background, forcing the viewer’s focus onto the characters. This gritty reality contrasts sharply with Joe’s memories of the idyllic time he spent with his parents in a hotel. His flashbacks are rendered in warm tones, evoking a surreal, dreamlike nostalgia.

See Rosemead in theaters.

Find Eric Lin: Instagram @holdtheframe

Find Lyle Vincent: Instagram @lylevincent

SHOW RUNDOWN:
01:38 Close Focus
13:20-01:03:54 Interview
01:04:13 Short ends
01:13:09 Wrap up/Credits

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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December 5, 2025

Alice Brooks, ASC returns to Oz in Wicked: For Good

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 336: Alice Brooks, ASC

For cinematographer Alice Brooks, ASC, shooting both Wicked and Wicked: For Good concurrently was a huge feat. The giant sets, precise camerawork and complex, live lighting cues for the musical numbers required detailed planning and prep. But first, Alice and her long-time collaborator, director Jon M. Chu, broke down the scripts and discussed the emotional intentions for each scene. “When we first start talking about a movie, we talk about emotion,” says Alice. “I love getting an emotional cue for the camera the same way an actor would. What is the emotional intention in the scene? An actor gets to tell the story through their breath and through their looks and through their being. And I get to tell the story, the emotional story, through camera and lenses and lighting.”

Separation, seclusion and surrender were the emotional themes in Wicked: For Good. “It became very clear that the first movie would live in this ever-present daylight,” explains Alice. “And the second movie would have this weight and complexity and maturity and density to it and live in the shadows.” 90% of Wicked takes place in the daytime, with the sun setting as Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) embraces her power, sings “Defying Gravity” and flies away. In contrast, Wicked: For Good takes place mostly at night, in the shadows, forest, and underbelly of Oz while Elphaba is in hiding.

Alice chose to frame the characters Glinda and Elphaba in contrasting ways for the story. Now separated from Elphaba, Glinda (Ariana Grande) is central to the world of Oz. Alice kept her center punched, carefully composed and choreographed. Elphaba is framed always to the right or left, with tight close-ups and static hand-held shots, to emphasize her loneliness. When the two are together, Alice repeated the same motifs from the first movie, with Ephaba framed to the right and Glinda to the left, often holding hands.

Though Wicked: For Good is a huge fantasy movie, Alice and the production crew tried to do as much practically and in camera as possible. The “Girl in the Bubble” dance sequence was done entirely with carefully choreographed mirrors and flyaway walls that were removed as Glinda dances. Alice planned it out using her daughter’s bath toys and her husband’s shaving mirror. The art department storyboarded it, then the special effects team was able to figure out all the mirror technology needed to pull it off. The camerawork had to be very precise, with many of the frames exactly matching the last, combining both a Technocrane and a Steadicam.

Unreal Engine was an indispensable tool for Alice to aid the film’s sophisticated lighting and shot design. She used the software to pre-visualize outdoor sets, making sure the sun was at the right angle for perfectly backlighting Glinda in her bubble over Munchkin Land. It also helped her discover where the sun would hit tall buildings and spires of the Emerald City. Unreal assisted with pre-lighting, finding where practical light sources could be integrated and built into interior sets. She even tested different camera lenses to see how they would look in the space under certain lighting conditions and at various angles and heights.

Alice is the cinematographer for the upcoming animated Spiderman: Beyond The Spider-verse as well as an animated version of the Dr. Seuss book, Oh The Places You’ll Go with director Jon M. Chu.

See Wicked: For Good in theaters.

Find Alice Brooks: Instagram @_alicebrooks_

SHOW RUNDOWN:
01:22 Close Focus
08:41-51:09 Interview
51:36 Short ends
01:01:40 Wrap up/Credits

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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November 7, 2025

Cinematographer Dan Laustsen brings Frankenstein to life

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 332: Dan Laustsen

For nearly 30 years, cinematographer Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF and director Guillermo del Toro have produced one of cinema’s most visually distinctive collaborations. Sharing a deep affinity for rich colors and dark themes, their partnership has yielded five films characterized by an unmistakable aesthetic.

Del Toro’s idea for Frankenstein had been discussed since their work on Crimson Peak in 2015. Finally, del Toro let Dan know he was ready to get to work on Frankenstein. Dan re-read Mary Shelley’s original work before reading the screenplay. While the script proved a very faithful adaptation, certain scenes were adjusted to better serve the cinematic format. “Because I think Guillermo is a genius director, when he asked me to do Frankenstein, of course I wanted to do that,” says Dan. “His approach to everything is so fantastic. And to me it’s a story of love and forgiveness, it’s father and son, it’s not a horror at all. For me it’s much more beautiful, for me it’s really about father-son relationships and forgiveness.”

As with every Guillermo del Toro movie, the color palette for Frankenstein was extremely important. Red, steel blue, cyan and amber dominate the film, but the beginning features creamy white and warm, romantic colors to represent the creature’s innocence and the initial bond between Frankenstein and his creation. Crucially, these colors were not altered in post-production. Dan explains, “When we are coming into the D.I. (digital intermediate) of course, we are cleaning it up, but the color palette is exactly the same.” Changing the colors post-shoot would ruin the integrity of the design. “The whole color palette of the movie, the lights, the costumes, the hair and makeup, and the set design is so specific, that if we change anything in post, in the D.I., the whole color palette will change. So we never do that.”

Del Toro also enjoys using timeless filmmaking techniques, preferring to use practical effects and capture as much as possible in-camera. Nearly all the sets were meticulously built in Toronto, minimizing the need for bluescreen. Exterior scenes were shot on location in Scotland, and the iced-in ship in the Arctic was a massive set mounted on a gimbal to allow for authentic motion. Dan and a specialized crew even shot all the castle exteriors in miniature, featuring practical explosions done on the small set.

The Frankenstein sets were designed so that all lighting could be built in, either with practical fixtures or with external lights placed specifically through set windows. For the castle dungeon, Dan and his gaffer had to design a special rig to effectively simulate skylights shining from above.

Dan kept the camera movement fluid and floating, shooting the entire film on very wide-angle lenses. “Our idea was to shoot a period movie, but shoot it very modern. The camera is a part of the storytelling,” he notes. The camera becomes the third dimension to the storytelling, lending it the ability to be part of the action rather than a stationary, distant observer. Every shot was specifically designed and executed with a crane, a hothead, or a Steadicam, using just one camera. The wide lenses captured the entire set, which was critical to Dan. “Because the set is so beautiful, and the costumes are amazing. Everything is very organic, and we really like to see that as much as we could. And to move the camera again is storytelling in a dramatic way.”

Through his enduring partnership with del Toro, Dan has framed Frankenstein and his Creature’s story not in shadow, but in the unforgettable light of forgiveness. “Love and forgiveness are very strong things in the movie and the world,” he says. “For me, it’s not a horror movie at all, it’s a love story.”

See Frankenstein now streaming on Netflix.

Find Dan Laustsen: Instagram @dan.laustsen

Hear our previous interviews with Dan Laustsen: https://www.camnoir.com/ep152/
https://www.camnoir.com/ep36/

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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August 27, 2025

Matthew Chuang: bringing an authentic look to Chief of War

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 322: Matthew Chuang, ACS

Chief of War is a historical drama series from Apple TV+ co-created by and starring Jason Momoa. The show features a primarily Pacific Islander cast speaking Hawaiian, and is the first program to tell the story of the brutal and unprecedented unification of the Hawaiian islands in the late 18th century.

Cinematographer Matthew Chuang, ACS shot episodes 1, 2, 5, 8 and 9 of Chief of War. He teamed up with director Justin Chon, his friend and collaborator on the indie film, Blue Bayou, to shoot episodes 1 and 2. Working with Chon, Matthew set the look of the show- a naturalistic, honest and real look, with few effects or stylized camera moves. They drew from films by director Terrence Malik, cinematographer John Toll and movies such as The Last of the Mohicans and Apocalypto. “It was a lot of fun because I had resources for the first time. The scale of the production was exciting,” says Matthew, who had never worked on a television show before, let alone an epic one like Chief of War. “We wanted to showcase Hawaii, the culture, the fighting style and costumes, but in a way that feels grounded and real.” Understanding the history and receiving guidance on cultural sensitivity was also important to the crew, who often engaged with the actors and local community to make sure it felt authentic. The crew shot in Hawaii for eight weeks before shifting to locations in New Zealand.

For Matthew, the ninth and final episode, directed by Jason Momoa, proved to be the most difficult. They filmed major battle scenes in the lava fields of Kalapana on Hawaii, while the Mauna Loa volcano erupted for the first time in more than three decades. The lava rocks were sharp, hot and offered no protection from the sun, and the battle as scripted went from daytime into night. Matthew had to carefully plan the shooting schedule around the time of day in the script, with the crew often starting at 3am to get shots going from night into day. It was Momoa’s directorial debut, and Matthew found him to be extremely knowledgeable. “Jason is very involved on the visual side,” explains Matthew. “He loves cameras. He loves the craft of shooting. He knows lighting as well, like the direction of the sun, especially with the show where we’re shooting a lot of times outdoors, a lot of time on location.”

Find Matthew Chuang: https://www.matthewchuang.com/
Instagram: @mattscope

See Chief of War on Apple TV+
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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August 21, 2025

Art of the one shot: Adolescence cinematographer Matt Lewis

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 321: Cinematographer Matt Lewis

In the limited Netflix series Adolescence, each episode unfolds as a single, uninterrupted take, a cinematic choice that immediately immerses viewers in the unfolding drama. This ambitious format was a deliberate artistic choice. Both cinematographer Matt Lewis and series director Philip Barantini had previously collaborated on the independent feature Boiling Point, which also followed the one-shot format. This shared experience allowed them to bring a unique intensity and almost voyeuristic quality to the new series. As Matt explains, “A one-shot creates intensity. It creates slight paranoia that something might happen because you’ve got this lack of editing. We managed to deploy that technique for Adolescence to make it feel like the camera just happened to be there. It was an inevitable floating force. You never feel like the camera is a filmmaker.”

The decision to film Adolescence in one continuous shot was a massive undertaking that required meticulous planning, from the writing stage to the final take. The series’ writers, Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, crafted the script with this format in mind, allowing the story to flow seamlessly from one character to the next. The crew and cast treated each hour-long episode like a live theatrical performance, knowing that any mistake would require a complete reset. For Matt, the process was similar to choreographing a dance. The cast and crew had about 2 attempts per day to get each hour long episode right. Matt chose a single, lightweight DJI Ronin 4D camera that was passed between operators and even mounted on a drone for one episode, emphasizing the camera’s fluid, continuous motion. “It forces a kind of energy on set, which is really palpable when you’re there,” explains Matt. “I think that also translates into the piece. A true one shot wasn’t any sort of flex. We wanted to try and see if by stripping back and actually not having those opportunities to cut camera, it ends up focusing more on the story.”

To navigate the complex, unbroken shots, Matt relied on detailed preparation and his extensive experience. He used the application Shot Designer to meticulously map out the camera’s path, memorizing specific lines of dialogue as cues for each movement. Fortunately, the cast and crew had two weeks of rehearsals. Matt used his phone to shoot the rehearsal for reference, in order to plan the camera’s route and see what would work. The lighting was also an integral part of this intricate choreography. Every fixture was practically built into the set and controlled in sync with the camera’s journey through the scene. “Every step the camera takes is choreographed,” says Matt. “There was no room to work it out in the moment. But ultimately, we’re creating a route, a path through a place. So there’s only a certain way you can do that. If you start moving one piece, then you can’t get from that piece to the next one suddenly.”

The one-shot format in Adolescence ultimately served the story, creating a powerful and intimate viewing experience. By stripping away the ability to cut, Matt and the team were able to focus entirely on the narrative, allowing the raw energy and palpable tension of the set to translate directly to the screen.

Find Matt Lewis: Instagram: @mattlewisfilm
Matt Lewis is Emmy-nominated for episode 2 of Adolescence.
See Adolescence on Netflix.

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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June 16, 2025

Color, light and menace: DP Kim Ji-yong, Squid Game season 2

As a huge fan of the original Squid Game, cinematographer Kim Ji-yong jumped at the opportunity to shape the visual language for the show’s second and third seasons. Ji-yong has masterfully evolved the show’s aesthetic, continuing to play with jarring camera perspectives. He uses disorienting low angles looking up and god-like high angles looking down to immerse the viewer in the drama. For him, color and light are the key to unlocking the show’s central theme: the tension between childlike innocence and deadly menace.

Squid Game Season 2 follows the first season’s winner, Seong Gi-hun, as he seeks revenge and tries to uncover the mystery behind the games. In the first episode, Gi-hun and his friends chase a recruiter through a subway and a park, a pursuit that ends in a tense game of Russian roulette. For this pivotal scene, Ji-yong wanted a look that was both realistic and expressionistic. He bathed the game in the glow of a red neon light from a nearby window, establishing a color motif that would echo throughout the season.

This powerful visual cue returns in other key episodes, most notably in a harrowing new voting scene where the players must once again decide their own fate. “When our main actor is facing a moment of choice, a moment of making a decision, I wanted to bring that red and blue light every time they faced that situation, just like earlier in the Russian roulette game,” Ji-yong explains.

The sheer scale of the sets presented unique lighting challenges, particularly the massive, white-walled dorm room filled with hundreds of extras. “I tried to cut off the spill to the white walls as much as I could,” Ji-yong says. “We also had stacks of beds so I could use some shadowy areas, so we had a little variety on the set.” All the room’s illumination came from a lighting grid above, making it feel as oppressive and controlled as the games themselves, which also served the actors. “I want them to feel as if they’re actually playing this game,” he notes.

To capture the chaos, Ji-yong relied on an intimate two-camera setup. One camera stayed close, capturing the raw emotion on the characters’ faces, while the other—often handheld—followed the action from the perspective of a frantic player. Though each episode was meticulously storyboarded and shot over 12 to 15 days, he finalized camera positions after blocking each scene, trusting his intuition to find the most impactful angles.

Ji-yong embraced the vibrant, candy-colored sets, finding creative energy in the contrast between their playful hues and the brutal violence of the games. He worked closely with the production designer, running camera tests to find the perfect shade of pink that would pop on screen. While not typically a fan of modern LED RGB lights, he found them essential for this project. The results are unforgettable, especially in the strobing, kaleidoscopic lighting of the “Mingle Game” featuring a carousel. “I have never used this much color in my career,” he laughs.

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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June 4, 2025

Christophe Nuyens on crafting the world of Andor: Season 2

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 313: Christophe Nuyens

A huge admirer of the Star Wars movie Rogue One, cinematographer Christophe Nuyens, SBC embraced the opportunity to serve as director of photography for the first six episodes of Andor Season 2. Christophe focused on expanding Andor’s universe, meticulously crafting distinct visual identities for each world. He leaned into naturalistic lighting and a dynamic use of color to evoke a range of moods. “This show has so many different worlds and sets and every world has a different look,” he says. “Mina-rau was sunny, Chandrila was quite shiny and chic. Then you had Ghorman, which was darker and like a town in the mountains with blue light all the time. So we had all our different sets and it was really nice to play with those things to create all those little different moods.”

Christophe was committed to giving the world of Andor a tangible sense of reality. The sets were expansive, with ample room for the camera to move around and explore. Practical effects were used when possible to enhance authenticity, complemented by the strategic use of LED video wall panels for realistic backdrops, such as the depiction of rain falling outside a Coruscant apartment window. Christophe approached the lighting design as if shooting on location. In collaboration with director Ariel Kleiman, he adopted a philosophy of minimal camera movement, completing scenes with few shots and concise coverage. Subtle lighting cues, lens flares and camera moves smoothly transitioned each scene into the next.

One of the most memorable sequences in Andor Season 2 is the wedding of characters Leida Mothma and Stekan Sculdun. The event is not just a lavish affair but a crucial narrative beat in Mon Mothma’s (Genevieve O’Reilly) journey, underpinning a complex emotional and political storyline. Following the ceremony, guests dance together in a huge celebration, a sequence that presented a unique and enjoyable challenge for Christophe. He wanted to capture a nightclub atmosphere despite the daytime setting. “I end up with the idea of trying to tell a time-lapse story light-wise,” he explains. “In the beginning of the wedding, the sun is quite high. It’s bright outside the during the wedding. The sun is going lower and lower and lower, until the end when the sun is just on the horizon peeping inside and making it super flare-y. We didn’t have strobes or party lights, but it gave us something special to play with.” The intricate dance sequence, featuring numerous extras and two Steadicams weaving through the celebration to reflect Mon Mothma’s disorienting experience, required a full day of filming. (For dedicated Andor fans, an extended one-hour version of this captivating dance scene is available to watch on YouTube.)

Educated at film school in Brussels, Christophe knew early on that cinematography was his calling. He values continuous learning as a cinematographer. “It’s important for me to keep evolving because the moment that I feel I’m doing something as a routine, then I want to do something else. I need to have the feeling that I’m learning every time and every director is different.”

Find Christophe Nuyens: Instagram: @christophenuyens

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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May 22, 2025

Jacques Jouffret, ASC: American Primeval’s frigid frontier

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 311: Jacques Jouffret, ASC

Netflix’s American Primeval plunges viewers into the harsh realities of a gritty, naturalistic Western winter. Cinematographer Jacques Jouffret, ASC, who shot all six episodes, collaborated closely with director Peter Berg to immerse the audience in the era’s unforgiving environment. “That was really a lot of hard work. Pete wanted the audience to feel the difficulty of living in that period,” says Jacques. “He wanted to feel the dirt, dust, grime and the ugliness of it and the violence of it. And I tried to get into that spirit. My job was to really make the audience feel that coldness, the chill that you are open to the elements.”

Jacques wanted the audience to feel the cold of American Primeval’s harsh winter setting, even as the production continued into summer. One of the most significant challenges was maintaining a consistently overcast sky, and there were few interior locations. During the wintertime, it was easy to shoot wider to get the overcast sky, but the weather was constantly changing. Dutch angles worked not only as a stylistic choice, but also to help hide the sky when it wasn’t overcast enough. The crew would strategically shoot close, shoot in the shade, or block the sky with silks.

Portraying visceral realism is an important element of Jacques and Berg’s collaborations. They have worked together before on films such as Novocaine and Mile 22. “That’s one thing that I love working with Pete,” he shares. “You’re making the audience feel that this is real, you are watching something that is right there and I’m able to suspend that disbelief. And so that’s really always the approach, to make it as real as we can. And yet I’m giving it some style to present more of the emotion, more of the mood, the atmosphere, and where I want the audience to be.”

To achieve a blend of raw reality and stylistic emotional depth on American Primeval, Jacques adopted a focused visual strategy, inspired by the legendary director Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick would choose just four or five strong visual ideas, and then repeat them over and over for visual impact.

For the series, Jacques established his own core visual tenets:

Expansive vistas: Super wide shots to take in the vastness of the Western scenery

Dynamic Dutch angles: Wide and close dutch camera angles to increase the feeling of discomfort and danger, while still including visuals critical to the story

Intimate compression: Lenses with long focal lengths that compress the image, allowing the audience to be with the character in the moment

Juxtaposition of extremes: A deliberate contrast between wide, long shots with everything in focus, contrasted with close-ups on the actors with a wide angle lens. This created a visual language emphasizing the harsh environment, and Jacques avoided medium shots.

Find Jacques Jouffret: https://www.jacquesjouffret.com/

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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April 23, 2025

Special: Hacks DP Adam Bricker, Live Podcast in Las Vegas

Special: Adam Bricker, ASC

Cinematographer Adam Bricker, ASC chats with Illya at our live podcast event hosted by the Broadcast Education Association at NAB Las Vegas. Adam discusses his early career and education, his breakthrough role as the DP of Chef’s Table on Netflix, and his work as the sole cinematographer on all four seasons of the Max TV show, Hacks.

Adam enjoys shifting between the documentary style of Chef’s Table and the narrative scripted comedy of Hacks. “I want my documentary work to be like a movie, and I want my movies to feel more like documentaries,” he says. “So I think that they’re obviously different muscles. I’ve been lucky to do a season of Hacks, and then spend the summer traveling with my friends and shooting Chef’s Table and then going back to Hacks.”

You can watch the current season of Hacks on Max, and the new season of Chef’s Table: Legends will be on Netflix April 28.

Find Adam Bricker: Instagram @realadambricker

Hear our previous episode with Adam Bricker from 2021. https://www.camnoir.com/ep133/

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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