GOOD CHARACTER AND PEACE OF MIND

            There’s a moment in Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors (photographed by Sven Nyqvist, ASC) in which his character, Cliff Stern, visits his aging parents at their apartment in Brooklyn.  In the midst of an existential crisis, Cliff asks his off-camera father a simple but perplexing question: “Why were there Nazis?”  The elder Stern’s reply … Continue reading “GOOD CHARACTER AND PEACE OF MIND”

12.29.2020

GRATITUDE

            With Christmas so close, I thought this was an appropriate subject for today…             Sincere displays of gratitude have become as difficult to find as a mainstream journalist without an agenda.  Sure, you can point to the teary theatrics of awards season, but those are generally so transparent as to not withstand a second … Continue reading “GRATITUDE”

12.22.2020

READ THIS BOOK #3

            Well, read these books, actually…             Cinematography isn’t just about lighting, composition, color, camera movement and the post-production supervision of the work.  It also encompasses a variety of management skills, the mastery of which will determine your effectiveness as an artist and collaborator.  Everything any one of us sets out to achieve revolves around … Continue reading “READ THIS BOOK #3”

12.15.2020

LIGHTING DIAGRAM #19 – JANE THE VIRGIN (The CW)

            Photographed by yours truly…             On the surface, the simplest of scenes: two people sitting across a table inside a police interrogation room.  But complicating matters is the fact that our actress – Yael Grobglas – is playing both roles (Petra Solano and her evil twin sister Anezka).  This necessitated a generous allowance of … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #19 – JANE THE VIRGIN (The CW)”

12.4.2020

THE ABOMINATION

            Barbara Stanwyck on Double Indemnity (1944; Billy Wilder\John Seitz, ASC):             “When I mention ‘atmosphere’ in Double Indemnity – that gloomy, horrible house the Dietrichsons lived in, the slit of sunlight slicing through those heavy drapes – you could smell that death was in the air, you understood why she had to get out … Continue reading “THE ABOMINATION”

12.1.2020