Photograph of Darius Khondji by Marianne Chemetov +++ When I visit Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC, in his home in Paris recently for coffee, tea and talk about his art and craft, we speak in his dark living room, with a small pool of light from a lamp on a nearby table, and soft daylight coming [...]
In her 4-part mini-series When They See Us, director Ava DuVernay details the arrest, trial, incarceration and post-prison release of five young teenagers who were framed by the prosecutor and police, and the heart-wrenching impact of this scandalous injustice on their lives and their families’ lives. The compelling humanity of DuVernay’s five intimate stories is [...]
The Cannes festival identified 56 films for its virtual selection, without putting them into Official Selection, sidebar, out of competition etc Instead the festival grouped films into the following groups: – The Faithful (selected once before) – The Newcomers – First Features – 3 Documentaries – 5 Comedies – 4 Animated films +++ Here is [...]
D A Pennebaker has left us, my condolences to his family and friends. Click on an image to start slide show. +++ D A Pennebaker was a pioneer of cinema vérité, along with Richard Leacock and producer Robert Drew, notably shooting and editing PRIMARY, the landmark documentary about the 1960 presidential campaign. For me, Pennebaker’s [...]
A post about Cannes cinematographers : – The story of the short director and the strong DP on the poster… – A list of the all the DPs in the Official Competition – Some of the other DPs represented in the Festival de Cannes 2019 +++ link: http://bit.ly/CannesCinematography2019 +++
A gallery of images of the historic project to create the first image of a black hole, or more precisely, of the shadow created by the sphere of a black hole’s horizon. The gigantic black hole in galaxy Messier 87 (M87) is the size of our solar system. The M87 black hole is actively creating [...]
9 frames from the upcoming Apollo 11 documentary. Click on image to start slide show +++ LINK http://bit.ly/Apollo11Teaser +++
+++ In part 2, Darius and I discuss: Big Light Sources Approach to Exposure Light Meters Contradictions Working with Directors +++ LINKS Visit with Darius Part 1 http://bit.ly/DariusKhondjiVisit1BenjaminB Part 2 http://bit.ly/DariusKhondjiVisit2BenjaminB +++
+++ The performance of SHALLOW by Bradford Cooper and Lady Gaga at the Oscars was captured in a single-shot Steadicam “Oner”. The scene is beautifully sober, with simple backlighting and a staging and camera movement that ends up with a stunning close-up of their two faces. As Lady Gaga recounts to Jimmy Kimmel, Bradford Cooper [...]
Netflix published a YouTube video showcasing the wonderful cinematography by Alfonso Cuaron for his film ROMA. I grabbed some of the beautifully intricate frames below. Every still frame merits study, like a photograph. Click on any image to enter into a slideshow mode: +++ YouTube link: http://bit.ly/Roma-Cinematography-YouTube +++