Submerged

Cinematographer Polly Morgan digs deep into the shadows for The Truth About Emanuel

By Valentina I. Valentini

At its heart, The Truth About Emanuel is a coming-of-age story. But writer-director Francesca Gregorini made sure that each layer of darkness surrounding the tale of Emanuel—brilliantly played by Kaya Scodelario—didn’t stop at the usual angst-y teenage bits that often accompany a typical coming-of-age movie. She worked eye to eye with cinematographer... Read more

Day Dream Believer

Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh, ASC, NZCS, does his best to capture The Secret Life of Walter Mitty in-camera on film

By David Heuring

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty had its European premiere in mid-November in Bydgoszcz, Poland, as the final film of the 21st Camerimage International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography. For festival attendees, the film was a welcome breath of fresh air after a week of mostly weighty themes and dark visions. The cinematic antecedents of The... Read more

Last Man Standing

Director Peter Berg and cinematographer Tobias A. Schliessler, ASC, re-create a covert Navy SEALs mission in Lone Survivor

By Ian Blair

In the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda operatives, the United States launched many secret missions to hunt down and eliminate terrorist leaders. Many were successful, yet some were not, ending in tragedy. Operation Red Wings was one of the latter, a mission that went horribly wrong. A new film, Lone Survivor, an action-drama starring... Read more

The World At Your Fingertips

With hundreds of thousands of clips just a click away, stock video can significantly raise your production value

By Ian Blair

Cinema has changed dramatically in many regards over the past century, but the use of stock footage has remained a constant and a great way to ramp up production values, especially if you’re an indie filmmaker and/or on a tight budget. Need some aerial footage of the Rockies or the Alps? Or really remote locations, like the Arctic and Antarctic?... Read more

White Collar Criminals

Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC, and Martin Scorsese shoot a hybrid production for The Wolf of Wall Street

By Ian Blair

Over the course of such acclaimed films as The Departed, Gangs of New York, Casino and Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese has examined the morally corrupt lifestyles of the rich and infamous—the made men and gangsters who ran criminal empires and built Las Vegas while destroying the lives of anyone who got in the way. So maybe it was just a matter of time... Read more

Scary Light

Jon Joffin, ASC, gives Hauntera look to remember

By Valentina I. Valentini

Haunter, a bit of a reverse ghost story, if you will, stars Abigail Breslin with teen angst in tow and takes place almost entirely inside one house. Directed by Vincenzo Natali, the film is a departure from his usual writing and directing of science-fiction films such as Cube, Cypher, Nothing and Splice. It was also a departure from his usual medium:... Read more

Hammer Time

Working with the ARRI ALEXA, DP Kramer Morgenthau, ASC, illuminates Thor: The Dark World

By David Heuring

The quickly expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe is set to grow again this November with the release of Thor: The Dark World, a sequel to 2011’s Thor and the eighth Marvel film since Iron Man kicked off things in 2008. For those keeping track, it’s the first film in "Phase Two" of Marvel’s plan to rule the movie world. The... Read more

Tex-Mex

FX’s The Bridge spans a dangerous tale of two separate territories

Kevin H. Martin

Importing popular television series stateside has proven to be a successful approach to domestic programming for decades, with fare as diverse as All in the Family and Three’s Company deriving from UK shows. More recently, Danish television provided the inspiration for a pair of domestic crime series adaptations, AMC’s The Killing (shot... Read more

Grand Prix

Director Ron Howard and DP Anthony Dod Mantle, BSC, integrate VFX and post to create ’70s-era Formula 1 racing for Rush

By Ian Blair

At first glance, director/producer and former child star Ron Howard may not seem like the obvious choice to make a pedal-to-the-metal, testosterone-fueled movie about the exotic world of Formula 1 racing, but since making his directorial debut in 1977 with Grand Theft Auto, he has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most successful and versatile... Read more

Distribution Disruption

Some Girl(s) and Vimeo On Demand will change indie film forever

Neil Matsumoto

Over the years, there have been numerous milestones in the digital filmmaking revolution. You may remember Thomas Vinterberg’s The Celebration (1998), a Danish movie shot with handheld consumer camcorders that inspired thousands of filmmakers to shoot low-budget features with small DV cameras. But this was nothing compared to the 2007 release... Read more