Best of 2020: DP Greig Fraser on Harnessing Cutting-Edge Tech in “The Mandalorian”
We put together our annual “Best Of” list with an eye towards the conversations that weren’t just about our particular area of interest—how films and TV shows are made and the people who make them—but delved into broader discussions that were unavoidable in this historic, often heartbreaking year. These conversations include our chat with Laverne Cox about her role in Netflix’s Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen, Lovecraft Country cinematographer Michael Watson on filming during a pandemic,
Best of 2020: A Conversation With Laverne Cox
We put together our annual “Best Of” list with an eye towards the conversations that weren’t just about our particular area of interest—how films and TV shows are made and the people who make them—but delved into broader discussions that were unavoidable in this historic, often heartbreaking year. These conversations include our chat with Laverne Cox about her role in Netflix’s Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen, Lovecraft Country cinematographer Michael Watson on filming during a pandemic,
Best of 2020: Meet the Background Actors Who Populate HBO’s “Perry Mason” – Part I
We put together our annual “Best Of” list with an eye towards the conversations that weren’t just about our particular area of interest—how films and TV shows are made and the people who make them—but delved into broader discussions that were unavoidable in this historic, often heartbreaking year. These conversations include our chat with Laverne Cox about her role in Netflix’s Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen, Lovecraft Country cinematographer Michael Watson on filming during a pandemic,
Production Designer Jim Bissell Builds a New Kind of Spaceship in George Clooney’s “The Midnight Sky”
Production designer Jim Bissell landed ET: The Extraterrestrial fresh out of college. His latest, The Midnight Sky (now streaming on Netflix) marks a return to the realm of science fiction, but this time he’s forgoing adorable aliens to picture the end of the world as we know it. Director-star George Clooney plays astrophysicist Augustine Lofthouse, the last man on earth stranded in an Arctic observatory. Meanwhile, a crew of astronauts (including David Oyelowo and Felicity Jones) hurtles through the solar system in the Aether spaceship,
Showrunner Chris Van Dusen on Creating a Modern Regency Romance in “Bridgerton”
Buckle up for Christmas Day, when Bridgerton, a romance set in England’s 19th century Regency era, debuts on Netflix. Shonda Rhimes’ first executive-produced series for the streaming service, this bright, sexy show reimagines a casually multiracial society set in a horse-drawn world of candy-colored palaces, sybaritic balls, and aristocracy on display.
Bridgerton was shot on location at storied homes like Lancaster House, where Queen Elizabeth II still holds royal functions,
David Oyelowo & Demián Bichir on George Clooney’s Timely Sci-Fi Film “Midnight Sky”
Based on Lily Brooks-Dalton’s acclaimed novel “Good Morning, Midnight”, the new Netflix release The Midnight Sky (streaming December 23), which is directed by George Clooney, follows scientist Augustine (played by Clooney) who navigates a post-apocalyptic world alone in the Arctic, while warning away Sully (Felicity Jones) and the other astronauts returning from deep space with her. Her fellow crewmembers include partner and flight commander Adewole (David Oyelowo), astrodynamics expert Sanchez (Demián Bichir),
Costume Designer Phoenix Mellow on Modern-Day Vintage Romance in “Sylvie’s Love”
In these trying times, what’s better than the escapism of a sweeping, old-fashioned romance? Set between the late 1950s and early 1960s, the new Amazon feature Sylvie’s Love from director Eugene Ashe (Homecoming, Home Again) is a sweet and lovely epic in the style of the vintage films from which it takes its inspiration (premiering on Amazon Prime on Christmas Day). Both a love story and a coming-of-age narrative,
Branford Marsalis Gets the Blues For “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Uh one. Uh two. Uh you know what to do.” That’s how the band leader cues his musicians in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. In fact, the actors portraying sidemen to Viola Davis’ title character did not really know what to do, musically. But thanks to Branford Marsalis, the actors in director George C. Wolfe’s adaptation of the August Wilson play manage to mimic the moves of veteran blues musicians with persuasive panache.
Production Designer Mark Ricker on Creating the Sumptuous “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
During the course of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, based on the 1982 play by August Wilson, blues star Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) reveals the lengths it takes to counter the racial economic exploitation of the 1920s, while down in the practice room, her band members recount the horrors of Jim Crow. The film, directed by George C. Wolfe (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), which debuted on Netflix on December 18th,
Madison Hamburg on His One-Of-A-Kind HBO Doc “Murder on Middle Beach”
As the title suggests, Murder on Middle Beach, the four-part HBO documentary, revolves around a tragedy. On March 3, 2010, Barbara Hamburg was found stabbed to death outside her home in Madison, Connecticut, an unassuming beachfront town. An unlikely victim, police were unable to find a suspect. But what makes this unsolved murder story even more compelling is that it is being told by Madison Hamburg, Barbara’s son.
Madison was 18 years old at the time and a film student in college.
Costume Designer Cat Thomas on the Couture of “The Flight Attendant”
At the beginning of the HBO miniseries The Flight Attendant, based on Chris Bohjalian’s novel, Cassie (Kaley Cuoco) is a put-together first class flight attendant by day, maximalist reveler by night. She parties relentlessly wherever she lands, seemingly enjoying an endless montage of karaoke, clubs, bars, and hookups. But Cassie also encapsulates a particular sort of overgrown New York party drunk, one who’s getting a little long in the tooth for these sorts of hijinks.
Cinematographer Oliver Bokelberg on Transforming Vancouver Into Montana in “Big Sky”
This article contains light spoilers for previously aired episodes.
Big Sky, David E. Kelley’s new ratings hit for ABC, which was just picked up for another six episodes, juxtaposes Montana’s sweeping vistas with the bleak interior of a locked away trailer, where an unlikely criminal duo is holding three teenaged girls. Based on C.J. Box’s novel “The Highway,” the crime drama sets viewers up with stunning aerial shots of rural Montana before zooming in on run-down bars,
DP Bryce Fortner on Recreating the 1970s in the Propulsive Crime Drama “I’m Your Woman”
Director Julie Hart’s new thriller, I’m Your Woman, turns its attention to a figure usually overlooked in 1970s crime dramas: the housewife. Jean (Rachel Brosnahan) seems incapable and alone, dispassionately aware but otherwise innocent of her husband Eddie’s (Bill Heck) nebulous involvement in some kind of organized crime. When Eddie heads out for the night and doesn’t come back, leaving Jean with a mysterious baby boy she’s mutely accepted as their own,
Jo Ellen Pellman & Ariana DeBose on Finding Love & Acceptance in Ryan Murphy’s “The Prom”
Helmed by Ryan Murphy, the ebullient musical dramedy The Prom is bringing some much-needed holiday cheer to our December. Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, and Andrew Rannells play four fading Broadway performers who reach for relevance again by championing a newsworthy cause in small-town Indiana. Queer teen Emma (newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman) wants to take her girlfriend Alyssa Greene (Ariana DeBose) to the high school prom,
Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle on Filming HBO’s “The Undoing” – Part II
As mentioned in Part I of our interview with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, a good many of The Undoing’s settings were shot on location in Manhattan, while the main interiors were built at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. Many of the locations were found in the Upper West Side, something that took some getting used to for Mantle. “We were very true to the Upper West Side, which I actually found hard to embrace because it’s not a world I’m drawn to,” he says,
Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle on Filming HBO’s “The Undoing” – Part I
When Nicole Kidman first began reading scripts for HBO’s hugely popular limited series from David E. Kelley, The Undoing, among the first things she noticed was intense scenes in which her very interior character said little, and gives away even less. When she wondered aloud about how best to handle such performances for the camera, director Susanne Bier simply replied, “I’ve got ideas.”
The limited series follows Grace (Kidman) and Jonathan Fraser (Grant),
A Poster Designer’s Career, From Tribute Art to Marvel to “The Mandalorian”
Social media might have more downs than ups these days, but even with its troublesome aspects far outweighing the good, you can still find heartwarming examples of social networks serving their original purpose: bringing together like-minded individuals over niche shared interests. For hobbyist movie poster designers working at a professional albeit non-commissioned level, finding the right community can even launch a career in the film industry.
Formerly a graphic designer working at an agency in Hannover,
Moses Ingram on her Debut role as Jolene in “The Queen’s Gambit”
Moses Ingram stepped off the stage at Yale and immediately onto the set of The Queen’s Gambit. The acting newcomer had only two weeks between graduating from the Yale School of Drama in May of last year and flying to Toronto to begin filming.
“The first scene I filmed was a little snippet of the car pulling up and [me] stepping out of the car,” Ingram said. “I definitely overthought it though because I’m like driving in this old-school,
Hans Zimmer Protégé Guillaume Roussel on Composing the “Black Beauty” Score Remotely
The good news for Guillaume Roussel: this spring he fulfilled a lifelong dream by working with the London Symphony Orchestra. The bad news: he had to supervise the Black Beauty recording sessions from his garage in Los Angeles due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. “It was just after lockdown, so the big frustration came because I was not able to fly to London for the sessions,” says Roussel. “Fortunately, my good friend Gavin Greenaway conducted and did a great job.”
Welcome to Studio Babelsberg’s Rainbow Stage—A Tribute to Lana and Lilly Wachowski
“I’ll show these people what you don’t want them to see. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible.” Neo (Keanu Reeves), The Matrix, 1999
To honor the groundbreaking filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski and simultaneously promote a message of tolerance, respect, and diversity, Germany’s Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam recently renamed its largest sound stage the Rainbow Stage (its previous title was number 20 of 21).
