PODCAST

The Cinematography Podcast

Art, Business, Craft and Philosophy of the Moving Image

tv & film film interviews

All Episodes

51:34

Jake Polonsky, BSC on The Sparks Brothers...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/07/14

Director of photography Jake Polonsky was a fan of the band Sparks for several years, a love he developed after seeing the band perform at a music festival. Jake had frequently worked with director Edgar Wright, shooting commercials and music videos in the early 2000's, and then as the second unit DP on Wright's movie, The World's End. Both Jake and Wright shared a love of music, and in 2018 he saw Wright had posted a photo of himself with Sparks. He congratulated Wright on finally meeting the band

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46:58

Cinematographer Stuart Biddlecombe on The Handmaid’s...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/07/07

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

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55:32

Cinematographer Alice Brooks on shooting In The...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/06/30

Alice Brooks grew up on Broadway musical theater and movies as a kid, and loves shooting music and dance oriented films and TV shows. Alice has always been in awe of dancers, and though she isn't a dancer herself, she is inspired by their work ethic and loves that she can capture dance with her camera. Working on In The Heights has fulfilled a lifelong dream for Alice. She and director Jon M. Chu have known each other since college at USC. The two bonded over musicals- she shot his she shot his

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53:21

Cinematographer Dan Stoloff on shooting The Boys on...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/06/23

Over his long career, cinematographer Dan Stoloff feels he's always learning as a DP. Every job, even if it seems small, is an opportunity to meet people and build relationships. Dan's latest project, The Boys season two on Amazon Prime, plays with the idea that superheroes in that world are actually just corrupt and possibly psychotic people with special powers, who behave in ways that are anything but super. They have celebrity, play politics, and use publicists and the media to manipulate their

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1:02:35

Jeffrey Jur, ASC on shooting Bridgerton, working with...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/06/16

Cinematographer Jeffrey Jur chose the path of filmmaker not just as a job, but to put something out into the world that he finds personally wonderful and amazing. He sees filmmaking as a way to express what he says to the world visually and photographically. Jeff always tries to find projects that reflect a part of him and keep him creatively inspired. For the Netflix series Bridgerton, executive producer Shonda Rhimes and the series directors knew the show needed to have a “female gaze” when it

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53:51

Polly Morgan ASC, BSC on shooting A Quiet Place Part...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/06/09

When cinematographer Polly Morgan reads a script for the first time, she finds herself immersed in images. Her cinematography draws inspiration from art and art history and she finds visuals speak to her on a fundamental level. For A Quiet Place Part II, Polly knew it was important to reference Charlotte Bruus Christensen's previous work on A Quiet Place and blend it seamlessly with her own style. Each DP has their own cinematic look, and she was able to settle into her cinematographic method once

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1:03:15

Jess Hall, ASC, BSC: Marvel’s WandaVision, Hot Fuzz,...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/06/02

For the Disney+ series WandaVision, cinematographer Jess Hall had the opportunity to create the most avant-garde looking project in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Jess explored every era of sitcom television to create seven different looks for WandaVision, ranging from the 1950's all the way through the 2000's. Each episode's look came down to researching the film stock, lenses, aspect ratio, the lighting, and whether it was shot with three cameras or a single camera. WandaVision director Matt

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53:59

War Stories Vol. 6: Tales from the Set featuring Jim...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/05/26

Special: The Cinematography Podcast- War Stories Vol. 6 In our sixth War Stories Special, we feature twelve guest's harrowing, hilarious, heartbreaking or heartwarming stories they had while on set, or a formative career experience that led them to the film industry. Find full interviews with each of our featured guests in our archives! Cinematographer Jim Frohna was thrown into the DP position at the last minute on a commercial; director Bruce Van Dusen on getting his first big Crazy Eddie

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1:10:17

Adam Somner, first assistant director, on Ridley...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/05/20

The job of the assistant director is to work in concert with the director and the DP to get everything done on a movie set. As a 1st AD, Adam Somner is trusted by the industry's top directors to anticipate their needs, motivate the crew, figure out the schedule, and drive the entire production forward to finish each day on time. He finds the best way to keep everything moving smoothly on set is though humor, high energy and uniting everyone as a group, persuading people to do things on the schedule

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1:02:02

Seamus McGarvey, ASC on HBO’s The Nevers, Flying...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/05/12

Seamus McGarvey is drawn to character-driven stories and loves how the camera studies the face in a very particular way. Even when shooting action-packed shows such as The Nevers, Marvel's The Avengers, or the Oliver Stone film, World Trade Center, Seamus stays focused on the characters and uses a naturalistic approach to his composition. The Nevers was Seamus' first extensive experience working on a television series. He had only shot TV episodes here and there, such as “Nosedive,” a favorite

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1:30:07

Randy Thom, Oscar-winning Director of Sound Design at...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/05/05

Randy Thom feels it's important for the sound elements of a film to be present right from the start, at the script writing stage. Sound is an important tool for a filmmaker because it “sneaks into the side door to your brain” and enhances the emotional impact of the film. As George Lucas once told Randy, sound is 50% of the movie experience. After working in the sound department on over 150 projects and winning two Oscars, Randy has helped elevate motion picture sound into an art form, and is often

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1:18:38

Dana Gonzales, ASC, director and cinematographer of...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/04/28

Dana Gonzales, ASC loves pushing himself to use creative lighting, lenses and camera moves to transport the audience into the story. While working on the mind-bendingly surreal television series Legion and the cinematic, character-driven crime stories of the series Fargo, Dana found a true creative home with producer and showrunner Noah Hawley. With Hawley, Dana has been able to explore how to create and maintain an image that challenges himself and makes an audience feel differently than they've

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18:47

Bonus Episode: The Truffle Hunters documentary...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/04/23

In case you missed it, we are re-releasing our interview with filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw on their documentary, The Truffle Hunters from 2020's Sundance Film Festival. The film recently received the ASC Documentary Award. Filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw ventured deep in the forests near Alba, Italy for their documentary, The Truffle Hunters. This region is known for its rare white truffles, fetching thousands of dollars for the acclaimed delicacy. The methods of where

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42:36

Jenelle Riley, Variety’s Deputy Awards and Features...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/04/21

Jenelle Riley, Variety's Deputy Awards and Features Editor, discusses the 2021 Academy Awards nominations Long-time friend and colleague Jenelle Riley of Variety magazine chats with Ben and Illya about Oscar nominations for this very unusual year. They discuss what they liked, what will win, what should win, and their favorite movies of the year that may not have been recognized. Some of the nominations discussed in this episode: Judas and the Black Messiah, Sound of Metal, Nomadland, News of the

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1:12:30

Matthew Libatique, ASC, PART 2: Tigerland, The...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/04/14

In Part 2 of our interview, we continue our conversation with cinematographer Matty Libatique. After Pi, Matty couldn't believe that such a small movie shot on 16mm black and white film opened so many doors for him. He began to get calls for large Hollywood movies, such as Tigerland with director Joel Schumacher. Schumacher, known for big-budget, glossy films like Batman and Robin, was looking for a new look for the gritty Vietnam training camp film, starring an up and coming Colin Farrell. Matty

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57:22

Matthew Libatique, ASC, PART 1: The Prom, Pi, working...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/04/07

Cinematographer Matty Libatique's work ranges from mind-bending features like Pi, Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream to huge Marvel movies such as Iron Man and Birds of Prey. He enjoys balancing his work on both large films and smaller indies in order to feel satisfied and to keep his craft sharp. For his latest film, The Prom, Matty met with director Ryan Murphy about the project. The star-studded cast and the message about gay acceptance appealed to him. But once Matty saw the Broadway play he

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1:21:47

Cinematographer Maryse Alberti on Hillbilly Elegy,...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/04/01

Maryse Alberti is a very eclectic and prolific cinematographer, shooting documentaries, indie films, television shows, commercials and large films over the course of her career. She prefers films that deal with something real- they don't have to revolutionize the world, but the characters have to be interesting and grounded in reality. On her latest film, Hillbilly Elegy, Maryse and director Ron Howard discussed how to treat the different time periods and places in the film. They wanted to

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51:40

Dariusz Wolski, ASC on News of the World, working...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/03/24

Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski prefers to take a realistic, documentary approach to most of the movies he shoots. His latest film, the western News of the World, is primarily shot outside using natural light, in a style Dariusz likes to call “well-observed” documentary. As with many of director Paul Greengrass's films, News of the World relies on a Steadicam and hand-held cameras to give it a more realistic and intimate feel. Daruisz watched a few Westerns to get ideas for his approach to News of

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1:08:11

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw, ASC on Snowfall, working with...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/03/17

Tommy Maddox-Upshaw, ASC uses light and color to help emphasize the drama and power of each scene on the FX series Snowfall. He enjoys putting opposing colors in the scenes to subtly suggest any underlying subtext and shifts in power between the characters. Tommy knows that understanding light and knowing how to photograph dark skin is important in a series revolving around primarily African American and Latino characters. Snowfall, created by the late John Singleton, is a period drama that takes

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1:03:09

Benjamin Kracun, cinematographer of Promising Young...

The Cinematography Podcast ·

2021/03/10

The film Promising Young Woman is many things: a dark comedy-noir-thriller-revenge fantasy, and even part romantic comedy. The film centers on Cassie, a smart and complicated character seeking revenge on men who prey on drunk women. Cinematographer Benjamin Kračun first met director and writer Emerald Fennell while working on a short video project together. Fennell mentioned she was working on a feature project, and she eventually contacted Ben to let him know she had funding and was ready to shoot

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