At No Film School, we enjoy diving into both the hard skills and soft skills required to be successful in this industry. For example, we enjoy the technical talk of cinematography. We also like diving into things like leadership skills, collaboration decisions, and how to hire or fire. These are some of the things we discuss with a roundtable of cinematographers whose films premiered at Sundance and Slamdance this year.
In today’s episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins, speaks with cinematographers Bruce Francis Cole, Alejandro Mejia, and Sean Mattison to discuss:
- How all three DP’s got connected to their respective projects
- Thinking of the setting as a “character” in the story
- Working with light and figuring out tone
- The benefits of using multiple cameras
- Allowing your team the freedom to express themselves
- The importance of picking your team
- Cutting off stressful energy before it spreads to the rest of the crew
- How they decide what projects to work on
- Choosing personality over technical ability
Memorable Quotes
- “We chose the lenses that had the character built into them.” [24:51]
- “What elements can we bring into it visually that will bring the audience into this world?” [26:53]
- “If you can pick your team you truly trust in, you can easily allow everyone to do their job.” [33:32]
- “We’re sensitive people. We work in a creative field.” [48:17]
- “It’s a very New York thing that I learned when I moved there. People either like you or not.” [48:39]
Mentioned
Suncoast
Connect with Bruce on IG
In the Summers
Connect with Alejandro on IG
Petro
Connect with Sean on IG
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