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Cinematography
Stephen Goldblatt's War on Film
In 2003, Goldblatt teamed up with director Mike Nichols to shoot the highly acclaimed HBO miniseries "Angels in America." Two years later, they worked together again on Closer. So when Nichols asked Goldblatt if he was interested in collaborating once again—on Charlie Wilson's War—the answer was a no-brainer. Not only was Goldblatt intrigued by the story (Nichols had recommend he read the book the film is based on several months earlier during lunch) and impressed by the cast (Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams among them), but he had found his previous outings with Nichols truly rewarding experiences. Goldblatt immediately said yes.
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Vittorio Storaro Paints With His Camera
The Oscar-winning DP channels Caravaggio
A frequent collaborator to moviemaking legends like Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bertolucci, Vittorio Storaro is taking on one of the world's greatest artists with Caravaggio.
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Guillermo Navarro: Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Experiment with commercials. I have shot commercials between features since the beginning of my career. They can be experimental, both technically and in the visual language, which contributes to telling stories. I once shot a commercial in the Yukon Mountains where dusk lasted for hours. That gave us an extraordinary opportunity to dig deeper and explore the photographic variables of the location.
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Guillermo Navarro’s Filmmaking Fairytale
Celebrated cinematographer makes history with Oscar for Pan's Labyrinth
Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, ASC made history when he earned an Academy Award for Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth in 2007, as it was only the second time that a foreign-language film with English subtitles claimed top honors in the Best Cinematography competition.
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Amy Vincent: Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
I was a camera loader, assistant and camera operator on crews with Bob Richardson, Bill Pope, John Lindley and Darius Wolski. All of them are master cinematographers. They were my mentors. I saw up close how they made decisions and dealt with the cast and crew. That was a big part of my education.
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Michael Ballhaus: Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
You never stop learning. I'm still learning every day, on every picture.
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A Lesson in Collaboration
The Departed marks the seventh collaboration between acclaimed cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and legendary director Martin Scorsese
As he approaches his fiftieth anniversary in the movie business, cinematographer Michael Ballhaus sat down with MM for a candid discussion of his life's work-from Beware of a Holy Whore to The Departed-giving plenty of insight into the fine art of writing with light.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Stick to your guns. I got a lot of pressure from the studio heads [shooting the pilot for "Scarface"], who wanted me to "brighten it up." I'd tell them that 'the director doesn't want it bright.' The studio barred me from timing the TV show, but I went into the suite at 5:00 a.m. and did it anyhow. I wasn't invited to shoot another film for that studio for more than 20 years.
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Donald Morgan is Still Making Movie Magic
For veteran DP Donald M. Morgan, the best is yet to come
In a career spanning more than 30 years, cinematographer Donald M. Morgan has worked with Robert Zemeckis, John Carpenter, Roger Young and Joseph Sargent, among others, pulling in six award nominations from the American Society of Cinematographers and nine from the Emmy Awards along the way, all the while maintaining a moxie that pushes the boundaries of his art form.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
It's a good thing to be frightened. In fact, you should be scared every day you go to work. There should be something that is daunting to you that you haven't eliminated all doubts about. There should be something that keeps you awake at night.
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Picture Perfect
Allen Daviau celebrates almost 40 years in the cinematography business
Allen Daviau worked his way up the Hollywood food chain by providing lighting for high school stage plays, working the graveyard shift in photo labs and shooting a live television show for $100 per week. These days he's best known as the cinematographer behind some of cinema's most beautiful photographic moments in such films as E.T., The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun and Bugsy. In the course of his career, Daviau has earned five Academy Award nominations and, in February of 2007, he will receive the American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Shooting for an Alternate Reality
Benoît Delhomme discusses his work on Ming-liang Tsai's What Time is it Over There?
We have all heard it said countless times: cinema is a collaborative
art. Anyone who can deliver the goods at a high level of craft
and work well as part of a team is likely to find a healthy
amount of success is the industry. Such a person could be,
like French Director of Photography Benoît Delhomme, a very
busy artist, moving from one interesting project to another,
and collaborating with some of cinema´s most exciting, innovative
moviemakers.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
Whenever I DP a film, I try to bring something different to the table that separates it from my previous work.
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Focusing the Eye Through Composition
An Interview with DP Neal Fredericks
In 1999, Blair Witch mania hit and made instant superstars
out of all those involved. For cinematographer Neal Fredericks,
it was the opportunity of a lifetime. With 10 years of experience
in film, television, commercial and music video experience
behind him, the success of that film was all he needed to
become one of independent film's most in-demand DPs. Here,
Fredericks talks about his preferred filming format, his new
projects, and how his globetrotting childhood helped to hone
a cinematic sensibility.
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What I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
When you get a brilliant idea that sounds familiar, think of a new idea.
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Innovation and Creative Intuition on the Set
An Interview With Legendary Cinematographer John Toll
Though he has been a frequent collaborator with several of
the world's most celebrated directors, John Toll, DP of such
disparate work as Legends of the Fall, Braveheart
and The Thin Red Line has always succeeded in bringing
his own vision to the forefront.
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Tough Love
Sam Jackson tames Christina Ricci-and Amy Vincent catches it all on film-in Craig Brewer's Black Snake Moan
After riding an unexpected wave of success with their debut collaboration, Hustle & Flow, writer-director Craig Brewer and cinematographer Amy Vincent are partnering up again, this time on Black Snake Moan, an unconventional "coming of age" story in which an aging blues musician helps to cure a young nymphomaniac of her sexual addiction.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
I think I've learned to be a bit more diplomatic, although I'm not sure if that's true (laughs). Maybe I've learned not to care so much about what people think. What you really need to learn is that the film is not made on the first day of shooting. It's a long haul. You need to pace yourself over the course of a film.
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Shooting Life
DP Roger Deakins talks about what's important and his collaboration with the Coen Brothers
The sheer number of excellent films Roger Deakins has shot
since his career began in the late 1970s is impressive by
any standard. He is one of the most celebrated cameramen in
Hollywood, and a regular collaborator with Joel and Ethan
Coen. Deakins has worked with some of the most interesting
directors in the business, including David Mamet, Mike Figgis,
Frank Darabont, John Sayles and Martin Scorsese. His most
recent work can be seen in the Oscar-winning film, A Beautiful
Mind, as well as the Coens' The Man Who Wasn't There.
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Things I’ve Learned as a MovieMaker
I've learned that the surest way to ensure employment or a career in the movie business is to have a friend or friends that will give you a job. I have had numerous conversations with crew people on how they got their start in the industry. The majority of these chats have included the sentence "well, my friend got me a job as a...". I believe that the more friends you have is directly proportionate to the number of job opportunities available to you.
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Test Driving the Future
The DP behind Like Mike talks about new technology in film
Shawn Maurer never planned to work in film. Though
he grew up appreciating motion pictures, it wasn't until enrolling
in a film class in community college that he realized the
place he belonged was behind the camera. His most recent work
can be seen in the family fantasy, Like Mike, a film
that allowed Maurer the chance to shoot on Fuji's new Reala
500D film.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
When I was starting a new film at the beginning of my career, each time I would watch this documentary about the making of Fanny and Alexander. You see Bergman and Sven Nykvist working together; they are so simple, so fantastic and even a bit terrified to shoot at the beginning. These guys are what, 70 years old, and they are still a bit afraid. I would watch this film just to feel this spirit before I began to shoot.
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Things I’ve Learned as a MovieMaker
It's about having a very strong ego that's properly placed rather than misplaced. Properly placed is when it's honest. Don't be a "winner;" be a collaborator for everything you think is the best thing to do, but not because it was your idea.
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The Road To Perfection
A Conversation with Conrad L. Hall
With more than 40 years of experience behind the camera, cinematographer
Conrad L. Hall has left an indelible mark on American
cinema as DP on such classic pictures as Cool Hand Luke,
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Marathon
Man. After picking up an Oscar for American Beauty,
he's reteamed with director Sam Mendes for The Road to
Perdition, at theaters now.
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The Power of the Fluid Camera
A Conversation with Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth
For Jeff Cronenweth, cinematography was in
the gene pool. The son of legendary DP Jordan Cronenweth,
Jeff has made a name of his own, first working behind the
camera on David Fincher's stylish Fight Club and
most recently on Kathryn Bigelow's K-19: The Widowmaker
and Mark Romanek's highly-anticipated One Hour Photo.
Here, Cronenweth talks about the challenges of finding your
own style and working with family.
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The Kid Keeps Shooting the Pictures
DP John Bailey discusses his more than 30 years in the business
The Kid Keeps Shooting the Pictures
DP John Bailey discusses his 30 years in the business
As with many of his contemporaries, it was the directors and
films of the French New Wave that led cinematographer John
Bailey to his destiny. He has worked on more than 50 features,
from Hollywood fare like Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
to indie breakthroughs like The Anniversary Party.
With his latest non-fiction entry, The Kid Stays in the
Picture, in theaters now, Bailey took some time
to speak with MM about the future of film, why he's
always shifting gears and how he finds his alternate reality.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
I remember how many early mornings I was up, putting together equipment for a documentary or trying to the night before-staying up late and putting together my package and deciding whether I had everything or not.
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Where the Girls Are
DP Ellen Kuras talks about shooting Rebecca Miller's Personal Velocity
Ellen Kuras, the acclaimed cinematographer
on such celebrated films as Swoon and I Shot Andy
Warhol, has made a name for herself by breaking with conventions
and making films that matter. She easily moves back and forth
between features and documentaries, and has become a frequent
collaborator with both Spike Lee and Rebecca Miller. In Personal
Velocity, she reteams with Miller to explore the unrelated
but familiar lives of three very different women, portrayed
by Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey and Fairuza Balk, in InDigEnt's
latest mini-DV release
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
You have to learn to listen and understand to the needs of the director. You will learn to see things from new perspectives that will make your work richer and better.
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Hidden Agenda
For DP Rodrigo Prieto, it's better that you don't notice his work
In the two years since Amores Perros, nearly
everyone involved in the film has been catapulted onto Hollywood's
A-List, including cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto.
He has gone on to work with some of America's most celebrated
auteurs, including Spike Lee and Oliver Stone. Currently,
his work can be seen in Curtis Hanson's gritty urban drama
8 Mile and JulieTaymor's Frida. Right
now he's with the Perros team again on 21 Grams,
starring Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro and Naomi Watts.
The ultra-hot Prieto took time from his hectic schedule to
talk about his quick rise to the top, how being a DP is like
being a psychologist and how a children's haunted house started
it all.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Show respect to every person on the set, whether the biggest of stars or a PA on her first film. Good karma with be rewarded in kind.
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Cinematography Serves the Story
DP Wally Pfister's Laurel Canyon inspired by great films of early '70s
After toiling away for more
than a decade and under the tutelage of Roger Corman, Wally
Pfister is now the one calling the shots-first with
Memento, and now on Lisa Cholodenko's Laurel Canyon.
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Things I’ve Learned as a MovieMaker
It's not what you light that separates the men from the boys, it's what you don't light.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Passion beats experience. In some cases, passion can be more valuable than experience.
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Analyzing the Human Condition
All the Real Girls DP Tim Orr seeks emotional connection in his work
There are all kinds of reasons one decides to embark on a film career. For cinematographer Tim Orr, it was boredom: "I spent my early 20s working boring jobs, playing music, writing, painting, taking photographs, getting my heart broken, trying to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. The more I opened myself up to the arts, the more films I saw, the more I had the feeling that filmmaking was what I wanted to do with my life."
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Kodak at Cannes
Since 1987 Kodak has been the official partner of the Cannes Film Festival, sponsoring the Camera d’Or prize that is awarded yearly to the best feature film by a first-time director. The tradition continues in 2008 when, for the fifth consecutive year, the festival will also hand out the Kodak Discovery Prize for Best Short Film.
“Cannes draws a huge number of filmmakers from all over the world every year, which gives Kodak a great opportunity to host our customers and show them how committed we are to the industry and to motion picture innovation,” says Kim Snyder, Kodak’s president and general manager of the Entertainment Imaging Division.
Posted 05.8.08 | News/Commentary | No comments yet...
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