How do cinematographers begin their process? Are they already envisioning potential shots when they read the script, or does that come later? And what are some of the misconceptions audiences have about directors of photography? These are just some of the topics discussed by three top cinematographers when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&A event with 2023 / 2024 awards contenders: Cristina Dunlap (“American Fiction”), Matthew Libatique (“Maestro”) and Linus Sandgren (“Saltburn”).
Watch our fascinating group roundtable panel above, and click on each name to view the contender’s individual interview.
Dunlap says that each process “really depends on the director’s style.” She elaborates, “I tried to work in every department on the film set before I actually made it to being a DP, which was always the goal. But when I worked as an editor, it’s really crafted how I tell stories. And so, I actually shot list and edit order, which maybe isn’t always the best way because then I have to take it back and put it in shooting order.” For “American Fiction,” Dunlap “definitely wanted to come up with a visual style for the film that was going to not mislead the audience. While it is this satire, it’s also a family story and there’s also scenes, without giving too much away, that are quite meta. So we wanted to weave in that meta aspect, which really takes off, I would say, halfway through the film.”
Libatique chimes in, “I try to read [each script] with an open mind. Of course, you can imagine things. I imagine how something’s going to look, but I don’t think about how I would shoot it. Shots and how one camera moves to another camera position, I don’t think about those things. They literally try to get the feeling of it because typically you’re reading a script to meet the director in a meeting or a call or an interview. You just want to understand it wholeheartedly as much as you can. You want to dive deep into the character and have some kind of theory about where you think the narrative structure is or where you think the character arc is or what it is. And so, I concentrate on those things first.” He concludes, “I think the cinematography comes after that.”
As for Sandgren, he tells us, “I feel like it depends on how the script is written. Obviously, it’s hard to resist to see images. You feel the look of the film a little bit maybe. But I try to not talk about it or project it on the director until I’ve spoken to the director, and I really want to get the director’s vision clear in my head. And, ideally, it is really what happens first, in my process, is to try to undo everything I learned, start with a blank page and listen a lot to the director, ask questions, try to talk not so literally about the script, but rather refine it into simpler things.” He notes that he’ll often “start to get images” from moods or words within the script, and take off from there.
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