Highlights - Sam Levy - Cinematographer of “Lady Bird” “Confess, Fletch” “Frances Ha”

“Every movie is different. Every story is different. We've been talking about Lady Bird, and you mentioned Francis Ha. So we made Francis Ha first, and there's an interesting relationship between her and her best friend that is almost like a romance, but it's not actually romantic, but the way the story is told, it's like two lovers, but they get into arguments and there's a lot of conflict. And then Ladybird, there's a lot of conflict between the mother and the daughter. And in some sense, I remember thinking, Well, I've made things before and with Greta where there's conflict and maybe there's some overlap here, but there wasn't. It's just every time you start from scratch, and you might think, Well, if we use a certain camera or if we use certain tools, maybe that will help. But that's really the last step. And then I think, you have to have a more, a sort of less practical approach in the initial discussions.

I find it helpful to speak with the director and all the collaborators on the project and just to have what I'd call a more dreamy conversation when you get together in a cafe or in the office and just talk through more emotional aspects of the story. There’s these very earthly concerns that making a film requires, and you have to really leave all that stuff for later. All the stuff is important, just like in any creative process or business where there's a finite amount of resources. But how do you show certain relationships? The fact is you just have to talk about them first and figure out what they are. It's really important to understand specifically what the emotional notes are of the story. And then, little by little, we just figure out the technique of like the brush strokes, if it were painting, or the notes, if it were music. In cinematography, it's a visual medium, so eventually, we're moving towards: What is in the frame or what isn't in the frame? And how will these frames transition to each other?”

Sam Levy studied film in Paris with French New Wave director Eric Rohmer and began his career as an apprentice to legendary cinematographer Harris Savides. Sam first gained recognition as a cinematographer when he photographed Wendy and Lucy for director Kelly Reichardt - voted “One of the Best 25 Films of the 21st Century” by The New York Times. He went on to shoot Frances Ha, Mistress America and While We’re Young for director Noah Baumbach, Changers and Frank Ocean's Blonded for Spike Jonze, Sermon on The Mount for Jerrod Carmichael, Maggie’s Plan for Rebecca Miller and Green Porno for Isabella Rossellini. Sam also photographed Lady Bird for writer/director Greta Gerwig - nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture and winner of The Golden Globe for Best Picture. Other new films include Mayday, which he also produced, Confess, Fletch, and She Came to Me.

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