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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January 8, 2025

Media and the Munich massacre: September 5 DP Markus Förderer

The film September 5 is the story of the ABC Sports broadcasting team covering the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics. It was the first Olympics to be broadcast live, when Israeli Olympians were taken hostage at the Olympic Village by Palestinian terrorists. The sports reporting team, initially focused on covering the games, finds themselves suddenly thrust into the role of live news reporters as the hostage situation unfolds. They have to grapple with the terrifying events while trying to inform the world about what was occuring. September 5 focuses on the pivotal role of media coverage in shaping public understanding of the crisis.

While waiting for financing for September 5, cinematographer Markus Förderer and director Tim Fehlbaum spent three years researching and scouting for the film. They obtained permission to shoot at the Munich Olympic village, to fully set the film in the historical context. The television studio and control room were all built on soundstages. Once September 5 was finally green-lit, Markus had only a tight two-week prep period, during which he experimented with his own lens tuning and modifications. An avid lens hobbyist, Markus took some lenses apart, adding dust, smudges and fingerprints to some of the elements to give the film an authentic period look. They shot digitally on a RED V-Raptor on two cameras, with Markus operating one of the cameras himself.

It was important to director Tim Fehlbaum to create a very claustrophobic feeling within the windowless television studio. “Tim was adamant that we only show what the characters would have seen,” Markus explains. “The TV monitors became their windows to the outside world.” The film blends original footage with real, archival news films and meticulously recreated scenes. Markus wanted the visual style to reflect the era, while maintaining a contemporary relevance. Both Markus and Fehlbaum were influenced by the look and feel of Natural Born Killers.

The use of analog technology such as flickering fluorescent lights and TV monitors became an important tool for Markus to create a state of heightened tension. “If we flicker these monitors, which we use as a key light source in the dark control room, the whole image will pulse,” Markus says. “It looked really crazy, but it was fascinating. We synced it so it looks right on camera. As the tension gets higher and higher in certain scenes, like when we see the masked man on the balcony, we dynamically ramp up the flicker frequency of our film lights.”

You can see September 5 wide in theaters January 17th.

Find Markus Forderer: Instagram @markusforderer

Check out Markus’ passion project, CINEFLARES. https://lenses.cineflares.com/

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

July 31, 2024

Echo: Breaking barriers with Kira Kelly, ASC

Echo continues the journey of Maya Lopez, a skilled fighter who was first seen in the Marvel series, Hawkeye. After the death of her father, Maya escapes Kingpin’s gang by returning to her Choctaw Nation home in Oklahoma. It’s the first Marvel series to feature a Native American character and explore indigenous culture and history. As Maya Lopez, Echo star Alaqua Cox breaks barriers as a deaf, indigenous amputee.

Cinematographer Kira Kelly, ASC enjoyed crafting a Marvel story that didn’t require a rigorous backstory from previous Marvel movies or shows. The script included depictions of the history of the Choctaw, including the Choctaw creation myth. “What starts the pilot is the creation myth of the Choctaw people, which had never been shown before,” says Kira. “Sydney Freeland, our director, made sure we did it in a very respectful way, and a way that was authentic to (the Choctaw.) Being able to be part of that visual storytelling is not something that you get to do every day.”

Different parts of Echo are separated by a specific look and feel. Most of the series was shot using anamorphic lenses, but Kira chose 12 and 20 mm spherical lenses to depict the beginning of the Choctaw nation at the dawn of time. For Maya’s world in New York, Kira used darker and more desaturated lighting. She and director Sydney Freeland agreed that once Maya goes back home to her roots in Oklahoma, deeper, more saturated colors should be part of the visual story.

Kira enjoys lighting, and a big part of it is speaking with the production and set designers about what can be built in naturally for success later. She purposefully changed the treatment of the light between the characters of Fisk (Kingpin) and Maya. For Fisk, she played with a direct, single source side light on his face that created more falloff and emphasized shadows to question his loyalties and motivations.

Echo was Kira’s first experience shooting extensive action sequences and working with a large second unit. She particularly enjoyed recreating the Choctaw Powwow in Oklahoma for the final sequence at the conclusion of the series. The crew had visited the real powwow on a scout, and some of the dancers were hired to perform for the show. “It was a really emotional sequence because we got to be a part of this thing that people who aren’t Native American never get to experience. We had created this space for it and the people who are a part of it came up and said, ‘This is like a real powwow. You guys created a powwow.’ And so it was an honor to be part of something that was visually fulfilling and a great challenge.”

Kira is partnering again with director Sydney Freeland for her film, Rez Ball, coming this fall.

Hear our previous interview with Kira Kelly. https://www.camnoir.com/ep67/

Find Kira Kelly: https://www.kirakellydp.com/
Instagram: @kirakellydp

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