The Cinematography Podcast

The Cinematography Podcast
  • 4.7 (120)
  • Film Interviews
  • Updated Biweekly

Art, Business, Craft and Philosophy of the Moving Image

  1. 1d ago

    Eben Bolter, ASC, BSC reimagines a noir classic in Cape Fear

    DP Eben Bolter, ASC, BSC breaks down the watery, noir lighting, anamorphic lenses, and practical tricks behind Apple TV's Cape Fear. Podcast highlights include: -How Eben built Cape Fear's look around the theatrical expressionism of the 1991 Scorsese film. He used the same 2.35 aspect ratio as the Scorsese film, rather than a more conventional widescreen frame. -Working with the production design team to capture the southern humidity and watery themes. Eben chose Atlas Mercury anamorphic lenses with an oval bokeh that give it a watercolor quality. The team also used helium and flame bars to create in-camera heat haze rather than relying on visual effects. -Rigging LED pixel tape and crystals inside the matte box to create practical lens flares on command. Find Eben Bolter: https://www.ebenbolter.com/Cinematography/Cinematography.html Instagram: @ebenbolter Cape Fear is streaming on AppleTV. SHOW RUNDOWN: 01:59 Close Focus 14:14-58:02 Eben Bolter Interview 59:16 Short Ends 01:08:21 Wrap up/Credits The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

  2. Jul 11

    Lyle Vincent on lighting the darkness of The Beast in Me

    Cinematographer Lyle Vincent on shooting the Netflix series The Beast in Me with Panavision lenses and hard lighting that allow deep shadows to fall into black. Vincent's work is a continuation of his collaboration with director Antonio Campos after the HBO Max drama, The Staircase. The eight-episode limited series, shot entirely by Vincent, was approached less like television and more like one very long feature film. Podcast highlights include: -Lyle's long-running collaboration with director/producer Antonio Campos and how it shaped his approach to shooting The Beast in Me as one continuous long-form story, rather than eight separate episodes. -Using Panavision's Ultra Panatar lenses in the sweet spot, with just enough anamorphic blur without distortion. -How the lighting shifts as the characters’ true natures grow darker and harder-edged, undermining the audience's trust. -How Lyle's hard-light, deep-shadow style of Beast traces back to his early work on A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. He lights only what he wants the camera to see and lets everything else fall to black. Find Lyle Vincent: http://lylevincent.com/ Instagram: @lylevincent The Beast in Me is streaming on Netflix. Hear our previous episode with Lyle Vincent on the movie Rosemead: https://www.camnoir.com/ep337/ SHOW RUNDOWN: 01:52 Close Focus 07:05-53:32 Lyle Vincent Interview 53:57 Short Ends 01:03:19 Wrap up/Credits The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

  3. Jul 1

    Christian Sprenger on building the horror-comedy Widow’s Bay

    Christian Sprenger, ASC on balancing horror and comedy in Widow's Bay with lighting, practical effects, and years of trust built with producer Hiro Murai. Podcast highlights include: -How Christian's 11-year creative partnership with executive producer and director Hiro Murai has built a shared shorthand, allowing him to pitch unconventional ideas with total trust. -Why the team resisted moody, shadow-heavy horror lighting in favor of bright, high-key images inspired by Jaws and The Shining. Contrast and realism do the dramatic work instead of obvious genre inspirations. -The team's commitment to practical effects over VFX shortcuts and how that craft translates to audiences. -How Episode 6 became a deliberate break in format, and what it took to convince guest director Ti West to shoot within those constraints. Find Christian Sprenger: https://www.sprengerdp.com/ Instagram: @casprenger Widow's Bay is streaming on Apple TV. SHOW RUNDOWN: 02:05 Close Focus 14:19-01:11:22 Christian Sprenger Interview 01:12:43 Short Ends 01:17:26 Wrap up/Credits The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

  4. Jun 20

    Peter Konczal, ASC on Black Rabbit’s raw, low-contrast look

    Peter Konczal, ASC on Black Rabbit's deliberately low-tech-analog toolkit, customized blue bounce light, and the gradual unraveling of its visual style episode by episode. Podcast highlights include: -The deliberately low-tech-analog toolkit Pete assembled with co-cinematographer Igor Martinović became the show's defining look. It included one of a kind soot filters and scratched-up glass rulers wedged into matte boxes. These complimented detuned lenses and a low-contrast LUT. -How a custom greenish-blue fill light added contrast, separating the actors from the environment. -The inspiration for the asymmetrical framing from Michael Mann's The Insider. Pete and Martinović intentionally mismatched shots instead of using standard reverses. -Choosing to light large areas, allowing performances to unfold without interruption. -How Pete and director Laura Linney used tableaus to great effect in key scenes. Find Pete Konczal: https://www.iconictalentagency.com/pete-konczal Instagram: @petekonczal_asc Black Rabbit is streaming on Netflix. Hear our previous episode with Igor Martinović on the documentary The Pigeon Tunnel: https://www.camnoir.com/ep238/ SHOW RUNDOWN:  02:08 Close focus 13:15-01:03:31 Peter Konczal interview 01:03:47 Short ends 01:10:21 Wrap up/Credits The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

  5. Jun 17

    Suburban street photography and voyeurism in DTF St. Louis

    DP James Whitaker, ASC breaks down the look of HBO's DTF St. Louis: street photographs, a brutalist style police station, and inobtrusively lighting intimacy. Podcast highlights include: -How street photography, not cinema, was the right reference point for shooting ordinary suburbs. -What led to the unusual set design and lighting of one of the key locations, featuring a brutalist interior that feels right out of Eastern Europe. -Engineering a remote-controlled lighting rig for the show's many intimate scenes, so that the mood never had to be broken. Find James Whitaker: https://wp-a.com/clients/james-whitaker#narrative Instagram: @jameswhitaker_dop DTF St. Louis is streaming on HBO Max. Hear our previous episode with James on Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die: https://www.camnoir.com/ep349/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

  6. Jun 13

    Smoke, spotlights, Silicon Valley secrets in The Audacity

    The Audacity DP Richard Rutkowski, ASC made Vancouver look like Palo Alto, used lens filters instead of special effects to create wildfires, and dramatized the themes of the show with spotlights and framing. Podcast highlights include: -How Richard and his crew made Vancouver look convincingly like Silicon Valley and why establishing a sense of place was a creative priority from day one. -Why glass filtration is still one of the most powerful tools in a DP's kit. -Richard breaks down exactly how he built the show's haunting wildfire look using physical filters in camera, with minimal reliance on post. -His philosophy of handheld as intimacy, choreographing the camera to follow the actor so that performance drives the frame. -How visual motifs like frame-within-a-frame compositions and strategic spotlight placement were purposeful to the show's themes, rather than being visually inventive for its own sake. Find Richard Rutkowski: http://see-no-evil.net/ Instagram: @richardrutkowskidp The Audacity is streaming now on AMC+ Hear our previous episode with Richard Rutkowski on Masters of the Air. https://www.camnoir.com/ep255/ SHOW RUNDOWN: 02:02 Close focus 22:27-01:11:32 Richard Rutkowski interview 01:11:45 Short ends 01:19:14 Wrap up/Credits The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

  7. Jun 5

    Bonus Episode: Peter Deming, ASC

    Peter Deming, ASC on shooting Evil Dead 2 with director Sam Raimi and working with director David Lynch on Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and Twin Peaks. Find Peter Deming: Instagram @peter_deming Spider Noir is now streaming on MGM Plus and Amazon Prime. The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

  8. Jun 5

    Shooting in the dark: the making of Spider Noir

    Cinematographers Darren Tiernan, ISC and Peter Deming, ASC are the DPs of Spider Noir, the new MGM Plus and Amazon Prime series starring Nicolas Cage as the hard-boiled 1930s New York detective version of Spider-Man. The character is based on Marvel Comics featuring Spiderman Noir, and first introduced in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Tiernan and Deming created a series that looks like a classic film noir using vintage lights, custom LUTs and a “noir vocabulary.” We dive into: -How the production created a dual release simultaneously in both black and white and color. -Lead DP Darran Tiernan worked for months on LUT development and a workflow that kept every department aligned on both versions from day one. Monitors on set showed what the scenes would look like in black and white. -Why both Darren and Peter used old tungsten lights with Fresnel lenses instead of LEDs whenever possible. Not out of nostalgia, but out of necessity for getting the hard light that defines film noir. -How rigorous preparation, from shot decks before the first meeting to photo boards and green screens on location, allowed creative freedom to take risks in the moment when the cameras were rolling. -Why the goal was never to recreate classic noir but to absorb its philosophy of shadow, composition and expressionistic light and apply it to this specific story. That distinction is what makes Spider Noir feel fresh rather than like a period piece. Find Darran Tiernan: https://darrantiernan.net/ Instagram: @dazt Find Peter Deming: Instagram @peter_deming Spider Noir is now streaming on MGM Plus and Amazon Prime. SHOW RUNDOWN: 03:10 Close Focus 14:42-01:06:55 Darran Tiernan interview 01:06:58-01:39:36 Peter Deming interview 01:40:40 Short ends 01:53:43 Wrap up/Credits The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: @TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Blue Sky: @thecinepod.bsky.social

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4.7
out of 5
120 Ratings

About

Art, Business, Craft and Philosophy of the Moving Image

Information

  • Creator
    The Cinematography Podcast
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    431
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    The Cinematography Podcast

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