Cinematographer’s Corner – Podcasting Them Softly

PTS Presents CINEMATOGRAPHER’S CORNER with LAWRENCE SHER

June 3, 2016June 2, 2016 by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Podcast

SHER POWERCAST

unnamed (1) Podcasting Them Softly is thrilled to present our latest addition to Cinematographer’s Corner — a chat with veteran director of photography Lawrence Sher! Lawrence is one of the premiere shooters of studio comedies, having collaborated with director Todd Phillips on The Hangover trilogy, the edgy road-trip comedy Due Date, and this summer’s awesome looking political action comedy War Dogs, which stars Jonah Hill and Miles Teller. Other cinematography credits include Dan in Real Life, I Love You, Man, The Dictator, Paul, indie favorite Kissing Jessica Stein, and Garden State and Wish I Was Here for filmmaker Zach Braff. And later this year in November, he’ll be making his directorial debut with the all-star comedy Bastards, which features Owen Wilson, JK Simmons, Glenn Close, Katie Aselton, Ving Rhames, Bill Irwin, Harry Shearer, and Ed Helms. Lawrence‘s work behind the camera is always stylish and smart, with a frequent use of the 2.35:1 aspect ratio in a genre that typically favors the more standard and less dynamic 1.85:1, while consistently demonstrating a fundamental understanding of how to properly maximize comedy in every shot while still paying attention to bold visual texture. This is an extremely fun discussion, and we hope you enjoy!

PTS PRESENTS CINEMATOGRAPHER’S CORNER with TRENT OPALOCH Vol 1

May 6, 2016May 5, 2016 by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Podcast

OPALOCH POWERCAST

Opaloch Podcasting Them Softly is extremely excited to present a chat with the incredible cinematographer Trent Opaloch. Trent is one of the hottest, most in demand shooters currently working in Hollywood, having shot District 9, Elysium, and the absurdly underrated Chappie for director Neill Blomkamp, while also becoming a member of the Marvel cinematic universe, having lensed both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and this weekend’s Captain America: Civil War. The future looks to hold even more superhero action, as he’ll be reteaming with the Russo brothers for both chapters of The Avengers: Infinity Wars. He’s also a veteran of the commercial world, having collaborated with such directors as Jake Scott, Todd Field, Phil Joanou, and Frederik Bond on a variety of worldwide advertisements. He’s clearly got a very exciting future ahead, and we’re beyond thrilled to have him as a guest – we hope you enjoy this exciting discussion!

PTS Presents Cinematographer’s Corner with SEAN PORTER

April 15, 2016April 14, 2016 by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Podcast

porter powercast

sean_porter Podcasting Them Softly is thrilled to present a chat with cinematographer Sean Porter, who recently shot the film KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER, and who has the highly anticipated thriller GREEN ROOM set for release later this year from A24. He’s also finished a pair of very intriguing projects with THE TRUST, which stars Nicolas Cage, Jerry Lewis and Elijah Wood, and 20TH CENTURY WOMEN, from director Mike Mills, and starring Elle Fanning, Alia Shawkat, Greta Gerwig, and Annette Benning. Sean got his start working on a variety of shorts, features, and documentaries, and has roots firmly planted in indie film community, and you can just tell from observing his work that he’s a talent to seriously look out for in the near future. His work on KUMIKO was beyond striking, announching an exciting and dynamic new visual eye to emerge on the cinematic scene, and it’s a film that we here at PTS are massive fans of and hope everyone will get a chance to check out. We hope you enjoy this most excellent discussion!

PTS Presents Cinematographer’s Corner with Ken Kelsch Vol. 2

April 1, 2016March 30, 2016 by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Podcast

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kelsch ferrara We’re back with our second volume with cinematographer Ken Kelsch. This time we speak with him about more of his work with Abel Ferrara including WELCOME TO NEW YORK, THE ADDICTION and retouch on BAD LIEUTENANT. We also speak with Ken about working with Eric Red on 100 FEET, his work with Stanley Tucci on BIG NIGHT and THE IMPOSTERS, and Sherry Hormann’s DESERT FLOWER. Hope you guys have as much fun listening to this as we did recording this with Ken!

PTS PRESENTS CINEMATOGRAPHER’S CORNER with PAUL CAMERON

January 22, 2016January 21, 2016 by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Podcast

cameron powercast2

793c55ef-3227-46d8-82e3-3cb271a88e1f Podcasting Them Softly is extremely honored to present a chat with the fantastic cinematographer Paul Cameron. Paul has been responsible for shooting some of our absolute favorite modern action films, from his collaborations with the late Tony Scott including MAN ON FIRE, DEJA VU, and the BMW films entry BEAT THE DEVIL, to his groundbreaking work on Michael Mann’s COLLATERAL. Other efforts include the slick and gritty actioners GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS from director Dominic Sena and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the crazy-fun cyber-terrorism thriller SWORDFISH with John Travolta and Hugh Jackman, the lens-flare gorgeous Total Recall remake, and the underrated thriller Dead Man Down. Paul has some massive projects coming up next year and beyond, with the HBO series WESTWORLD from Jonathan Nolan hitting TV screens in 2016, and he’s just wrapped principal photography on the latest PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN installment which is set for release in summer 2017. As most listeners of this podcast will know, we are both huge fans of Tony Scott and his artistically expressive aesthetic, so it was a real highlight to get a chance to speak with one of his key camera collaborators. We hope you enjoy!

PTS Cinematographer’s Corner with Ben Kasulke

August 16, 2015August 16, 2015 by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Podcast

KASULKE POWER

Podcasting Them Softly is honored to present a chat with cinematographer Ben Kasulke. Over the last 10 years, Ben has amassed close to 60 credits, and has become one of the leading independent stylists of his generation, having created intense collaborations with filmmakers Lynn Shelton and Guy Maddin, shooting for them such titles as TOUCHY FEELY, YOUR SISTER’S SISTER, HUMPDAY, THE FORBIDDEN ROOM, SEANCES, and KEYHOLE. His work stretches various genres and filmmakers with other big-screen credits including SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, THE FREEBIE, and TREATMENT. He’s also no stranger to television, having shot the first season of the hilarious and critically acclaimed FX comedy MARRIED starring Judy Greer and Nat Faxon, and Adult Swim’s horror comedy THE HEART, SHE HOLLAR with John Lee and Vernon Chatman. Ben has also worked on documentaries and short films, and his most recent project is the upcoming Amazon series RED OAKS for executive producer Steven Soderbergh and PINEAPPLE EXPRESS director David Gordon Green. We hope you enjoy our latest entry in the PTS Cinematographer’s Corner series!