“Black Bird” Cinematographer Natalie Kingston Breaks Down Her Technique on Apple’s Crime Thriller

There’s a symphony of visual subtlety threaded throughout creator Dennis Lehane’s psychological crime drama Black Bird (available now on Apple TV+) that harmoniously lifts the resonating performances and moody tenor of the story that can be easily overlooked. Series cinematographer Natalie Kingston (who alluringly photographed all six episodes) prefers it that way.

Based on the life of James Keene (Taron Egerton), a Chicago-area high school football star turned dope dealer and eventual prison inmate,

“Reasonable Doubt” DP Robert E. Arnold on Lensing Hulu’s Legal Drama

Robert E. Arnold figured he’d paid his dues in Hollywood, working since 2008 as a grip, gaffer, and Steadicam operator on dozens of projects ranging from Big Little Lies and Grown-ish to The Walking Dead and Furious 7. But those credits, along with a degree from Los Angeles’ prestigious American Film Institute, failed to open doors to the coveted Director of Photography position he hankered for.

“Don’t Worry Darling” Cinematographer Matthew Libatique on Creating a Sinister World Beneath the Surface

There’s a menacing unreality looming beneath the surface in Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling that cinematographer Matthew Libatique (The Whale, A Star is Born) stitched together through a tapestry of largely subliminal clues, subconsciously pinning you to the story’s shocking twist. 

Midsommar scene-stealer Florence Pugh steps into the role of Alice Chambers, a young housewife living her best life circa the 1950s.

“Confess, Fletch” Cinematographer Sam Levy Modernizes the Crime Caper

Being pegged as the main suspect in a murder may sound worrisome, but some cinematic shooting, scenic locales, and Jon Hamm’s charm can make such a predicament seem seductive, and Confess, Fletch both resurrects and modernizes the classic crime caper. Pulled from the pages of Gregory Mcdonald’s 1970s novels, Fletch now carries a smartphone, but still inhabits an atmospheric world of suspense and adventure. 

Cinematographer Sam Levy strikes a noir tone with contemporary clarity.

“The Woman King” DP Polly Morgan on Lensing Viola Davis in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Thrilling Epic

A sweeping historical epic that blends intimacy and adventure is the kind of movie that The Woman King cinematographer Polly Morgan dreamed about making while growing up in West Sussex, England. 

“My earliest memories were Close Encounters and Empire of the Sun. Spielberg captured my imagination like many of my generation,” said Morgan over the phone from the Toronto International Film Festival, where The Woman King had its world premiere.

Going For Broke in HBO’s “Industry” With Cinematographer Federico Cesca

For fans of HBO’s Industry who relished its hyper-intensive peek into the world of international finance, the series’ return this August after an 18-month hiatus was like welcome news on the financial markets.

The ambitious hirers who survived the cutthroat trading floor in season one are upping their game as they fight to make their mark at Pierpoint & Co, the prestigious London-based investment bank. Harper Stern (Myha’la Herrold) is scoring points by currying the favor and business of Jesse Bloom (Jay Duplass),

Emmy-Nominated “Dopesick” Cinematographer Checco Varese on Layering in Subliminal Clues

Cinematographer Checco Varese is no stranger when it comes to photographing pilots, having created alluring visual palettes for over twenty projects, including David Elliot’s Four Brothers, Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain, and HBO’s True Blood. He reconnected with Empire creator Danny Strong to shoot Hulu’s Dopesick, a poignant narrative about the opioid crisis starring Michael Keaton as a doctor in a small mining town affected by the addictive drug.

“Nope” Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema on Capturing the Epic Scope of Jordan Peele’s Latest

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema failed to get into two Dutch film schools, so he worked in a soap factory, played in a band, and survived unemployment as a self-described “slacker” before finding his creative footing at a renowned cinema academy in Lodz, Poland. Since then, he’s made up for lost time through collaborations with A-list auteurs, including David O. Russell (The Fighter), Sam Mendes (Spectre), and Spike Jonez (Her).

“Winning Time” Cinematographer Todd Banhazl on Capturing the Flow State

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty sounded, on paper, like a no-brainer for HBO. Based on Jeff Pearlman’s book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s,” the source material had every ingredient you’d want for a prestige series. It had larger-than-life figures in Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar (as well as their foils and foes around the NBA), it’s set largely in Los Angeles in the late 70s and early 80s (gaudy,

“Moon Knight” Cinematographer Gregory Middleton on Creating Marvel’s Head Trip

Moon Knight cinematographer Gregory Middleton came to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with considerable world-building experience. He helmed six episodes of HBO’s colossal fantasy series Game of Thrones, as well as three episodes of Damon Lindelof’s fantastic adaptation of Watchmen (also for HBO), so it would be unfair to say he was daunted to take on Marvel’s vaunted, ever-expanding cinematic universe.

Yet Middleton had his work cut out for him with Moon Knight, 

“Barry” Cinematographer Carl Herse on Lighting Season 3’s Dark Path

Barry cinematographer Carl Herse has his fingerprints all of season three in what is turning out to be a reckoning for the titular hitman (played by co-creator/writer/director Bill Hader). Herse joined the Barry team and lensed five of season three’s 8 episodes (1, 2, 6, 7, and 8) in what has turned out to be the darkest stretch of Barry’s decidedly pitch black journey thus far.

Citing influences as wide-ranging as Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood,

“Stranger Things” Cinematographer Caleb Heymann on Season 4’s Monstrous Mayhem

*Spoilers below for the first seven episodes of season 4!

The first seven episodes — the last two are expected in July — of Stranger Things Season 4 go big. Hopper (David Harbour) is alive but in a Soviet prison. The kids are split up, with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Will (Noah Schnapp) living the opposite of a teenage dream out in California. The rest of the gang are still in Hawkins,

“The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” DP Shawn Peters on Lensing Samuel L. Jackson’s Rare TV Performance

Based on Walter Mosley’s eponymous novel, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey portrays 91-year-old Ptolemy (Samuel L. Jackson), a lonely widower suffering from Alzheimer’s, as he undergoes a transformation thanks to Robyn (Dominique Fishback), the teenage daughter of a family member’s friend, and an experimental new drug, offered at a beyond questionable clinic.

Jackson, who rarely takes on television projects, is sublime as the limited series’ Papa Grey: by turns helpless,

“The Wheel of Time” Cinematographer David Moxness on Lensing Amazon’s Lush Fantasy Epic

Amazon Prime’s sprawling sci-fi saga The Wheel of Time was one of the streamer’s big hits in 2021, and also one of its biggest swings. Adapted from Robert Jordan’s sweeping fantasy novels (14 in all), The Wheel of Time arrived on Prime and swiftly became the most-watched series premiere of 2021 and one of the top 5 series launches for Prime Video, ever. The interest stemmed from the love for Jordan’s source material,

Oscar-Nominated “Dune” DP Greig Fraser on Taming an Epic Sci-Fi Beast

Denis Villeneuve is the director to finally tame a film version of Dune, Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel that, over the decades, accidentally spawned a cottage industry of unsuccessful visual projects (see: David Lynch’s 1984 Dune, the SyFy channel’s attempt in 2000, and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune, which never saw the light of day). Casting Timothée Chalamet as young prince Paul Atreides and Zendaya as Chani of the Fremen,

Cinematographer Jon Furmanski Reunites With Amy Schumer in “Life & Beth”

When she co-hosts ABC’s Oscar telecast on March 27, Amy Schumer will likely deliver the kind of withering punch lines that forged her reputation as one of America’s most daring comedians. But in her new Hulu series Life & Beth (which debuted on March 18) Schumer brings unexpected angst to her title character, an unhappy wine salesperson trying to make a fresh start in the face of death, disapproval, and dysfunctional family ties.

“The Batman” Cinematographer Greig Fraser on Finding Light in the Darkness

At a gripping three hours, The Batman isn’t so much an endurance test as it is a lengthy visual puzzle, one that takes place primarily after hours. Director Matt Reeves’s take on Batman (Robert Pattinson) may be the franchise’s most disaffected nocturnal not-so-superhero yet. Working, brooding, and convening with Alfred (Andy Serkis) from dusk ’til dawn, this Bruce Wayne is consumed by trying to undo a complex web of official corruption hidden by Gotham City’s entrenched crop of violent mafiosos.

“After Yang” Cinematographer Benjamin Loeb on the Spare Sci-Fi Beauty of Kogonada’s Latest

After Yang cinematographer Benjamin Loeb knew the minute he met South Korean-born director Kogonada that theirs would not be a standard show biz collaboration. When Loeb called from his native Oslo to Zoom interview for the DP job, he and Kogonada barely mentioned the project at hand. Instead, they talked about ramen. “We spent hours talking about the complexion of broth and what makes the broth look good and feel good,” Loeb recalls.

“Station Eleven” Cinematographer Christian Sprenger on Threading Timelines & Revealing Humanity

It was two days after Christmas when I texted cinematographer Christian Sprenger to ask if he’d be interested in talking about Station Eleven, the critically acclaimed limited series created for television by Patrick Somerville (Maniac, The Leftovers) on HBO Max. I had just finished watching the pilot episode “Wheel of Fire,” which he photographed alongside director Hiro Murai, and the visual aesthetics were astoundingly refreshing.

Adapted from the book by Emily St.

Sundance 2022: “Master” Cinematographer Charlotte Hornsby on the Fest’s Breakout Horror Film

Writer and director Mariama Diallo brings atmospheric horror to the world of academia in her directorial debut Master, which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film stars Regina Hall as professor Gail Bishop, who has recently been made the first Black woman to hold the position of residence hall ‘Master’ at a prestigious fictional university called Ancaster. Both she and a fresh, optimistic Black student Jasmine (Zoe Moore) begin to feel a menacing supernatural presence.