Sp Ir It Awardnom in Ee

9 1 0 2 H C R A M AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER • MARCH 2019 • I AM THE NIGHT – SPIRIT AWARD NOMINEES – ASC CLUBHOUSE – SHOT CRAFT: 2ND UNIT • VOL. 100 NO. 3 Indie Honors Madeline’s Madeline The Film Independent Spirit Awards Cinematographer: Ashley Connor honor exceptional directors of Director: Josephine Decker photography Director of photography Ashley Connor met Madeline’s Madeline writer-director Josephine Decker eight By Jim Hemphill and Iain Marcks years ago, and in the time since, they’ve worked together to create a unique cinematic language based on a fluid sense of discovery. “All of Josephine’s movies involve heavy impro- visation, so I developed a camera style that could help facili- Honoring feature projects that are off the beaten trail tate that feeling of the unknown,” Connor reflects. and often supported by limited resources, Film Connor’s dreamy, enigmatic style is an ideal visual Independent’s Spirit Awards ensure that productions veer- corollary for the inner state of the movie’s title character — a ing from the mainstream have a chance to take center stage. troubled teenage girl whose sense of reality starts to frag- AC spoke with the five cinematographers nominated for ment when she becomes involved with a theater group Best Cinematography at this year’s event: Ashley Connor whose leader is all too willing to capitalize on her new for Madeline’s Madeline, Diego García for Wildlife, Benjamin protégé’s raw emotional nerves. “Josephine wanted to push Loeb for Mandy, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom for Suspiria, and the style from our first two films and really embrace abstrac- Zak Mulligan for We the Animals. tion,” Connor says. “She sent me a lot of pictures of outer 42 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary This year’s Independent Spirit Award nominations recognized the outstanding cinematography in the features Madeline’s Madeline, Wildlife, Mandy, We the Animals and Suspiria. , s o f i space, and a few portraits of masked wanted the times when we tell the “Because most of the film involves o d u y t s subjects by Diane Arbus. Then I sent story from her direct point of view to intense handheld where we don’t set S e t r n u o her [the 1962 experimental short film] really capture her energy. It was marks or do proper blocking, I like to z o a c s Cosmic Ray by Bruce Conner and some emotionally and physically exhausting, have the option to pull my own focus, m e A g a f other pieces featuring fun in-camera but so fun to play in her world.” and the Canon K-35s allowed me that o m i y s e effects.” The biggest challenge for Connor flexibility. We wanted the image to melt f e i t l r d u l For Connor, giving the actors and her crew was simply making the and bend, and the K-35 set came with a i o c W s , freedom of movement was essential, most of their limited budget. “We had lot of inherent characteristics that we e s g e i a r given the improvisatory nature of the many locations and not enough time, responded to — chromatic aberrations o m i t a a r project. “My gaffer, Danny April, and I so we had to be quick to make sure we and things of that nature.” i o r i b p a s designed setups that gave the perform- made our days,” she remembers. “I In terms of filtration, in lieu of L u S e , p ers the most amount of freedom to made a little rig for the front of the softening-filters, Connor would paint s o . c m d s l r i explore the space,” she explains. “We camera to do in-camera effects, like different substances onto the surface of o a l F l h i c c E didn’t have any large HMIs, so we’d abnormal focus shifts. Hopefully, our a clear filter — “lube, Vaseline, other r s J L O O R f use mirror boards outside and practi- experiments will encourage someone viscous fluids,” she elaborates. She also e o f h o y T s cals in the space; our lighting package else to play around and find their own used glass to distort the focal plane, y f e s t o e r t y was very minimal, so we had to get magic.” “basically layering different types of r u s o u e c t o r c creative.” Connor’s choice of camera was magnifiers,” she says. Regarding her s u e s o g e c a g In terms of camera movement, it influenced by the budget as well. “I selection of a softening or distortion a s m e i m g i e wasn’t enough to see Madeline’s world always prefer to shoot digital on Arri technique in a given circumstance, a n y i m d l i e n — Connor wanted the audience to feel cameras,” she says, and the production Connor notes, “I usually chose one or s d a l a a M it as well. “It became a pas de deux ultimately employed Arri’s Amira. the other, [as] it was too difficult to m M , i s s ’ n e m A between [lead actor] Helena Howard Connor’s 1st AC, Will Castellucci, have everything working at once, n l i i e l F e h t d and me,” Connor says. “Her perfor- researched old vintage primes to help because I was rotating the x, y and z C a e F M W I mance was so raw and powerful that I the cinematographer find the right set. axes of the filters.” ➔ www.ascmag.com March 2019 43 Indie Honors ! The same name, Wildlife tells the story of a eponymous small-town family in the 1950s, and Madeline (Helena adopts the point of view of a teenage Howard) in a frame from the boy whose parents’ marriage is disinte- feature. grating before his eyes. ▹ Director of Cinematographer Diego García photography Ashley Connor. felt a kinship with Dano as soon as they were introduced. “I was very inspired by the way he wanted to approach the The final grade for Madeline’s was a unique experience to interact film,” García recalls. “It was a combina- Madeline was performed at Goldcrest with so many true artists, from the tion of both modern and classical in New York with Blackmagic Design actors [to the] crew. It made the work language, and from the beginning I DaVinci Resolve, where Connor deeply personal.” understood that Paul wanted a true worked closely with colorist Nat Connor was profiled as one of collaborator with whom he could share Jencks. “He’s done about 93 percent of AC’s Rising Stars of Cinematography in his vision, and find the film in the the projects I’ve shot,” she says. “I tend the Feb. ’19 issue. process of doing it.” Together, García to build the look when we’re shooting, and Dano looked at numerous movies so coloring sessions are more about Wildlife and photographs for inspiration, start- sweetening the image and matching, Cinematographer: Diego García ing with such 1950s-era American rather than making huge changes. Nat Director: Paul Dano photographers as Stephen Shore and really knows my style, so he knows William Eggleston. “The way that they how to bring out the best in the As an actor, Paul Dano has captured the essence and beauty of footage.” worked with such directors as Paul everyday life in the ’50s influenced us Madeline’s Madeline, Connor Thomas Anderson and Denis as we created the visual world and attests, was an experience — and a set Villeneuve, and with a list of esteemed mood of the film,” García explains. — unlike any other. “We started every cinematographers that includes ASC “Paul also brought a lot of Asian morning with five minutes of silence, members Roger Deakins, Darius cinema into the conversation. We both followed by some sort of primal Khondji and Matthew Libatique — so admire Hirokazu Kore-eda’s work [in] scream or improvised chant,” she it comes as no surprise that Dano’s composing his frames, especially Still remembers. “I think when a director directorial debut is a confident, Walking. The same goes for Edward asks their collaborators to bring a lot of controlled production with a precise Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day.” their own experiences into a project, visual style. Adapted by Dano and Zoe García considered capturing the there needs to be safety and trust. It Kazan from Richard Ford’s novel of the era to be one of his greatest challenges, 44 March 2019 ASC 100th Anniversary ▹ Wildlife director Paul Dano leans in to check the frame as cinematographer Diego García operates the camera. " Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal as Jeanette and Jerry Brinson. and looked to period films like The Ice through a very fluid and pleasant Mandy Storm and The Master for inspiration. creative process.” Cinematographer: John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Wildlife was shot on Arri’s Alexa Benjamin Loeb Influence, a film that shares in common XT with Panavision’s spherical Primo Director: Panos Cosmatos with Wildlife a searing portrait of Prime lenses. “After some research dissatisfaction with family life, was about glass, Paul and I determined that Photographed by cinematogra- another key influence. those lenses had the clean and correct pher Benjamin Loeb and directed by García adopted a less-is-more performance [as well as] the personal- Panos Cosmatos, Mandy tells the story approach to his lighting, not wanting ity and texture we were looking for,” of a warm-hearted lumberjack named to distract from the emotional core of García says.

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