Episodes

The Cinematography Podcast interviews the filmmakers for three documentaries at Sundance 2020. First up- Ron Howard, who talked about shooting his first documentary, Rebuilding Paradise. We present some selected soundbites of the conversation. Next, filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw ventured deep in the forests near Alba, Italy for their documentary, The Truffle Hunters. The filmmakers chose to keep the camera on a tripod and to observe the subjects at a distance, except for special l...

Dinner in America is a surreal punk-rock comedy filled with gleeful anarchy directed by Adam Rehmeier and shot by cinematographer Jean-Phillipe Bernier. It took awhile to cast the characters Simon and Patty, played by actors Kyle Gallner and Emily Skeggs, who are two oddball loners looking to take down all the a**holes in their “normal” Midwestern town. Dinner in America premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and has yet to receive a release date. http://camnoir.com/ep65/ Adam Rehmeier...

McDonald's Monopoly Game ran from 1989-2001, netting $24 million in cash and prizes for the winners. But the biggest prize “winners” were actually all part of a crime ring recruited by a mysterious figure called “Uncle Jerry” to cheat the game. Filmmakers James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte got the FBI on board along with a cast of quirky real characters to tell a fun, engaging and fascinating story about the fraud. McMillion$ is a six-part documentary series currently airing on HBO. You can a...

Long-time friend and colleague Jenelle Riley of Variety magazine chats with Ben and Illya about this year's Oscar nominations- what will win, what should win, and their favorite movies of the year that may not have been recognized. Jenelle Riley on Twitter, Instagram: @jenelleriley LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions! Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

James Laxton attended Florida State University film school, where he met fellow student Barry Jenkins. He worked steadily on several small and acclaimed movies before Laxton and Jenkins had breakout success with Moonlight, winning Best Picture in 2017. The two followed up that success with If Beale Street Could Talk, which also won several awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Regina King. James Laxton is currently shooting The Underground Railroad, a limited television series for Amazon...

An extremely seasoned director of photography, Byron Werner began shooting anything and everything that came his way once he graduated film school. Byron faced several challenges on his upcoming film, The Last Full Measure. Shot on location in Thailand, the film has many practical effects shots and very little VFX. The camera crew shot from helicopters and with multiple cameras- sometimes as many as 5 or 6. The Last Full Measure starring Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Plummer, an...

The Farewell is based on Lulu Wang's own true story about her family conspiring to hide her grandmother's terminal cancer diagnosis from her. Producer Alana Kode sat down with Wang at the Sundance Film Festival last year to talk about how she developed real events in her own life into a film, selecting her cinematographer, and how she cast Awkwafina in the lead role. Awkwafina recently won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in The Farewell- the first Asian American to win in this categ...

Paula Huidoboro first became drawn to telling a story with images as a young teen while taking photography classes at the local museum of modern art. One of her early learning experiences was as a camera intern for well-known cinematographer "Chivo" Emmanuel Lubezki. Paula was thrilled to work with actor/creator Bill Hader on finding the balance between violence and comedy on the HBO hitman/dark comedy “Barry.”

Walt Lloyd happened upon John Boorman's crew shooting Deliverance in Georgia and decided he wanted a job in the movie business. His first big break was as a camera assistant on the 1983 film Never Cry Wolf, directed by Carroll Ballard. One of Walt's earliest films as director of photography was on sex, lies and videotape for first-time feature filmmaker Steven Soderbergh. Host Ben Rock and Walt Lloyd also have a personal connection- Walt was the DP for Ben's feature film, Alien Raiders.

Alik Sakharov shot many feature films and television series such as The Sopranos, Rome, and Game of Thrones before moving into the director's chair. Alik feels cinematography, directing and writing must work together to create a story, and it's difficult to separate one from the other. He is currently executive producer of the Netflix series The Witcher.

Phedon Papamichael and director James Mangold created an exciting, visceral experience of auto racing for Ford v. Ferrari, rather than the basic panning wide shots used in sports broadcasting or car commercials. Phedon had to shoot extremely close to the speeding cars in order to capture the effect of high velocity.

When setting out to make Joker, Lawrence Sher and director Todd Phillips decided to go for an intimate, 70's style of movie that's character-driven, rather than the large scale, elaborate looks typical of today's comic book superhero/villain films. Joaquin Phoenix had some leeway to improvise and play with the character. Larry and Todd Phillips' background of working with comedians on movies such as The Hangover made them feel comfortable with improvisation.

David Mullen got his start making straight-to-video low-budget genre movies. He went on to shoot six films with Michael and Mark Polish, including Twin Falls Idaho and Northfork. David's cinematography on the Amazon show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel recently earned him an Emmy award. Season 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel begins December 6th on Amazon Prime.

Rodrigo Prieto has shot many different movies with numerous looks and feelings. The Irishman is Rodrigo's third collaboration with Martin Scorsese, who has always been a huge inspiration for him, and it was also an amazing experience working with such skilled actors on the film.

Cinematographer Mihai Mălaimare Jr. discusses his experience of shooting three films with Francis Ford Coppola and working with Paul Thomas Anderson on The Master. For his most recent film, Jojo Rabbit, Mehai and director Taika Waititi developed a very vibrant and colorful look for the film to emphasize Jojo's fantasy world.

Writer/Director/Composer/Photographer and experimental filmmaker Mike Figgis has never restricted his art to just one medium. In our interview, he discusses his love of filmmaking and his transition to digital after Leaving Las Vegas with the film Timecode.

Sandwich's commercials and video spots are typically funny, bold, and colorful. Adam Lisagor started the company ten years ago, directing and acting in many of the ads to save money. The first professional DP Adam hired was his college friend, Rachel Morrison. Another frequent cinematographer for Sandwich commercials is Charles Papert, the DP behind Key and Peele.

Natasha Braier is known for her eye-popping, bold visuals and enjoys shooting in an experimental style. She seeks out directors with a strong voice who are willing to take artistic risks such as Nicolas Winding Refn on Neon Demon, Sebastian Lelio on Gloria Bell, and Alma Har'el on the upcoming Honey Boy.

We talk with Visual Effects Supervisor Jason Chen, Makeup and Hair Designer Dannelle Satherley, and Production Designer Ra Vincent who were all part of the production team for the film Jojo Rabbit. The entire group has worked with director Taika Waititi on many of his past films. They each explain their craft and some of the tricks and techniques they used on the film. Jojo Rabbit is currently playing in theaters.

Benoît Delhomme discusses his work on the Oscar-nominated The Scent of Green Papaya, The Theory of Everything, the 2014 biopic about Stephen Hawking, At Eternity's Gate, about artist Vincent Van Gogh, and his experience shooting The Proposition in the Australian outback.

Ruben Fleischer began his career directing music videos, commercials and comedy shorts. He landed his first big directing gig with Zombieland, followed by the films 30 Minutes or Less, Gangster Squad and Venom. He's also produced TV shows such as Superstore and Stumptown. Ruben Fleischer's latest movie Zombieland: Double Tap is out October 18th.

Sal Totino grew up in Brooklyn NY and began his career as a music video and commercial DP before landing his first feature on Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday. He's worked with director Ron Howard on eight films such as The Missing, Cinderella Man, Frost/Nixon and The Da Vinci Code. Sal has two upcoming films out soon- The Postcard Killings and The Tax Collector.

Legendary cinematographer Don Morgan shot “Used Cars” and “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” with Robert Zemeckis; Steven Spielberg's “1941,” and John Carpenter's “Starman” and “Christine.” Don also filmed the iconic aerial scenes in “Seven” for director David Fincher and talks about his long television career with director Joseph Sargent.

Checco Varese gives us the scoop on shooting IT Chapter Two with director Andrés Muschietti. Checco and his crew's commitment to their craft has paid off: at the time of this post, IT Chapter Two has grossed more than $320 million worldwide.