“On Swift Horses” Director Daniel Minahan & DP Luc Montpellier on Love in the Shadows in the 1950s
On Swift Horses director Daniel Minahan has long admired the work of cinematographer Luc Montpellier. “He shot Tales From the Loop, which is one of the best series I’ve ever seen. And [the 2022 film] Women Talking is just a feat of design and performance. So I said to him, ‘Your work is so beautiful and so controlled; I really want to mess it up.’”
Minahan was determined that from the music to the set design to the photography,
Eye on the Emmys: “3 Body Problem” Cinematographer Martin Ahlgren on Lensing Series’ Wildest Set Piece
*Ahead of the 2024 Emmy Awards on September 15, we’re looking back at our interviews with some of this year’s nominees. Martin Ahlgren is nominated for Outstanding Cinematograph for a One Hour Series for episode 5, “Judgement Day.”
The scope of 3 Body Problem is planetary. Adapted by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, alongside Alexander Woo, Netflix’s ambitious sci-fi series presents a grand depiction of a war between humanity and aliens.
“Women in Blue” Cinematographer Sarasvati Herrera on Lensing Apple TV+’s Gripping New Thriller
The Apple TV+ series Women in Blue (Las Azules) is torn from the history books of Mexico during a time when the first female police officers joined the ranks. Created by Pablo Aramendi and Fernando Rovzar, the ten-episode crime thriller follows four women – María (Bárbara Mori), Gabina (Amorita Rasgado), Ángeles (Ximena Sariñana), and Valentina (Natalia Téllez) – on a psychological whodunit as they to catch a serial killer terrorizing the neighborhood.
“King Ivory” Cinematographer Will Stone Illuminates John Swab’s Fentanyl Crime Drama
“This was a very important script for him,” says cinematographer Will Stone about writer-director John Swab and his latest project, King Ivory, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Swab is a recovering drug addict, and with his feature film Body Brokers (2021), he took first-hand accounts of time he spent in drug rehabilitation centers to deliver a visually gritty narrative about scammers profiting off keeping people in recovery.
“The Perfect Couple” Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut on Framing Netflix’s Sun-Soaked Nantucket Noir
“It was one of the most stress-free jobs I’d ever done,” cinematographer Shane Hurlbut tells The Credits during a video call about the Netflix murder mystery The Perfect Couple. Based on a book of the same name by Elin Hilderbrand, the mini-series is created by Jenna Lamia and stars Nicole Kidman and Liv Schreiber as husband and wife living in a breathtaking beachfront property on the tiny island of Nantucket.
Giovanni Ribisi on Shooting JT Mollner’s Must-See Horror “Strange Darling”
About 15 years ago, I was editing a magazine out of this small audio shop off Cahuenga Blvd. in Los Angeles, and in walked Giovanni Ribisi. At the time, the actor was already ten years removed from one of movie history’s most harrowing death scenes in Saving Private Ryan and was coming off the recent billion-dollar success of Avatar. But Ribisi wasn’t there for anything acting-related. He was looking for an audio cable for a recent camera purchase.
“Sing Sing” Cinematographer Pat Scola on Capturing a Raw, Moving Portrait of Humanity
“It was really about getting out of your own way and allowing these men’s story to come to the forefront,” cinematographer Pat Scola tells The Credits about the emotionally stirring film Sing Sing from director Greg Kwedar, which shines a delicate light on the arts rehabilitation program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. “Greg was the one who led from the front on this, and we were there to help tell the story without putting our hands all over it,” Scola says.
“Presumed Innocent” DPs Daniel Voldheim & Doug Emmett on Capturing Jake Gyllenhaal’s Raw Emotions & Moral Ambiguity
An intoxicating amalgam of courtroom thriller, relationship drama, and a whodunit, David E. Kelley’s latest entry into long-form prestige drama arrives with Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent, a cerebral puzzle steeped in betrayal, obsession, love, and ambition. Fresh off his quietly menacing turn in Amazon MGM’s wildly entertaining Road House remake, Jake Gyllenhaal (who also serves as Executive Producer) plays Rusty Sabich, Chicago’s chief deputy prosecutor and devoted family man,
Cinematographer Sam Levy on the Absurdist Fun That is Julio Torres’ “Fantasmas”
Julio Torres wrote, directed, and stars in his new HBO series, Fantasmas, a delightfully absurdist comic fantasy loosely predicated on a search for a lost earring. Fantasmas, which means “ghosts” in Spanish, questions reality — Torres and his costars, including Emma Stone and Bernardo Velasco, with cameos by actors like Tilda Swinton, exist in a world that seems to be both multi-dimensional and missing dimensions at the same time,
Chasing Precision and Perfection with Aerial DPs on “The Blue Angels” – Part 2
In part one of our interview, former Blue Angels pilot LCDR Lance “Bubb” Benson, aerial DP Michael FitzMaurice, and aerial coordinator Kevin LaRosa II shared how the painstaking planning process really paid off and the use of Benson’s “chase” jet to capture unique vantage points. Now, we delve into the camera configurations and what it took to film some of the most popular maneuvers from the air.
The sizeable discrepancy between the airspeeds of the helicopter and the F-18s was crucial in intensifying the visceral rush on-screen.
Chasing Precision and Perfection with Aerial DPs on “The Blue Angels” – Part 1
Every year since the Blue Angels were established in 1946, crowds of all ages have oohed and aahed at airshows from Brunswick, Maine to Huntington Beach, California, as the United States Navy’s precision flight demonstration team performs intoxicatingly vertiginous aerial maneuvers in the skies. With six F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets flying a mere 12-18 inches apart at 400-600mph, the only way to capture every hypersonic swoop and stomach-churning roll on camera up close—and safely—for the Amazon MGM feature documentary was to have a former Blue Angel in the aerial cinematography team.
“Baby Reindeer” Cinematographer Krzysztof Trojnar on Lensing Loneliness
Amidst an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, audiences united in crowning Baby Reindeer the breakout hit TV series of the year. Series creator and star Richard Gadd mined his real-life trauma to create Donny Dunn, who yearns for adoration to catastrophic results. The aspiring comedian discovers that meaning well doesn’t always end well. In a time when there’s immense societal pressure for everyone to have rigid, binary opinions on every issue, and mistakes are often condemned while ignoring intention,
“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” DP Robrecht Heyvaert on Creating the Ride of a Lifetime
In the fourth time around for Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s wise-cracking Miami detectives, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, now in theaters, earns its summer popcorn movie bonafides with loads of goofy banter and antic action sequences. Helmed by Belgian-Moroccan directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Ride or Die follows Mike Lowery [Smith] and Marcus Lawrence [Lawrence] as they do battle with a sadistic criminal mastermind named McGrath (Eric Dane) and corrupt cops.
Capturing Cavill & More With “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” Cinematographer Ed Wild
In Part One of our conversation with cinematographer Ed Wild, we discussed how his documentary filmmaking background worked very well with director Guy Ritchie’s pragmatic and responsive approach. We continue the discussion with the throughline in Ritchie’s latest films, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and The Covenant, both of which were lensed by Wild.
To create a lavish ballroom for the extravagant costume party in the third act,
“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” DP Ed Wild Captures the Chaos of Guy Ritchie’s Crackling Action-Comedy
Following last year’s contemplative war thriller The Covenant, director Guy Ritchie is back with a propulsive military actioner with his go-to cinematographer in recent years, Ed Wild (London Has Fallen and Ritchie’s Netflix adaptation of his own film, The Gentlemen). On his fifth collaboration with Ritchie in two years, Wild is very comfortable with the director’s fluid shooting style. “We’ve got a real rhythm for how to do things quickly.
“3 Body Problem” Cinematographer Martin Ahlgren on Creating the Series’ Most Shocking Set Piece
The scope of 3 Body Problem is planetary. Adapted by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, alongside Alexander Woo, Netflix’s ambitious sci-fi series presents a grand depiction of a war between humanity and aliens. Prior to the aliens’ arrival, a team of beleaguered scientists and a clandestine agency led by Thomas Wade (Liam Cunningham) engage in both intellectual and physical warfare as they try to find ways to cope with the mind-melting reality of their situation,
“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” Cinematographer Ben Seresin Unleashes Cinema’s Most Iconic Titans
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a vision as large and in charge as its two titular characters. In this MonsterVerse sequel, director Adam Wingard and cinematographer Ben Seresin (Pain & Gain) not only doubled down but quadrupled down on the robust vibrancy of Godzilla v Kong. It’s a pure crowd-pleasing aesthetic, which, for Seresin, is about far more than presenting the cleanest or prettiest sights or the most bombastic Titan takedown.
How “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” Cinematographer Eric Steelberg Brought Slimer & the Firehouse Back to Life
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has a visual style reminiscent of the iconic 1984 film, a palette cinematographer Eric Steelberg (Ahsoka, Hawkeye) intentionally crafted for this story that sees characters new and old strap on a proton pack to bust a chilling demon terrorizing their city. “We wanted to capture the texture, color, and grit of the original movie so nothing seemed too new,” Steelberg tells The Credits about creating the look that artfully blends rich hues and deep blacks for a heightened,
“Dune: Part Two” Cinematographer Greig Fraser on Finding Clarity in Chaos
In part one of our interview with Dune: Part Two cinematographer Greig Fraser, the Oscar-winner took us on a trip to the planet of Giedi Prime, home to the vampiric Harkonnen clan, to reveal how he captured that bloodless light during Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler)’s gladiator scene, those inky blacks during Feyd’s fateful meeting with Lady Margot, and how the surprising inspiration for those “anti-fireworks” after Feyd’s victory.
Now we turn to Fraser’s method for filming action sequences,
“Dune: Part Two” Cinematographer Greig Fraser on Poisoning the Light of Giedi Prime
If you polled all the people who have now seen Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two in theaters about what was the most visually striking moment, my guess is it would be the Sandworm Express in a runaway. We’re talking, of course, about Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) riding the universe’s most dangerous mode of transport—a colossal sandworm—across the dunes of Arrakis. And while that sequence is staggering in its audacity and surprising in its alchemical verisimilitude (it feels as if that’s precisely what it would be like to try and surf on a skyscraper-sized alien terrestrial annelid),
