One DP recently won the Best Cinematography Award at the Tribeca Film Festival on the strength of the drama Bridgend, which also took Best Actress (Hannah Murray) and Best Editing (Olivier Bugge Coutté) honors.
Another cinematographer, well established in commercials and music videos, just had his second feature debut at Tribeca, the William Monahan-directed crime thriller Mojave.
And our third cinematographer won an ASC Award earlier this year for an episode of the Fox primetime series Gotham.
Here are insights and reflections from cinematographers Magnus Nordenhof Jønck, Don Davis, and Chris Norr.
Magnus Nordenhof Jønck
Bridgend was one of the big winners at the recently concluded Tribeca Film Festival. Directed and co-written by Jeppe Ronde, Bridgend, a film from Denmark, won three jury awards: Best Actress, Editing, and Cinematography. The latter honor was bestowed upon Magnus Nordenhof Jønck.
Bridgend tells the story of Sara (Hannah Murray) and her dad who arrive in a town haunted by teenage suicides. When Sara falls in love with Jamie (Josh O’Connor), she becomes prey to a depression that threatens to engulf them all. The film is based on the real-life Welsh county borough of Bridgend which has recorded some 80 suicides since 2007.
For Jønck, filmmaker Ronde had made a lasting impression dating back a decade. “About 10 years ago, while I still went to film school, I saw Jeppe’s documentary film, The Swenkas, at a small festival in Denmark,” recalled Jønck. “Besides being a great movie, I was completely blown away by its visual grip and Jeppe’s innovative and very personal way of telling the story. I didn’t meet him until eight years after, when he contacted me about Bridgend. Jeppe had seen three of the movies I had filmed, R, A Hijacking and Northwest. He liked my work and the way I worked. At the same time he was very clear on his intentions to take Bridgend to a different dimension visually.”
Jønck felt a personal affinity for Ronde from the outset. “On a personal level we connected really well and I was from the very first meeting quite confident that this would work out professionally as well. I found myself in good company with Jeppe. He is a very generous director but also very demanding. He required every single cell in my body to be working on his film 24/7; he required that from everybody in the crew but most of all himself.
“Also, Jeppe is pretty straight forward in his way of communicating, he tells you his opinion bluntly. For me it is easier if you are not afraid of hurting each other’s feelings all the time.”
Jønck was immediately attracted to Bridgend. “I was drawn by the mystery of the story. The mystery of these young people. I was drawn by how Jeppe wanted to go into the dark areas of the human nature, that is so difficult to understand and deal with. Furthermore I was fascinated by Jeppe’s strong belief in the story. At the time we began working together, he had been in the valleys of Bridgend on and off the last six years, researching and talking with the youngsters, becoming friends with them. He was investing himself one hundred and ten percent in the film. It was a necessity for him to make the film. That was a very powerful experience.
“At the same time I was terrified by the whole thing. The film is built on true events and therefore is a big responsibility to take on as a story.”
As for what the Best Cinematography Award at Tribeca meant to him personally and professionally, Jønck affirmed, “I am very honored and happy to receive this award. I really want to share this award with Jeppe, our amazing colorist Daniel de Vue, editor Olivier Bugge Coutté, the actors and the rest of the team. It is so much easier to make great music when you are a part of a great band.”
Jønck shot Bridgend on ALEXA with Hawk anamorphic lenses, C-series. He explained, “We knew that we were going to shoot a lot of night scenes, with hardly any light except from available light sources–such as bonfire and scooters and in addition we had a lot of exterior day scenes in the Welsh forests in November, where we needed to make the daylight last as long as possible. Furthermore, we had a lot of scenes, where we wanted to shoot very long takes. Improvised takes and scenes where we wanted to let the camera roll as long as possible in order to give the young actors a maximum of freedom to explore the core of a scene. I think the Hawk C-Series is amazing. Also, It was the only anamorphic lenses that were within our budget limits. We were helped incredibly well by Red Rental, a Danish rental house that had the series and wanted to be part of the film.”
Regarding the challenges posed by Bridgend to him as a cinematographer, Jønck related, “The most challenging on a visual level was to translate what was happening inside the actors’ minds because at some point I realized that I might never fully understand the characters that I was filming. It was such a complex subject matter and the script had so many layers to get a hold of. It was very challenging to unfold and combine all these layers.
“It was, however, a great gift to work with Jeppe. For every scene he had a specific image, that would be the key to the scene.”
From a technical standpoint, the challenge, said Jønck, is “actually difficult to talk about without spoiling the film for those who haven’t seen it yet. Because the biggest challenge was the end scene. But generally, we had quite a lot of visual effects and no time and no money to make it happen. It only came together with a really big help from the VFX guys at the Bacon X, who worked tremendously hard and did an amazing job.
“Secondly,” continued Jønck, “we couldn’t have made the film without our focus puller Jay Polyzoides. Often we had to shoot wide open, without any marks or rehearsals. I don’t know how he did it, but he did. Futhermore he had our back every single day of the shoot.”
As for what attracted him to becoming a cinematographer to begin with and how he realized that aspiration, Jønck related, “At the beginning of my 20s, before I applied for the Danish Film School, I was very interested in black and white photo journalism and documentary photography, a la Robert Bresson and Robert Capa, etc.. At the same time, films caught my attention and I was lucky enough to get in to the Danish Film School.
“Ever since I have been very lucky to meet and work with some incredibly talented young directors. Among others, Tobias Lindholm and Michael Noer, whom I still both love to work with. I made their feature film debut R, starring Pilou Asbæk. It started my career in earnest in Denmark. The fact that Tobias and Michael work with very strict and precise rules was a huge eye-opener for me and I owe them a lot of credit for what I am today, as a cinematographer.
“The next great big step came after I made Tobias Lindholm’s second feature film, A Hijacking, that was in the Venice Film Festival and later in Toronto. Because of that, I got a call from Pete Franciosa, UTA, who opened up the idea of making films in America. Before the call, it wasn’t a determined idea to make film in the States. Now it is beginning to take shape.”
Don Davis
A cinematographer who first made his mark in music videos (with credits including Justin Timberlake, Ceelo Green, Maroon 5 and Justin Bieber) before diversifying into commercials (Nike, Coca-Cola, Ford), Don Davis is now realizing inroads into longer form fare as his second feature, Mojave, debuted last month at the Tribeca Film Festival. Mojave is also the second feature directed by William Monahan who is best known for his writing prowess with screenplays for such features as Body of Lies, Edge of Darkness and director Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. The latter won Monahan a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar along with a Writers Guild Award.
Monahan also wrote Mojave, a thriller about a talented artist (portrayed by Garrett Hedlund) with suicidal tendencies who escapes to the desert to find a deeper meaning in his life. However, that life is thrown off course when he runs into a homicidal drifter (Oscar Isaac).
Davis shot Mojave in Los Angeles and its surrounding deserts (including the Mojave) and communities.
Davis deployed the ARRI ALEXA Studio camera in tandem with vintage Todd-AO anamorphic lenses. To set the scene, mood and tone, the camera is kept at a distance at the beginning of the film, and slowly brought closer and closer to the action as the story progresses and intensifies.
After testing different lenses in the field (from the vintage lens department of Burbank, Calif.-based CamTec), Davis went with the Todd-AO anamorphic option because it captured the monochromatic, desaturated, more desperate looking landscapes needed to best complement the story. The ARRI ALEXA Studio camera, he said, was appealing on different levels. “It has a rotating shutter and you look through the lens like an old reflex camera. In higher contrast situations, it delivers a nice filmic look. And the camera was a great fit with the anamorphic lenses.”
Other Greater L.A. communities where Davis shot Mojave included Lancaster and Acton. “The desert in these locales wasn’t as spectacular as the Mojave. But that’s exactly what we needed at times–a bleaker, desperate look for the characters. We didn’t always want beautiful desert. We could make it look big and epic but not Lawrence of Arabia beautiful.”
Davis observed that an under-the-radar challenge for him was to bring and blend the different locations together so that the overall movie “was not disjointed. We wanted to create one movie–one painting instead of 20 desert paintings. Shooting in the desert can always be a challenge. But we were lucky with good weather pretty much throughout. And the actors were simply great. Oscar and Garrett’s performances were amazing, as was Mark [Wahlberg] who came in for a day.”
Davis said he was drawn to Mojave given his “love for character-driven movies. I read the script and was immediately won over. The dialogue and characters were great.” The DP was also eager to work with Monahan. “I’m a big fan of The Departed. And I very much liked Edge of Darkness and didn’t even know that he wrote it when I first saw he movie. Mojave had the characters, the dialogue, and an interesting visual dynamic with the juxtaposition of the desert and the Hollywood Hills.”
Davis can thank his shorter form filmmaking connections for helping him to land his feature DP gigs. Active early in his career as a gaffer, key grip, electrician and generator operator on features in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Davis transitioned to music videos and then commercials as a DP. It wasn’t until just a few years ago that Davis made his feature cinematography debut with the 2011 Sony release S.W.A.T.: Firefight directed by Benny Boom. Davis got the assignment based on his prior collaborative relationship with Boom on music videos.
S.W.A.T: Firefight then put Davis in the running for other feature opportunities, with Mojave coming to fruition based on the DP’s working rapport with producer William Green. Davis and Green teamed on various commercials over the years. It was Green who suggested Davis to director/writer Monahan, leading to a meeting between the two. “Bill and I hit it off, had similar likes and dislikes. I was thrilled to get the chance to shoot for him. He’s a magnet for talent as reflected in the movie’s cast.”
As alluded to earlier, Mojave was the second feature for Monahan as a director and Davis as a DP.
Monahan’s feature directorial debut was the 2010 release London Boulevard starring Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley.
Davis said having S.W.A.T: Firefight under his belt made him more comfortable on Mojave. “You’re a little less shell shocked the second time around. With a studio picture the first time, you’re very focused on the physical part of finishing the work you need to get done. Now I was much more comfortable managing all that on Mojave so that even more of my focus could be on the artistry part, digging into the characters, the moods you want to set in a scene.
Davis’ mood was jubilant upon learning that Mojave had been selected for screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. “Being from New York, living here most of my life, Tribeca means a lot. It is the benchmark for New Yorkers, our hometown festival. Our friends and colleagues come here to watch features and shorts. And beyond that, it’s a festival that has gained national and worldwide attention.”
After its Tribeca premiere, Mojave was acquired by A24 for U.S. distribution.
Chris Norr
Gotham, the Fox series which takes us to Gotham City during life before Batman–delving into the backstories of Police Commissioner James Gordon and a young Bruce Wayne, among others–is generating an Emmy buzz on several fronts, including for its cinematography.
Tom Yatsko and Chris Norr are the principal DPs on the series. (See this week’s Primetime Talent/Road To Emmy Preview for more on Yatsko.) Norr has already been recognized for his Gotham work, earlier this year earning an ASC Award nomination for the “Gotham: Spirit of the Goat” episode.
Yatsko and Norr worked together early in their careers, breaking into the biz at Panavision’s equipment rental house in New York. “We hadn’t seen each other in some time but Tom put in a good word for me and we came together for Gotham.”
Yatsko had a prior collaborative relationship with Gotham executive producer/director Danny Cannon, and a chance meeting resparked their relationship. Once Yatsko became attached to the series, he suggested Norr. “I talked to Danny over the phone and it led to me getting this opportunity even though I hadn’t done all that much TV prior,” said Norr.
While their shooting schedules have made it difficult for them to compare notes all that much–Norr is prepping while Yatsko is shooting the series, and vice versa–the two DPs did have a meeting of minds early on regarding Gotham.
“We wanted this show to be very different. So many shows look the same,” related Norr. “We have these incredible sets and locations, everything big and gothic, cathedral ceilings. We wanted to do justice to all that and capture it in the lens. We pushed for using wider lenses, gaining a perspective where you see the sets and locations much more than if you were using solely long lenses. We have a lot of wide and graphic angles, very Kubrick-esque, Orson Welles style. We also come in closer to the characters, not going with long lenses which can distance you from the characters.”
In broad strokes, Norr and Yatsko also agreed on colors. “Graphic novels aren’t monochromatic but usually pick two colors and stick to it for a scene or a couple of pages–an amber and something cool to complement it. We wanted to by in sync color wise and have a certain number of colors to choose from. We wanted to pick maybe an array of 10 different colors we would constantly choose from and use rather than constantly reinvent colors. We talked about overall color tones, cool and gray.”
Norr added that relative to colors and other aspects of Gotham, he and Yatsko–who went with the ARRI ALEXA to shoot the series–“are always kind of working off each other’s work. I look at what he did on an episode and bring that into my world and vice versa. He would see I’d use a certain color and perhaps try it on his episode. On television shows, DPs can be quite competitive. But ours is a healthy competition. We’re trying to out do each other in a good way. We are learning from each other and growing together.”
Norr grew up in the business. His father Carl Norr is an award-winning commercials DP. “He took me to work one day and it was all over after that–I knew what I wanted to do,” recollected Chris Norr. “While in high school during summers I worked at different places, on sets, interning in the business.” Loading mags at the age of 13 for his dad, Chris Norr by the age of 18 was getting paid to shoot short films.
As a camera assistant he worked on such notable films as Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors and Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally. “I’ve had the benefit of watching talented DPs and directors and learning so much. I then started shooting commercials and independent films.”
Norr worked with a couple of notable actors on films and then wound up shooting movies that they directed–Mark Ruffalo on his feature directorial debut, Sympathy For Delicious, and the Ethan Hawke-helmed The Hottest State. Norr also lensed the indie horror film Sinister.
Norr’s earlier experiences include serving as an operator on a pair of visually experimental Michel Gondry-directed, Ellen Kuras-lensed films Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind.
“It was an experience that influenced me–to work with Ellen and Michel and to be part of such innovative films,” said Norr.
Norr’s aforementioned, albeit limited TV experience as a cinematographer prior to Gotham included multiple episodes of Believe, the series created by Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Friedman.
As for what’s next, Norr is looking forward to another season of Gotham. “It’s a pretty spectacular show to be a part of–one where you’re always growing creatively.”
