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Paul Guilhaume, AFC: opera and realism in Emilia Pérez
Emilia Pérez is about a Mexican cartel leader, Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón) who hires a lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) to help him disappear, undergo gender affirming surgery, and transition into a woman. But even as Emilia Pérez, she is unable to fully leave her dark criminal past behind. Director Jacques Audiard saw the film as a unique blend of gritty drama like Amores Perros and an opera. He approached cinematographer Paul Guilhaume, AFC to collaborate on his vision. With a combination of operatic grandeur, gritty realism, and dynamic camerawork, Paul Guilhaume has been nominated for an Academy Award for his visually stunning cinematography in Emilia Pérez. Paul was impressed with the story arc when he received the script for the movie. “There is something a bit like a classic drama or a very classic structure of a play,” he explains. “The actions of the past come back, and the darkness comes back in the film at the end.” This dramatic structure, combined with the operatic elements, presented a unique challenge. Audiard initially conceived Emilia Pérez as a five-act musical stage play before deciding to film it. The theatrical influence is apparent in the film's structure and visual approach. The drama unfolds during the musical numbers, revealing information about the story. All of the musical numbers were written into the script and became a thread interwoven throughout the film. Paul used a variety of styles to shoot each music scene. He chose classic shot-reverse-shot for intimate moments, to stylized, modern music video techniques and grand, classic musical visuals for moments of heightened movement and energy. Months of preparation and rehearsal allowed the actors to meticulously block and choreograph the dance scenes in tandem with the Steadicam, resulting in seamless integration of movement and camera. In Emilia Pérez, the camera is always in motion, matching the pacing of the music. “Jacques has an aesthetic of movement, the camera is almost never still,” says Paul. “There's something in motion in each and every frame that's not photographic composition, but cinematographic composition. Your eye is always in motion, taking you from one shot to the next.” The film's visual tone shifts as Emilia's past catches up with her. Paul responded to the shift with higher contrast, theatrical lighting, bringing up the darks with black walls and using an infrared camera. Despite the film's ambitious scope, it began as a small, independent production with a limited budget before being picked up by Netflix. This constraint led to the decision to shoot digitally with a Sony Venice, a choice that ultimately saved time and money. Paul and Audiard focused on crafting memorable moments, striving to create one key image per scene to build a lasting "visual memory" for the audience. Emilia Pérez is on Netflix. Find Paul Guilhaume: Instagram: @paul_guilhaume 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
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59:45
Sugarcane filmmakers Emily Kassie and Christopher LaMarca
Sugarcane is a powerful documentary film that delves into the dark history of abuse and murder at a Canadian residential school. These Catholic boarding schools in North America and Canada have caused lasting trauma across Indigenous communities. The film centers around the Williams Lake First Nation in British Columbia, where a ground-breaking investigation into the St. Joseph's Mission residential school is underway. Sugarcane is Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary Feature. Director Emily Kassie is an Emmy and Peabody-nominated investigative journalist and filmmaker. She was compelled to tell the story of the ongoing investigation and asked journalist and co-director Julian Brave NoiseCat to be a part of the team. NoiseCat's family has an intimate and painful connection to the residential schools. His father, Ed Archie NoiseCat, was born at St. Joseph’s Mission to a student there. The NoiseCat family story became inextricably woven into the fabric of the documentary. Emily envisioned a film that was not only informative but also deeply sensitive. She partnered with cinematographer Christopher LaMarca, whose verité style of filmmaking hinges on the power of time, trust and truth. Over two and a half years, Kassie and LaMarca spent 160 days in Williams Lake, embedding themselves within the community. “The approach to true verité filmmaking is time,” says Chris. “You need lots of time to shoot this way. You need to spend time with people before you even start shooting so that they trust you. It's a way of being instead of just being a cinematographer.” Emily fully embraced Chris's approach. “For me, what comes with time is trust and intimacy,” she says. “It was so important to earn the trust of this community that has been ravaged by colonization, that has been lied to and betrayed by white people since they arrived on the land.” This trust informed every aspect of their filmmaking. The decision to use prime lenses, for example, was a deliberate choice. Instead of the distancing effect of a zoom lens, prime lenses required the filmmakers to physically move closer to their subjects, fostering a sense of connection and intimacy. “Prime lenses render the face and space differently than a zoom does,” Chris notes, emphasizing the importance of physical proximity in creating a sense of genuine conversation. The resulting close-up shots, born from their time spent in the community, offer a powerful and intimate glimpse into the lives and experiences of those affected by the residential school. Both Emily and Chris were shooting with a Canon C500 Mark II camera at all times, simultaneously filming and recording their own sound. The emphasis on capturing dialogue was crucial, allowing them to connect the dots in the ongoing investigation and understand the full scope of the story. Emily meticulously logged and organized all the footage, immersing herself in the project for three and a half years. She became intimately familiar with every piece of research and evidence uncovered in the residential school archives. For Chris, the most vital part of their process happened after each day of filming. Every night, they would download the footage and reflect on the moments that resonated most deeply. “You're recalling all of the things that hit your heart the hardest and penetrated the deepest,” he explains. “And in that moment, that's where the film starts to get made – not on paper, but from the heart, being totally clear and focused on what was happening in the day.” Sugarcane premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu. Find Emily Kassie: http://www.emilykassie.com/ Instagram @emilykassie Find Chris LaMarca: http://www.christopherlamarca.com/ Instagram @christopher_lamarca Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: https://hotrodcameras.com/ Sponsored by Aputure: https://aputure.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
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57:34
Pierre Gill, CSC: lighting the darkness in Dune: Prophecy
Dune: Prophecy, the six-episode prequel series to the Dune films, now streaming on Max, delves into the origins of the Bene Gesserit. The series is set 10,000 years before the events of the movies. Bringing this ancient future to life was just one of the challenges faced by cinematographer Pierre Gill, CSC, a veteran of science fiction and period pieces alike. Pierre, who has a deep affinity for the sci-fi genre, sees it as a close cousin to historical dramas. “It's like another type of period piece,” he explains, citing the importance of costumes, lighting, and set design in creating an immersive world. His experience in science fiction is extensive, having served as additional and second unit cinematographer on Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049. This prior experience proved invaluable for Dune: Prophecy. “On Dune: Prophecy, the challenge is there's not really a lot of light source in the concept of the universe,” Pierre notes. The goal was to respect the established aesthetic of Villeneuve's Dune, avoiding an overabundance of typical sci-fi lighting. During his initial interview for the series, Pierre emphasized his understanding of the Dune look, a perspective informed by his work on the first film. He felt the series should align with the films, potentially even enhancing viewers' appreciation of the cinematic universe. However, Pierre was also determined to bring his own artistic vision to the project. “At the same time,” he admits, “it's difficult because as a cinematographer, I don't want to recreate what Greig Fraser, the master, did. I don't want to copy him.” Pierre's approach for Prophecy involved strong, wide shots with splashes of bold color. After extensive lens and camera testing, Pierre chose to shoot with the Arri Alexa 35. He also used two Steadicams to maximize efficiency during the action-packed shoot. Pierre favored a centered camera, even in close-ups, and faced the significant hurdle of lighting the massive sets. Time constraints limited pre-lighting opportunities, forcing Pierre to find innovative solutions. He employed mobile softboxes and book lighting to sculpt the actors' faces, creating soft bounce light. The presence of ceilings on some of the sets allowed for lower camera angles and the inclusion of more background detail. He was also able to use many practical lighting sources throughout the set. Dune: Prophecy has been picked up for a second season and Pierre is excited to explore the Dune universe further. “Season 2 will be even more powerful, I think,” he predicts. You can see Dune: Prophecy on Max. https://www.max.com/shows/dune-prophecy-2024/57660b16-a32a-476f-89da-3302ac379e91 Find Pierre Gill: Instagram @pierregill_dp 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
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1:07:20
The beauty of The Brutalist: Lol Crawley, BSC
The Brutalist tells the story of László Tóth (Adrian Brody) a Hungarian-Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the United States. He meets a wealthy industrialist, Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pierce), who recognizes his talent, and commissions him to design a grand community center. The opportunity presents both a chance for redemption and a descent into a dangerous power dynamic. Cinematographer Lol Crawley, BSC is currently nominated for an Academy Award for his stunning work on The Brutalist. He and director Brady Corbet chose to shoot on VistaVision, which uses 35mm film horizontally instead of vertically, significantly increasing the image area and resolution. Corbet was always interested in shooting on a larger format in order to capture the landscapes and architecture in the film. VistaVision proved to be a less expensive way to shoot on large format, especially since many rental companies were reluctant to rent their 65mm cameras to a modestly budgeted, independent feature. Lol knew fellow cinematographer Robbie Ryan had also used VistaVision for parts of Poor Things. He was able to use the same technicians Robbie used while The Brutalist shot in Budapest. The choice of VistaVision was not just about technical specifications. For The Brutalist, set in the early late 1940s and early 1950s, Lol felt it was appropriate to use a camera and film stock that evoked the era. Even the photochemical process of film itself added a unique character. “What we have chosen to do with the Kodak stock is to abuse the stock slightly, to underexpose it, to push process it, to come up with a more painterly image or something that we feel depicts a certain era,” says Lol. “And we've found that by underexposing the stock and distressing the dye layers, then forcing the image back up, you're dragging up colors within the shadows that we find to be very pleasing, interesting and more impressionistic or painterly image.” One of the most striking sequences in The Brutalist is the opening scene, a single continuous take following László through a ship as he disembarks in America. Lol, who also operated the camera in most of the film, used a smaller handheld camera for the scene. To accentuate the disorientation as László gets off the boat, the editor decided to flip the images around. “The idea is supposed to be that he comes to America, and it's a new hope,” says Lol. “But the fact that it's untethered and disorientating and flipped on its head is a really ingenious way of representing that László's time in the US is not going to be all he imagined.” Lol's approach to cinematography emphasizes a balance between documenting reality and fiction. “I've always thought that my cinematography was about responsiveness,” he says. "Cinematography is about light, camera movement, and composition. If I had to get rid of one or let one of those things go, it would be the lighting. What I like to do is to have one foot in documentary and one foot in fiction, and be open to respond. So I tend to shotlist less, I tend to storyboard less.” The cinematographer Christopher Doyle told him once, “In Western cinema, you say, 'Here's the frame, how do we fill it?' In Asian cinema we say, 'Here's the world, how do I frame it?'” You can see The Brutalist in theaters. Find Lol Crawley: https://lolcrawley.com/ Instagram: @crawleylol Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: https://hotrodcameras.com/ Sponsored by Aputure: https://aputure.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social
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1:21:37
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/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: https://hotrodcameras.com/ Sponsored by Venus Optics/Laowa: https://www.venuslens.net/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social
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1:08:30