![]() RD: Well, it’s different from film to film in a way, you know? What is your collaborative process like with him? SC: And you’ve collaborated with Sam Mendes quite a few times before, recently with 1917. In the late ‘60s, when I was a teenager, there were rockers, fights on the streets, and the whole bit, though. But there are similarities to when I was growing up. In 1981, I was shooting documentaries in Africa quite a bit, so I was very far away from the seaside when this film was set. I love the seaside, especially the English seaside. RD: Not really, but I did enjoy the idea of being in Margate. Did your background in still photography, specifically in a coastal town, inspire you when you were shooting Empire of Light, given the film’s setting? I was thrilled to speak with Deakins for an enlightening conversation about his career as a still photographer and cinematographer, collaborating with Mendes on Empire of Light, and how he pulls off some of his most beguiling cinematic magic tricks. The warmth of Deakins’ lighting pulls the viewer directly into the cinema and delicately enhances Hilary’s complicated story. On Empire of Light, Deakins joins Sam Mendes (their fifth collaboration) to create a complex, sumptuous world for Hilary (Olivia Colman), a woman who works at an English seaside moviehouse in the 1980s. From his naturalistic, playful collaborations with the Coen Brothers to his visionary work with Denis Villeneuve, Deakins has created some of the most memorable images in cinema history that constantly work to enhance our understanding of the character in the frame. While Deakins doesn’t want the shots he creates to overwhelm the audience, it’s impossible not to admire his style of photography. ![]() His precision, command over the camera, and ability to create meaning for a character through lighting make him the greatest working cinematographer. Empire of Light may be the title of Roger Deakins’ latest collaboration with Sam Mendes, but it’s also a fitting descriptor for his dazzling body of work. ![]()
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