January 24, 2026

DP Michael Bauman on One Battle After Another’s improv style

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 342: Michael Bauman

Cinematographer Michael Bauman recently earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography for his work on One Battle After Another. Before becoming a cinematographer, Bauman spent years as a gaffer, working under legends like Robert Elswit, Janusz Kaminski, and the late Harris Savides. This mentorship gave him a masterclass in diverse visual languages and on-set problem-solving. After serving as a gaffer for director Paul Thomas Anderson on several projects, Bauman stepped into the DP role for the features Phantom Thread and Licorice Pizza.

The decision to shoot One Battle After Another in VistaVision was Anderson’s idea. Known for his commitment to celluloid, Anderson prefers old-school techniques: watching dailies on developed negative and editing with physical film. VistaVision offered a larger negative and higher resolution than standard 35mm without the massive footprint of IMAX.

The challenge, however, was mobility. Historically used for stationary visual effects shots, the VistaVision camera is notoriously bulky. Anderson wanted the opposite: a dynamic, handheld, and Steadicam-heavy aesthetic. “The language of this entire movie is camera movement,” says Bauman. “How do you take this format—with a viewing system that comes off the top at 45 degrees—and turn it into something that can capture the story the way he wants?”

Putting an experienced team together was key for the endeavor. They had to be capable of troubleshooting in remote locations far from the safety of LA or New York hubs. Their goal wasn’t perfection, but character. “In the digital world we soak in now, it’s all about a pristine image,” Bauman notes. “Blacks are super rich, whites are super crisp. We wanted to take this ‘Kobe beef’ format and turn it into a McDonald’s hamburger—in the best way possible.”

The visual identity was further refined by referencing 1970s cinema, specifically The French Connection. Bauman studied the texture and color palettes of that era to emulate its “loose and rough” style. True to form, Anderson pushed to avoid modern LED lighting, preferring tungsten sources whenever space allowed. As a former gaffer, Bauman was happy to accommodate.

Perhaps the greatest hurdle was the improvisational nature of the production. Anderson enjoys letting the actors improvise or even reshoot later. He doesn’t use storyboards or do pre-vis, so even complex scenes had to be worked out in pre-production or on the day. “Every day was just like, you had to get comfortable with the uncomfortable,” comments Bauman. “I knew we were doing stuff in a good spot when I was really questioning all of it. We had to embrace all these happy accidents. It’s free jazz all day long. It’s exciting now, but at the time I was stressed as hell!”

This spontaneity extended to the film’s climax. The spectacular car chase wasn’t fully scripted until the location manager discovered a road with rolling hills on the Arizona border. After a week of testing the VistaVision rigs on pursuit vehicles, the crew spent seven days capturing the sequence. Although it was in the wide-open desert, the characters chased each other over the undulating terrain, which allowed enough suspense to build before the spectacular conclusion.

See One Battle After Another in theaters and streaming on HBO Max

Find Michael Bauman: Instagram @baumanlights

Check out Michael’s lighting companies, LiteGear and Lux Lighting.

Support Ben’s short film, The Ultimate Breakup! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theultimatebreakup/the-ultimate-breakup-short-film?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=the%20ultimate%20breakup&total_hits=2

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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In Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

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April 2, 2025

Daredevil: Born Again DPs Hillary Spera and Pedro Millán

Daredevil: Born Again cinematographers Hillary Fyfe Spera and Pedro Gómez Millán were both admirers of the original Daredevil on Netflix. As the lead cinematographer on the new series, Hillary wanted to bring something new to the look of the story. “The goal was to evolve it, to bring it to a more cinematic realm,” she says. This vision was achieved through the use of anamorphic lenses, lending a more elevated and cinematic feel. Influenced by 1970s cinema, particularly The French Connection, they established a strong visual reference point.

Production, initially launched in 2022, was interrupted by the writers’ strike. This hiatus allowed the showrunners to reassess the existing footage. Upon resumption, the production underwent rewrites and the addition of new material. Hillary was the DP for episodes 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9, while Pedro shot episodes 4 and 5 and additional photography. Their collaborative approach was essential to maintaining a cohesive visual style. “We didn’t want every episode to look the same,” says Pedro, “so what can we do to make it better? It’s about being a team player and executing that one single vision that everybody’s on board for.”

A key challenge was visually representing Daredevil’s heightened senses due to his blindness. Hillary explains, “One of our challenges that we collaborated on was the sensory stuff. We’re trying to represent a visual thing that’s not visual, so it was fun to put our heads together and see what worked and what didn’t work.” Consistent communication was facilitated by a shared camera crew, ensuring a unified visual approach across episodes. The process kept the production dynamic and engaging.

To define the visual world of Daredevil: Born Again, both DPs employed a range of cinematic techniques. Color transitioned from a desaturated palette to increased saturation as the narrative progressed, with a heightened use of red to signify Matt Murdock’s return to his Daredevil persona. These choices were meticulously planned in collaboration with the production designer.

Hard lighting was strategically used to emphasize that there was nowhere to hide in the courtroom settings. Pedro enjoyed using hard light on Fisk/Kingpin, noting, “Let’s take the hard light and make it interesting, especially because these two actors can take it. It goes with the character and the story. He’s in the spotlight as the New York City mayor.”

Camera movement in the show was also carefully considered. Matt Murdock’s world is depicted with handheld shots, conveying a sense of immediacy, while Fisk’s world is characterized by locked-down shots, dollies, and wide-angle close-ups, reflecting his power and control. Hillary chose to use many long zooms throughout the show. “We called them ‘doom zooms,’” she explains. “This impending doom that’s happening in the first season, it’s all relentlessly crushing down. And so the zooms are doing the same thing- they’re pushing in and targeting one thing.”

You can see Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+
Find Hillary Fyfe Spera: Instagram @hillaryspera
Find Pedro Gomez Millan: Instagram @pedrogmillan

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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In Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

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January 3, 2025

Phedon Papamichael: Unveiling Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown

We welcome back Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC for the fourth time on The Cinematography Podcast.

Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael started preproduction on A Complete Unknown with frequent collaborator, director James Mangold in 2019, before being postponed by the pandemic. They began prepping in summer 2023 and shooting in earnest by the early spring of 2024, which worked well for capturing the changing of the seasons in New York. The long lead time was a huge benefit for both the cast and crew. Phedon and the production team had time to research the time period, create an extensive lookbook of period photos and mull over the script and characters. Actor Timothee Chalamet had time to practice guitar and harmonica and was able to perform most of the songs live.

Phedon was very familiar with the music of Bob Dylan, and grew up listening to the artist. He wanted to capture how Dylan evolved and developed as a musician. The set was very intimate, and Chalamet completely absorbed the character of Bob Dylan, frequently watching playback on set, then finding something new with each take. “It was very much this organic process of us capturing and him discovering the character,” says Phedon. “And you could just see it was so enjoyable for every crew member. Everybody was inspired by it.”

A Complete Unknown used very few sets and stages, and the production designers transformed two blocks of New York City streets into the 1960’s. Phedon shot digitally on the Sony Venice 2 camera, which was then scanned to a film negative and then scanned back to digital. Influenced by the films Klute, The Godfather and The French Connection, he wanted A Complete Unknown to have the Kodachrome look with an earthy color palette. Phedon used lighting that was appropriate for the time period as well, using white and tungsten lights, enhanced with numerous practicals on the set. He embraced the mood of the nightclub scenes, with a single source spotlight hitting the performers on stage and the audience lit with candles on the tables. As the movie progresses into the ’60’s and Bob Dylan becomes more famous, Phedon began to change the look of the film. “It becomes a little bit more expressionistic, a little more aggressive,” he says. “The stage lights become a little bit bigger, the highlights are a bit hotter, the contrast and shadows are more extreme.”

Phedon’s ultimate goal as a cinematographer is to stay subtle. “I never want anybody to perceive or feel that I’m lighting something,” he says. “I never want it to feel like there’s a craftsman behind it. I always like the photography to just allow us to focus on the character, and really not distract from it.”

Find Phedon Papamichael: Instagram @papa2

Hear our previous interviews with Phedon Papamichael on The Trial of the Chicago 7, Ford v. Ferrari, and our live podcast interview.

You can see A Complete Unknown currently in theaters.

Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: https://hotrodcameras.com/
Sponsored by Venus Optics, Laowa lenses: https://www.venuslens.net/

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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In Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

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