Calculated Frames: DP Martin Ruhe on Capturing “The Amateur’s” Deadly Chess Game
In the first part of our conversation with cinematographer Martin Ruhe about his latest film, The Amateur, he discussed director James Hawes’ grounded approach to Rami Malek’s CIA analyst-turned-vigilante by focusing on how his character’s humanity and intelligence were the keys to his playing a deadly game with trained spies and assassins. He’s able to do this not only because of his superior intelligence, but also because he blackmails his superiors (who have been ordering unsanctioned black ops) who know more than he does about the specifics of spycraft,
Lethal Intelligence: How DP Martin Ruhe Shot a Decoder’s Revenge in “The Amateur”
Tapping into nostalgia for ‘90s spy thrillers of late, 20th Century Studios’ globe-trotting espionage revenge thriller features Rami Malek’s quietly ingenious CIA decryption analyst as the everyman reluctant hero. “He’s not a killer, he’s not trained with weapons, he probably wouldn’t survive in a fist fight. So, he has to be smarter than everybody else,” says German cinematographer Martin Ruhe (Showtime series The Agency, The Tender Bar) of Malek’s Charlie Heller.
“Snow White” Cinematographer Mandy Walker on Casting a Visual Spell Through Past & Present
Nestled between a dental office and a local tavern in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Atwater Village is Tam O’Shanter, a Scottish restaurant inside a storybook style Tudor cottage, its interior a blend of rustic elegance and historical charm, a vestige of “Old Hollywood.” In the corner of the dimly lit room is Table 31, a regular spot of Walt Disney when the studio was located on Hyperion Avenue in the 1920s. It’s rumored the restaurant partially inspired Disney’s first feature-length animated film,
How “Severance” Cinematographer David Lanzenberg Captured a Chilling Corporate Nightmare
Severance earned 14 Emmy nominations the first time around, and after a three-year hiatus, the show has reignited fan frenzy as it builds toward the Season 2 finale streaming Friday [March 21] on Apple TV +. Again, bifurcated employees and their bosses (Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman and Christopher Walken) navigate the tortuously fascistic world of Lumon Industries, which severs employees from their civilian selves — but now,
From “Day of the Jackal” to “Captain America: Brave New World”: DP Kramer Morgenthau Breaks Down 70s Thriller Inspiration
Sam Wilson returns in director Julius Onah’s Captain America: Brave New World, here to take on twin domestic threats. Sam (Anthony Mackie) and his sidekick (and replacement as the Falcon) Joaquin (Danny Ramirez) have been sent to Mexico to stop Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) from making an illegal sale. Sam and Joaquin recover the items but lose Sidewinder. The pair then head home to train with Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a former super soldier introduced in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,
“Emilia Pérez’s” Oscar-Nominated Cinematographer Paul Guilhaume on Finding the Light in the Darkness
By now, you’ve either seen or definitely heard about Emilia Pérez. If you haven’t yet seen the film, then likely the first thing you heard was about its accolades—it’s the most Oscar-nominated film of the year, 13 in all. The other story that you’ve definitely heard about is the attention swirling around Emilia herself, Karla Sofía Gascón, the Oscar-nominated star of the film, who is at the center of controversy over her offensive,
“Anora” Cinematographer Drew Daniels on an Old School Approach to Modern, Misguided Love
Shot over 37 days in New York, one of this year’s awards darlings is Sean Baker’s compulsively riveting Anora, a lap-dancing underworld version of Cinderella. Mikey Madison plays the titular stripper, Anora/”Ani,” who thinks she has hit the jackpot when playboy and heir to a Russian oligarch, Ivan “Vanya” (Mark Eydelshteyn), falls in love with her. In an instant, she is plunged into a world of immense wealth, but will she be able to hang on to the rags-to-riches fantasy when forces outside of their budding romance are pressed into service to tear them apart?
Making Macondo: How the “One Hundred Years of Solitude” Cinematographers Brought Gabriel García Márquez’s Epic to Netflix
Directors Alex García López and Laura Mora have undertaken the historic feat of adapting Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez’s 1967 novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, into a sixteen-part Netflix series, the first half of which was released on December 11. Unlike the book, which moves back and forth in time across seven generations of the Buendía family, the show is chronological (and it was shot chronologically, too), but beyond the change in timing,
“Nosferatu” DP Jarin Blaschke on Giving Robert Eggers’ Masterful Vampire Tale Its Bite
Horror fans were given a fresh infusion of Dracula mythology on Christmas Day courtesy of Nosferatu. Written and directed by Robert Eggers, the gothic tale, set in 1838, follows the bloodsucking Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) as he preys on beautiful Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) and her new husband (Nicholas Hoult). Nosferatu boasts an impressive supporting cast who are, like its stars, all-in on yet another of Eggers’ deliciously detailed period pieces,
“Dune: Prophecy” Cinematographer Pierre Gill Captures the Many Moving Pieces of a Dangerous Game
A frequent collaborator with director Denis Villeneuve, award-winning cinematographer Pierre Gill respects the filmmaker’s legacy but also relishes being able to play in the same sandbox and create his own vision with Dune: Prophecy.
A prequel to Villeneuve’s Dune films, Gill maintains the epic scope of the universe in the three episodes he directed, including the pilot and finale of the acclaimed six-episode HBO show,
“Nickel Boys” Cinematographer Jomo Fray Takes a New Angle on a Difficult Past
“Every aspect of the visual language that we built always came from being rooted in the script,” cinematographer Jomo Fray tells The Credits about director RaMell Ross’s moving film Nickel Boys.
Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name, the screenplay, co-written by Ross and Joslyn Barnes, follows the blooming friendship between two black teenagers – Elwood and Turner – as they’re forced to attend a reform school in the Jim Crow South during the Civil Rights Movement.
Feral Frame: How “Nightbitch” Cinematographer Brandon Trost Helped Amy Adams Unleash Her Inner Beast
In Nightbitch, six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams hurls herself into dog mode, slurping meat from a bowl, pawing through the dirt in her backyard, and running with a pack of neighborhood canines in feral protest against the stultifying bonds of motherhood. Cinematographer Brandon Trost, teaming for the third time with writer-director Marielle Heller after Diary of a Teenage Girl and Can You Ever Forgive Me?,
“Maria” Cinematographer Ed Lachman on Painting Angelina Jolie’s Mythic Opera Legend With Light
Passionate Greek-American soprano Maria Callas was the world’s premier opera star when she was struck with various ailments that limited her capacity to sing. She led a life rivaling any opera drama, including a tumultuous relationship with Aristotle Onassis and explosive interactions with collaborators and fans that made her increasingly controversial. She said, “I will always be as difficult as necessary to achieve the best.”
Director Pablo Larraín chose to highlight Callas in his new film Maria.
“Gladiator II” Cinematographer John Mathieson on Capturing Robotic Rhinos & Colossal Carnage
If you’re in the mood for a visually stunning film with gladiators battling to the death in a flooded Colosseum and a very ripped Paul Mescal going head-to-head with a rhinoceros and a baboon, Ridley Scott’s pulse-pounding period actioner is the movie you’ve been waiting for. Twenty-three years after his first Oscar nomination for the original Gladiator, British cinematographer John Mathieson (Logan, Mary Queen of Scots) is back with the long-anticipated sequel,
“Wicked” Cinematographer Alice Brooks on Casting a Magical Light Over This Dazzling Adaptation
Embracing Old Hollywood and a plethora of source material, cinematographer Alice Brooks knew her Wicked vision for Oz would be rich and luxurious.
Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, inspired by the long-running stage show based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel. It stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, a misunderstood green-skinned woman. She finds an unusual kinship with Ariana Grande’s popular girl, Glinda. When their paths lead them to the Wonderful Wizard of Oz,
“The Day of the Jackal” Cinematographer Christopher Ross Lenses Fatal Game of Spy vs Assassin
Eddie Redmayne stars as an unrivaled, anonymous assassin in The Day of the Jackal, a new Peacock series inspired by Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel. Reimagined in a contemporary setting, the Jackal is an English hitman pursued across Europe by Bianca (Lashana Lynch), a British intelligence officer determined to apprehend her target before he gets to his next hit.
Written by Top Boy’s Ronan Bennett and lensed for the first three of ten episodes by cinematographer Christopher Ross,
“Forrest Gump” DP Don Burgess Re-Teams with Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and Director Bob Zemeckis on “Here”
Cinematographer Don Burgess earned an Oscar nomination and helped make an American classic when she shot Forrest Gump in 1994. He’s since re-teamed with star Tom Hanks and director Bob Zemeckis on The Polar Express, Cast Away, and Disney’s live-action remake of Pinocchio. Now, he’s the man behind the camera in Here (in theaters) which pairs Hanks and his Gump co-star Robin Wright in a story that mainly unfolds across ten decades within one New Jersey living room.
“Smile 2” DP Charlie Sarroff on Lighting a Curse-Afflicted Pop Star in the Big City
Life as a pop star isn’t as great as it looks, if the smiles surrounding global sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) are any indicator. Smile 2, director Parker Finn’s sequel to 2022’s surprise hit Smile, demonstrates the horror of having a public psychological breakdown triggered by the triple threat of hidden trauma, the immense pressures of fame, and a deadly curse.
After an addiction-induced meltdown and a car accident that killed her boyfriend,
“Joker: Folie À Deux” Cinematographer Lawrence Sher Dissects 3 Essential Scenes
“The movie is an extension and a further exploration of this idea of our shadow selves as human beings,” Joker: Folie À Deux cinematographer Lawrence Sher tells The Credits. “We all have sides of ourselves that we hide from people. There are also sides we show to people that aren’t really authentic, and that’s what this movie explores.”
Sher, who was nominated with an Academy Award for Todd Phillips’ Joker,
“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,
