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Today I’m talking to Maya Bankovic CSC about her work on Blue Heron. A family of six settles into their new home on Vancouver Island as internal dynamics get revealed through the eyes of the youngest child. Blue Heron premiered at TIFF and just recently closed out a theatrical run and is currently on the Criterion Channel. I also saw recently Richard Brody listed it in his 3 top films of the year so far. Maya and I dive into how the director’s home movies inspired some of the cinematography styles, we discuss vintage zooms and how to evoke the 90s photographically without shooting on film or using filters.

Today I am talking to William Rexer ASC about his work on The Testament of Ann Lee. Revered by her followers, Ann Lee preaches gender and social equality as the founder of the devotional sect the Shakers. This is a bit of a bigger film that I usually focus on but I really enjoyed hearing about Williams fairly extensive prep process and how they managed on a fairly modest budget for the scope of the project to shoot in 4 countries on 35mm. William had 6 different gaffers throughout the making of the film due to all the different areas they shot in and the limited budget. I really enjoyed hearing about how he creates a comfortable environment for actors as well as the level he went to pre-plan almost every shot and camera movement in the film.

Today I am talking to Gabe Elder about his work on Revelations of Divine Love. Adapted from the 14th-century memoir of mystic and philosopher Julian of Norwich this account of religious ecstasy, plague, and revolt is the first book in English authored by a woman. This was a very micro budget film and Gabe and I talk about the challenges and joys that come out of this type of filmmaking. Gabe remarked during the episode that he didn’t even have a dedicated gaffer and as someone who occasionally doesn’t have a dedicated AC for features I thought this would be a fun movie to talk about. In addition to all that we also discuss the use of CUs, lighting for constructed sets and lighting continuity.

Today I’m talking to Jon Bregel about his work on The Baltimorons. A newly sober man’s Christmas Eve dental emergency leads to an unexpected romance with his older dentist as they explore Baltimore together. The film is really funny and directed by Jay Duplass, it premiered at SXSW and was nominated for two indie spirit awards. This was actually Jon’s first narrative feature after working for many years as a commercial director and DP. We talk about the difficult choice of decided to shoot on an FX6 over a cinema camera as well as the ups and downs of shooting small budget features.

Today I’m talking to Patrick Jones about his work on By Design. Camille is enchanted by a beautiful chair in a furniture store and magically swaps bodies with it, finding she’s better liked as an object than a person. By Design premiered at Sundance and opens in theaters today, please go see it. This is Patrick’s fifth feature with director Amanda Kramer. I really loved his work on their previous film together Please Baby Please. We discuss Patrick’s process as well as him trying to track down an HD VHS camera, digging through old Ikea magazines for inspiration and many other topics.

Today I’m talking to Chris Messina about his work on if I Had Legs I’d Kick you. With her life crashing down around her, Linda tries to navigate her daughter’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist. The film premiered at Sundance and was released by A24. I really enjoyed Chris’ work on the film especially his lighting approach, we dive into that as well as how Chris shot film and digital and how they pulled off some of the hardest shots of the film.

Today I’m talking to Aaron Mclisky about his work in Bring Her Back. Bring Her Back is about a brother and sister who are forced to move in with a foster mother and quickly start to realize that something strange is taking place in their new home. This is the follow up film to Talk To Me by the same directors both of which were distributed by A24. I really enjoyed the conversation with Aaron, he dives into all sorts of ideas he developed with the directors in pre-production that result in really subtle visual ideas that they employed throughout the movie. We also chat about how they almost shot in academy ratio, using different lenses for each character’s perspective as well as shooting in the rain and improvising when plans change. We do dive into the film quite a bit so there are a lot of spoilers if you have not seen the film. The film is currently streaming on HBO Max so I recommend watching it before listening to this interview.

Today I’m talking to Bill Kirstein about his work on Happyend. Friends Yuta and Kou, about to graduate, sneak into school. They pull off a terrible prank and face unforeseen consequences as graduation approaches. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is playing in New York at Metrograph currently. The film features really well composed and thought out cinematography by Bill. Bill was recently selected as a Rising Star of Cinematography by American Cinematographer. In addition to shooting Happy End he recently shot the musical Mean Girls, we chat a bit about what that experience was liking transitioning form indie films to a studio movie. In addition to that we also discuss why Bill likes deep focus, shooting happy end from the perspective of the future and what it was like shooting a feature in Japan.

Today I’m talking to Andy Rydzewski about his work on the film Friendship. Friendship centers around Craig Waterman (played by Tim Robinson), a reclusive man who meets his new neighbor Austin (played by Paul Rudd) and forms an unexpected friendship with him. As their friendship grows so does Craig’s obsession with Austin. Friendship premiered at TIFF and went on to be distributed by A24. It’s currently streaming on HBO. Andy was really generous with his time so the podcast this one is on the longer side at 90 minutes. Andy and I dive into how zooming wasn’t initially the plan at the outset, his prep process to finding the right visual language for each film and how Friendship has affected his career. There was also some sort of connection issue with Andy’s side where there were some minor audio dropouts here and there, I did my best to edit them out or stitch them together.

Today I’m talking to Gabe Elder about his work on Familiar Touch. Ruth Goldman, an elderly woman suffering from dementia lives in assisted living. There, she needs to deal with different people, routines and environments while her identity and desires transform. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won three awards including Lion of the Future award, Best Director and Best Actress prizes in the Orizzonti section. Gabe and I dive into a wide range of topics including how every scene was meticulously drawn via overheads, working on indie level budgets, subjective versus objective camera work and how the camera generally maintains the distance and perspective of a care worker.

Today I’m talking to Adam Kolodny about his work on The Featherweight.  Based in 1964 a camera crew follows retired featherweight boxing champion Willie Pep.  Down and Out in Hartford, Connecticut married to a woman half his age and facing mounting debts Pep decides to return to the ring.  The film is shot in a style Adam calls “direct cinema” which is very similar to the style of D.A. Pennebaker or the Maysles Brothers.  Adam and I chat about how they found the particular mix of sensor and lenses to do a film emulation approach.  We also dive into the choices he made to accurately emulate the filmmaking styles at the time

Today is a bit of a different episode. I had the opportunity to talk to Adrian Peng Correia - rather than focusing on one project we have a wide ranging conversation primarily about his transition from shooting indie features to large budget television. We also chat about agents, selecting projects, making decks, the interview process, and many more topics.

A conversation with Douglas Koch CSC about his work on David Cronenberg's The Shrouds. We discuss how the film was shot mostly with one focal length, how Cronenberg does not storyboard or shotlist and we also chat a bit about how Douglas does re-shoots for M. Night Shyamalan's Trap.

A conversation with Ben Mullen about his work on Sacramento. Sacramento is a comedic road film about an energetic and free-spirited young man who convinces his longtime friend who is settled into domestic life to go on an impromptu road trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento. The film premiered in 2024 at Tribeca and will be in theaters this friday April 11th.

A conversation with cinematographer Matheus Bastos about his work on the feature film Gazer. Gazer premiered at Cannes as a part of Directors Fortnight in 2024. Gazer is a noir thriller about a single mother living outside Newark suffering from worsening mental condition that makes it increasingly difficult for her to accurately perceive the passage of time.  Isolated from her daughter by the state and her in law she takes on an assignment out of desperation only to find herself tangled in a web of intrigue with wide reaching implications.