Best of 2019: The Irishman Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto on Crafting Scorsese’s Masterpiece

*We’re reposting some of our favorite interviews of 2019 from some of our favorite films and shows of the year.

Beloved auteur Martin Scorsese’s new film The Irishman has brought Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci together onscreen for the first time in 24 years and added Al Pacino, whom he’d never worked with before, building a cast that sounds truly compelling to lovers of great acting and great film.

How Cinematographer Roger Deakins & Team Pulled off the One-Shot Masterpiece 1917

For Sam Mendes, the multi-hyphenate who produced, directed and co-wrote the script with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, 1917 was a personal story. It follows two British soldiers – Schofield (George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) – tasked with delivering a message across enemy lines in order to stop a battle that could save hundreds of soldiers’ lives. The idea came to Mendes after his grandfather shared with him World War I stories where he himself had been a runner.

How Watchmen Cinematographer Gregory Middleton Captured Hooded Justice’s Harrowing Origin

Vancouver-based DP Gregory Middleton has lensed his share of prestigious series before Watchmen, having scored Emmy and ASC nominations for his work on different Game of Thrones episodes, and finding himself behind the viewfinder for shows like The Killing, cult hit movies like James Gunn’s Slither and many more.

But it was working with director Nicole Kassell on episodes of The Killing—rather than his earlier toe-dip into the DC Universe,

How Jay-Z Connected the Oscar Hopefuls of Uncut Gems

The song “Marcy Me,” a poetically rhythmic Jay-Z track where the billionaire mogul reminisces about his time living in the Marcy Projects of Brooklyn raps, “Streets is my artery, the vein of my existence.” It’s an apt line to describe Howard Ranter (Adam Sandler), a fast-talking jewelry store owner in New York’s Diamond District who has to hustle the streets to crawl out of a life crashing around him.

But it’s more than lyrics that link Jay-Z to the movie Uncut Gems,

Ford v Ferrari Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael on the Need for Real Speed

Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael grew up seeing the value of a great artistic collaboration. His father, also Phedon Papamichael, was an art director and production designer who worked on several landmark films by indie pioneer John Cassavetes including Faces (1968) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974).

The younger Papamichael, who was born in Athens, Greece and studied filmmaking in Germany, is best known for his work with directors  Alexander Payne—Papamichael earned an Oscar nomination for Nebraska (2011)—and with James Mangold.

The Irishman Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto on Crafting Scorsese’s Masterpiece

Beloved auteur Martin Scorsese’s new film The Irishman has brought Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci together onscreen for the first time in 24 years and added Al Pacino, whom he’d never worked with before, building a cast that sounds truly compelling to lovers of great acting and great film. Based on “I Heard You Paint Houses,” the narrative nonfiction book by homicide detective Charles Brandt, the story centers on Frank Sheeran (De Niro) who,

How Us Cinematographer Michael Gioulakis Captured Doppelgangers in the Dark

“I have an aversion to moonlight, at least in movies.” So says cinematographer Michael Gioulakis, who had ample opportunity to capture dark spaces in Jordan Peele‘s critically acclaimed horror film Us. Peele’s follow-up to Oscar-nominated thriller Get Out casts Lupita Nyog’o as a high-strung mother who’s being stalked, along with her husband (Winston Duke) and kids (Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex), by homicidal doppelgangers.

The Lighthouse Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke on Capturing Madness

When I caught Robert Eggers The Lighthouse at the Toronto International Film Festival, I was, to put it mildly, enthused. Relentlessly original, hypnotic, and gleefully insane, it was the work of an artist and a long list of collaborators going full tilt. The performances from the two leads, Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, the score from Mark Korven, the production design from Craig Lathrop—everyone listed in the credits helped turn Eggers and his brother Max’s script into the fever dream depicted on screen.

What We Do In the Shadows Cinematographer DJ Stipsen on the Art of Vampire Stupidity

What We Do in the Shadows, based on the feature film of the same name from Taikia Waititi and Jemaine Clement, is unlike any vampire show on TV. Like the film, the show is staged as a documentary of four vampires who have been living together for centuries. In the series, which airs on FX, our vampires live on Staten Island (in the film they were based in Wellington,

Hustlers Cinematographer on Capturing Glamour, Grime, & J. Lo’s Knockout Performance

Writer/director Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers, based on a gangbusters piece of reporting from The Cut‘s Jessica Pressler, follows a group of dancers-turned-criminals from New York’s famous strip club Scores. Although “criminals” in the Robin Hood sense—sort of. Sure, the two women at the center of the story don’t give their pilfered riches to the poor, but you’re rooting for them nonetheless. It also helps that they’re embodied by a sensational Jennifer Lopez as Ramona and the rising star Constance Wu as Destiny.

How Cinematographer Checco Varese Harnessed Darkness in It: Chapter Two

The 2017 remake of Stephen King’s It was box office smash raking in over 700 million worldwide during its release. Pennywise was back and Warner Bros tapped director Andy Muschietti, who shot the remake, to bring the sequel to the silver screen which picks up the horrific events 27 years later. The Credits detailed you in on the hair-raising score from Benjamin Wallfisch. Now let’s step into the shadows with cinematographer Checco Varese and face our Pennywise fears.   

TIFF 2019: Legendary Cinematographer Roger Deakins on Capturing The Goldfinch

Cinematographer Roger Deakins, best known for his work on the films of the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve, whose Blade Runner 2049 earned Deakins his first Oscar last year after 14 nominations, is no stranger to complex adult dramas. For The Goldfinch, Deakins and director John Crowley worked carefully to bring Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel to the screen without falling into the traps that often snare book adaptations.

Best of Summer 2019: Fleabag‘s Emmy-Nominated Cinematographer on Capturing Cutting-Edge Comedy

*As summer draws to a close, we’re looking back at some of our favorite interviews and stories.

There’s no such thing as flawless art. Flaws are baked right into anything a human being creates, and often they are hard to disassociate from the strengths that make any art worthwhile. Yet I’ve heard several people call Fleabag‘s second season flawless, and I’ve been hard-pressed to argue the point.

Fleabag‘s Emmy-Nominated Cinematographer on Crafting a Nearly Flawless Second Season

There’s no such thing as flawless art. Flaws are baked right into anything a human being creates, and often they are hard to disassociate from the strengths that make any art worthwhile. Yet I’ve heard several people call Fleabag‘s second season flawless, and I’ve been hard-pressed to argue the point. Few shows on television are as personal, raw, and fearless as what Phoebe Waller-Bridge has created here, which is full of its creators’

Deconstructing Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s With his Cinematographer Robert Richardson

When you dig past the humorous and unnerving storylines of Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, you’ll find a serious tale about friendship.

Set in 1969, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a fading Western star trying to stay relevant in Tinseltown has one sure thing—his stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Booth’s past includes being a war hero and some domestic trouble,

How Mood & Lighting Established Tone in The Last Black Man in San Francisco

The Last Black Man in San Francisco marks the feature debut for director Joe Talbot, an allegory that puts a spotlight on the childhood dream and the effects of gentrification.

Inspired by the real-life story of Jimmie Fails, who plays a fictionalized version of himself, Fails, with the help of his best friend Mont (Jonathan Majors), go on a journey to take back the family home his grandfather built but lost ownership of when he was a young child.

How Russian Doll’s Cinematographer Owned the Night in Netflix’s hit Series

“Joel was amazing for coming up with solutions for turning New York into a Russian Doll city.”  The Big Apple already boasts its share of Russian dolls, mobsters, peroshkis, and more, of course, but cinematographer Chris Teague is instead referring his gaffer, Joel Minnich, and the recent hit Netflix series of the same title, which he shot.

Starring co-creator, co-producer (and for one episode, director) Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll follows the various embedded and unraveling realities of Nadia,

Building Thousands of Years of History in Amazon’s Good Omens

“Corners are where everyone makes decisions. This is the point where you change directions.” And corners are usually located at crossroads, to boot, the very place—especially if you’re a Mississippi bluesman—where it’s said deals with the devil can be struck.

The corner in question, however, concerns an angel, and the London bookshop that he owns—part of Michael Ralph’s production design on the upcoming Amazon/BBC adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens.

Martin Ruhe on Shooting George Clooney’s Catch-22 Adaptation

“Certain things I don’t think we’d be legally allowed to do now,” observes cinematographer Martin Ruhe, ASC, when reflecting on the prior attempt to bring Joseph Heller’s classic, absurdist, and decidedly non-chronological Catch-22 to the screen.

That would be the 1970 Mike Nichols film version, which was somewhat of a commercial and critical bust at the time but has since come to be regarded in more classic “70’s cinema” terms.

Captive State DP Pictures Chicago After Aliens

Director Rupert Wyatt took motion capture technology to the next level in 2011 with VFX-intensive Rise of the Planet of the Apes. For his new sci-fi movie Captive State (opening Friday, March 15), Wyatt and director of photography Alex Disenhof took a stripped-down approach, filming on the wintry streets of Chicago to conjure a near-future urban dystopia ruled by aliens. Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) plays the leader of a resistance movement,