While they are of distinctly different type and origin, three milestones have drawn SHOOT to a trio of cinematographers to start the new year: Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC, who just became the first DP in the history of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Outstanding Achievement Awards competition to receive two nominations in the feature film category in the same year; Ellen Kuras, the accomplished feature and commercials cinematographer whose directorial debut, Nerakhoon (the Lao word for Betrayal), made its world premiere at this month’s Sundance Film Festival in the Documentary Competition; and Simon Thirlaway, who recently put the Red One through its paces in what is believed to be the first widely released cinema commercial lensed with the new, at times controversial camera.
Here are some reflections of Deakins, Kuras and Thirlaway on these latest chapters in their careers:
Ellen Kuras
To say that Nerakhoon has been a labor of love and social commitment for Ellen Kuras is an understatement. Twenty-three years ago she began exploring the prospects of what it means for people to be forced from their homeland and having to find new lives elsewhere. At first this exploration took her to a Laotian woman in New York, the intent being to show how American culture has impacted her.
In order to do justice to this filmmaking quest, Kuras felt the need to learn how to speak Lao, the language of Laos, which in turn led her to a young teacher/translator, Thavisouk (“Thavi”) Phrasavath.
But Kuras got far more than she bargained for when she got to know Phrasavath whose family was forced to emigrate stateside due to the secret U.S. bombing campaign in Laos during the Vietnam War.
The Phrasavaths’ story is moving, poignant, an intimate love story, a soulful dramatic narrative that blends with documentary to show how a family copes and perseveres in the face of varied betrayals–personal and sociopolitical, the latter including the communists’ betrayal of the country’s soldiers and U.S. betrayals relative to denying the bombing and to what America is supposed to be about.
Over the past 21 years, Kuras has been documenting the life of Thavi’s family. It’s been done in piecemeal fashion in that Kuras has worked on the project in-between her extensive cinematography duties which have spanned assorted features such as the Michel Gondry-directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and his Be Kind Rewind (which also just debuted at Sundance), and commercials like the Spike Jonze-directed “Hello Tomorrow” for adidas, which scored four honors at the 2006 AICP Show.
While Kuras directed and shot Nerakhoon, she felt that Phrasavath deserved a co-directorial credit for his contributions, particularly so that people in his home country would know that this is a film which one of their own is presenting as a gift to them.
For Kuras, to see Nerakhoon premiere at Sundance is a special honor–not just for the obvious reasons but because Sundance has become a home to her over the years. It’s where in 1992 she won the Cinematography Award for the film Swoon, which put her on the industry map. She then went on to win Sundance Cinematography Awards again in ’95 and ’02 for, respectively, Angela, and Personal Velocity: Three Portraits.
And 18 months ago, Kuras brought her Nerakhoon footage to the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program’s Composers Lab where for the first time she started to seriously edit sequences of the film, a process which benefited from being in a friendly, nurturing environment in which other artists offered constructive feedback.
This experience, said Kuras, helped immeasurably in her shaping Nerakhoon.
In a very real sense Nerakhoon also means everything in terms of Kuras’ career, not solely because it represents her first time in the director’s chair or that the film has garnered recognition at Sundance–but more because it helped set her on her career path as a cinematographer. Twenty-plus years ago, Kuras wasn’t sure of her professional aspirations but with this project and the desire to capture the profound loss-of-homeland theme through images, she found herself gravitating to cinematography.
While she’s not sure if Nerakhoon will serve as a catalyst to other directorial pursuits, Kuras firmly knows that she will continue to be a cinematographer. She is slated to shoot director Sam Mendes’ next film and she is committed to continuing to lens commercials.
“One informs the other,” she said of her feature and commercialmaking endeavors for which she’s repped via United Talent Agency (UTA). “Features have influenced how I shoot commercials in terms of bringing in at times a more emotional, dramatic feel to the work. And my commercial career has definitely influenced what I do on the feature side. Being able to experiment in commercials in so many areas, working with directors who want to push the envelope visually to capture a certain look, has been of great value. My experimenting with film stock in commercials is clearly evident in how we shot Summer of Sam [for Spike Lee]. And Eternal Sunshine of A Spotless Mind is in many ways a culmination of the work I’ve done in the commercial world–Michel [Gondry] and I came together on this project, bringing our filmmaking experiences, including in commercials, to bear.”
And Kuras’ spotmaking definitely impacted her directing of Nerakhoon. “This film is more allied to a commercials point of view than to a traditional narrative point of view,” she observed. “It steps outside the convention of a documentary to a place between documentary and narrative and uses both. I always wanted to experiment in both mediums–And that’s what commercials are all about–finding a new way to tell a story and breaking outside of convention.”
Roger Deakins
For the first time in the 22-year history of the American Society of Cinematography (ASC) Awards, a cinematographer has garnered two feature film category nominations in the same year.
The accomplishment came earlier this month with Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC, earning the distinction for his work on No Country For Old Men (directed by the Coen Brothers) and The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (directed by Andrew Dominik). And at press time, the two films also garnered Deakins a pair of Oscar nominations for best cinematography.
These represent the seventh career ASC Award nominations for Deakins, who has won the award twice–for The Shawshank Redemption in ’95 and The Man Who Wasn’t There in ’01. Over the years, Deakins has also received seven best cinematography Oscar nominations, the others coming for The Shawshank Redemption; The Man Who Wasn’t There; Fargo in ’97; Kundun in ’98; and O Brother, Where Art Thou? in ’01
Reflecting on his precedent-setting two ASC Award nominations this year, Deakins said, “It came as completely unexpected. I shot Jesse James awhile ago and it could have easily been released the previous year so in that regard I’m fortunate to have it considered in the same year [as No Country For Old Men]….Jesse James didn’t get much traction at the box office–although I’m quite pleased as to how the film turned out. It’s gratifying that my peers saw value in the film.”
Of the ASC Awards, Deakins related, “The event itself is a celebration of cinematography and I know virtually all of the ASC members. To be nominated twice for features in the same year is just wild. I’m sure my friends at the ASC will tease me something wicked for that.”
Deakins hasn’t yet had much occasion to experiment in electronic cinematography–though he shot via cell phone and deployed some mini DV for the feature In The Valley of Elah, directed by Paul Haggis. The cell phone visuals were called for in the actual storyline. As for whether he’d like to take on the task of shooting a major feature digitally, Deakins–who’s repped via ICM–said, “I’m not at all averse to it. But up until now I’ve shot mostly film. The latitude of film is tremendous and lends itself just beautifully to the films I’ve been asked to do thus far.”
Simon Thirlaway
DP Simon Thirlaway recently wrapped what’s billed as being the first cinema ad lensed by the Red One digital camera and released wide in theaters. The precedent-setting spot is a :30 teaser for this year’s Doritos “Crash The Superbowl Contest.” Directed by art director Trevor Shepard of bicoastal Stardust Studios for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, the piece premiered in theaters across the U.S. last month.
The spot features dramatic concert footage. Thirlaway captured dark crowd scenes with paparazzi-style lights flashing all about, then shot the band members on a green room set, a concert venue backstage and then finally performing on a small stage.
Thirlaway–who’s repped by The Sheldon Prosnit Agency–said that overall the Red One experience was positive. At the same time, he acknowledged that there were “a few hiccups” which is to be expected. “The bottom line is that as a tool Red One performed well.”
In fact at press time, Thirlaway was again shooting with Red One–this time on a package of spots for fast food chain Der Wienerschnitzel. He has had his share of additional electronic cinematography experience spanning such cameras as Sony’s F900 Cine Alta and F950 models and Thomson’s Grass Valley Viper.
Thirlaway broke into the business in London in the early ’90s, starting out in the lighting department and working his way up the ranks to DP. He then moved to the U.S. where he is firmly established in commercials and music videos–and now he’s looking to diversify into features. While his first love is shooting 35mm film, Thirlaway welcomes the emerging digital toolset. “It’s an exciting time in terms of the digital cameras that are gaining momentum and others that will be introduced to the market,” he affirmed.
