The Cinematography Podcast

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 349: James Whitaker, ASC

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die DP James Whitaker, ASC played with different genres, with over 70 setups a day in the Norm's diner set. He used LED walls and projectors to cast real, interactive light on the characters in the film’s climax, and swapped to a different camera system for certain scenes to play up the glow of cell phones.

Key Podcast Highlights:
-Shooting the opening sequence of the film in a set replica of Norm’s Diner
-How director Gore Verbinski’s complex, hand-drawn storyboards allowed the crew to maintain a "ballet-like" precision during Rockwell's complex physical performances.
-Using LED walls and projectors to cast real, interactive light on the characters in the film’s climax
-Swapping to a Sony Venice 2 when the cell phone light source wasn’t strong enough in some scenes

Find James Whitaker: Instagram @jameswhitaker_dop
See Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die in theaters
See James' most recent series, DTF St. Louis, on HBO Max
See Patriot on Amazon Prime
Hear our recent interview with Nicole Whitaker: https://www.camnoir.com/ep338/

SHOW RUNDOWN:
02:05 Close Focus
12:14-01:00:49 James Whitaker Interview
01:01:30 Short ends
01:06:46 Wrap up/Credits

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 348: Danny Cohen, BSC

DP Danny Cohen, BSC, reveals how he crafted the "dirty London" look of Slow Horses through motivated lighting, high ASA grain, and the grit of Slough House.

Key Podcast Highlights:
-How Slow Horses ditches the typical block shooting system, with one DP and one director to create the entire season’s visual look.
-Using camera settings to bake in noise and deep, inky blacks for that signature London grit.
-Shooting with 2–3 cameras, which allows for weird, accidental angles that a single camera would never catch.
-Why Danny bans traditional backlighting and soft fill to keep his characters trapped—and embedded—in their murky environments.
- A look at the multi-story Slough House sets that let actors and cameras move through floors without ever hitting a fake wall.

Find Danny Cohen: http://wwwb.co.uk/

See Slow Horses on Apple TV.

SHOW RUNDOWN:
02:23 Close Focus
13:41-51:27 Danny Cohen Interview
51:53 Short ends
01:03:18 Wrap up/Credits

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 347: director Natasha Kermani and DP Julia Swain

In the medieval horror film The Dreadful, director Natasha Kermani and cinematographer Julia Swain transport audiences to the brutal landscapes of the Dark Ages. The independent film shot in Cornwall, England over 17 winter days.

Key Podcast Highlights:
-Development: Kermani spent years crafting the folkloric tale, prioritizing a "gothic storybook" aesthetic that blends historical iconography with psychological dread.
-The Power of Partnership: Kermani and Swain have collaborated on several projects. Early on, they worked together to map out the film’s framing, lens choices and color story.
-Practical Immersion: The crew built a practical cottage set on location, allowing for seamless camera movement between the interior hearth and dark forest.
-Embracing the Elements: Filmed in the dead of winter, the production utilized the low December sun and natural ambiance to create an authentic, oppressive atmosphere without the use of hard, artificial lighting.

Find Natasha Kermani: Instagram @natakerm

Find Julia Swain: Instagram @juliaswain

See The Dreadful in theaters and on VOD now.

SHOW RUNDOWN:
01:59 Close Focus
14:23-01:03:57 Natasha Kermani and Julia Swain Interview
01:04:43 Short ends
01:09:24 Wrap up/Credits

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

The Cinematography Podcast Special: Frederick Wiseman

With the passing of documentarian Frederick Wiseman, here is a re-release of our 2020 interview. He discusses City Hall, Titticut Follies, High School and more. Wiseman was a prolific filmmaker, making 45 films over 50 years. 

Wiseman's family and Zipporah Films kindly request that you support your local PBS affiliate or independent bookstore in Frederick Wiseman’s memory.

Frederick Wiseman has proven that, in his words, “If you hang around long enough, you can collect enough material and cut a dramatic narrative film out of real life.” A Frederick Wiseman documentary has a very specific style- no narration, no identifying lower-third captions, no interviews and no camera movement. The viewer simply watches the story unfold as a slice of life. The subject is usually a mundane, everyday institution that many might simply overlook.

Wiseman feels his films are not merely observational, but that he actively makes decisions on how to sculpt them into a narrative during the editing process. He enjoys making documentary films because he finds comedy and drama exist in ordinary life, just as much as anyone would find in fiction. Wiseman shies away from the terms “documentary” and “cinema verité”- he thinks the term "movie" is good enough because “documentary” is something that sounds like it's supposed to be good for you.

For Wiseman's film, City Hall, he had the idea that recording what happens in a city hall would be a good inside look into the machinery of how a city runs. Boston City Hall happened to be the only one that gave him permission. A staffer of the mayor had seen his films and liked the idea. Unlike some of Wiseman's other movies, Boston mayor Marty Walsh was a central character- as the leader of the city, he is very involved in seeing that it runs smoothly.

Before he became a director, Wiseman was a lawyer and law school teacher. He always wanted to be a director, but had no experience with movies. He saw an opportunity to become a producer when he optioned a novel called The Cool World and asked director Shirley Clark to helm it, which helped demystify the process for him.

Wiseman's first documentary, 1967's Titticut Follies, was about the Bridgewater Prison for the Criminally Insane. He knew the warden from his years as a lawyer and was able to get permission to shoot at the facility and gain access to the inmates. His next film, High School was released in 1968. "After shooting in a prison for the insane, high school seemed to be the next logical progression," he jokes.

Part of Wiseman's process is to find the film as he shoots, venturing forth purposefully blind and with little preparation. For him, it all emerges in the editing process. Wiseman always does his own editing and watches each piece of footage-generally about 150 hours of it- to decide how to structure each sequence.

Find Frederick Wiseman's documentaries. You can see almost all of Wiseman's documentaries on Kanopy for free with your library card.

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The Cinematography Podcast Episode 346: Adolpho Veloso, ABC, AIP

The film Train Dreams tells a story that feels less like a narrative and more like a memory. It began as an independent project that premiered at Sundance to critical acclaim before getting acquired by Netflix. Director Clint Bentley and cinematographer Adolpho Veloso, ABC, AIP, chose to shoot in the rugged landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Veloso's radical commitment to naturalism in the film meant relying almost entirely on firelight, candlelight and natural light. The gorgeous result has earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography.

After their successful collaboration on the low-budget indie movie Jockey, Veloso and director Clint Bentley knew a tiny crew and small group of actors could lead to good, intimate storytelling. They developed a specific visual shorthand designed to make Train Dreams feel like a discovered artifact. They chose a 3:2 aspect ratio, a deliberate nod to still photography, intended to evoke the sensation of looking through a dusty box of old family photos. “We wanted the movie to feel like memories, like finding a box of pictures,” explains Veloso. “The whole visual motif came from still images and still photography in a way.”

Using a single, handheld ARRI ALEXA 35 camera operated by Veloso allowed the actors freedom to improvise and move naturally, often capturing moments that a more rigid, multi-camera setup would have missed. To maintain a clear narrative thread through Robert's (Joel Edgerton) life, Veloso established visual rules using specific lighting shifts to distinguish between the warmth of Robert’s good memories and the starker, haunting quality of his loss.

Grounding the film in nature was extremely important. The team scoured Washington state, looking for woods that appeared untouched by time, yet remained accessible enough for a film crew. They shot around the Spokane area, where the drier weather and specific light quality offered the perfect backdrop for the film’s mid-century setting. Working in national forests meant strict regulations with a small footprint, and timber cutting and axe work was carefully planned.

Using almost entirely firelight, candlelight and natural light is very nontraditional filmmaking, and required a great deal of planning from all departments. For the two sets, the cabin and fire tower, Veloso spent weeks tracking solar orientation. The crew carefully built the cabin to exact specifications to allow plenty of light into the space. “You have the privilege to build it the way you want,” Veloso explains. “It’s a lot of studies of what the sun is doing from week one to week seven. You have to decide where to place the windows so the light continuity holds as the seasons shift.”

The most interesting technical choice was the total ban on LED lighting for period scenes. Veloso wanted the authentic flicker and color temperature of the era, but candles alone often create harsh, distracting shadows. To solve this, the team engineered a “1920s Sky Panel.” This custom rig used large reflective surfaces combined with candles and diffusion to create a soft, glowing light source that felt period-accurate yet flattering on the actors' faces. This required a constant dance between the camera and the art department. Candles, oil lamps, firelight, and campfires had to be good quality light to expose the image properly. For campfire scenes, the gaffer measured light levels in real-time, signaling the fire safety monitor to add wood precisely when the "exposure" needed a boost.

A devastating forest fire at the film's climax required a shift from the naturalistic to the surreal. To capture the flames and feeling of a real forest fire, the production moved to an LED volume stage. Robert is dreaming about what happened in the fire, so the fire scene had to be strange and surreal. Veloso shot at a low frame rate with a wide shutter to create a blurred, fever dream aesthetic. The crew also shot in previously burned forests, capturing the aftermath of a real fire.

Through Veloso's lens, Train Dreams is a tactile, flickering meditation on time itself.

Find Adolpho Veloso: https://www.adolphoveloso.com/
Instagram: @adolphoveloso

Watch Train Dreams on Netflix

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
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