Cameramen from Armageddon Time, The Inspection and The Fabelmans discuss directors’ personal stories on screen

Every director brings a piece of themselves to their work, but this Oscar season, films have become increasingly personal. And it is for the cinematographer to work with his director to bring those stories to life.

James Gray explores his relationship with his grandfather and a pivotal childhood friendship Armageddon time; A young black gay man seeks his mother’s approval by joining the Marines The inspection, featuring actual quotes from Elegance Bratton’s mother; and Steven Spielberg The Fables shows the early life of a young filmmaker and his family’s influence on his art.

Armageddon time

Armageddon time takes viewers to 1980s Queens to follow Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), a Jewish-American boy on the brink of puberty. Paul is a stand-in for James Gray, who wrote and directed this, his own coming-of-age story. Cinematographer Darius Khondji, who just finished Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s surreal exploration of trauma bardoShe worked closely with Gray to highlight Paul’s emotional journey. “I love that the director tells me in his own words what he really felt,” says Khondji.

Getting into the director’s emotional state was crucial as the film was about meaningful relationships that shaped his childhood. Was in a relationship with his grandfather played by Anthony Hopkins. “The scenes with his grandfather are very different,” says Khondji. “When we were filming [Hopkins], the voice of reason, we filmed his face. His face was almost like a library, as if he was opening an incredible book about who his grandfather was.

The bond between Paul and his grandfather contrasts with the relationship between Paul and his father, played by Jeremy Strong. “The scene with his father was much stronger and more violent, sharper and more alive,” says Khondji. After getting into trouble at school, Paul locks himself in the bathroom to avoid his father, who walks in and beats him with a belt. “The bathroom was quite a challenge because the rooms we shot in were always small. We had to position ourselves in small corners and shoot very straight, straight at the father and [Paul].”

Since everything in the film is from Paul’s perspective, the adult scenes were shot from a lower angle to simulate looking up. “The camera was always lower, almost like another floor,” says Khondji. For Paul’s relationship with his classmate Johnny (Jaylin Webb), the change in camera angle represented equality between the boys, as neither was an imposing force from above. “It was very interesting, because with the children it was more about the movements. It was against the film about faces.”

The inspection

Writer-director Elegance Bratton brings in a painful exploration of the desire for acceptance The inspection. Ellis (Jeremy Pope) is a young gay black man who seeks his mother’s (Gabrielle Union) approval and decides to join the Marines. Bratton hired cinematographer Lachlan Milne to bring his story to the screen. “I strongly believe in not overdoing things photographically if it seems to detract from the story,” says Milne.

When Milne and Bratton got together to discuss creative influences, they found common reference in Claire Denis’s 1999 French film Beau Travail. “Both for the masculinity and for the tone of the film, but also for the photography,” he says. “It had a more documentary style in parts that we wanted to bring into certain scenes.” Milne decided that the documentary film style worked best for location shots, in scenes where the camera could focus to just observe, such as the cast played in the long take. shot. “We both wanted it to feel as spontaneous as possible because the performances or the actors, especially Nick, could change [Logan] Whoever played Brooks improvised in a very creative and clever way.

Joining the Marines during the don’t ask, don’t tell era, Ellis struggles to hide his sexual orientation. Milne worked with Bratton to bring Ellis’s sexual thoughts and fantasies to the screen to counter the harsh reality. “We talked a lot about color and frame rate, and it always has to be driven by a strong musical signal,” he says. To emphasize the fantasy aspect, Milne filtered colors and changed frame rates to create a stylized and elevated look. “It’s something you’d never expect to see visually in such an environment, regardless of execution, strictly on the color side.”

Unfortunately, due to Covid travel restrictions, Milne was unable to film the scenes between Ellis and his mother, although he was able to provide some direction. “We talked about these scenes,” he says. “[Bratton] expressed the amount of emotional meaning these things hold. While most of the film was loosely based on Bratton’s personal experiences when he joined the Marines, the scenes involving his mother were different. “These are the ones that come closest to reality. It is very difficult to see and read those words in a script when you know they are from your own personal experience.

The Fables

Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński has been working with Stephen Spielberg since the 1990s Class of ’61, so he saw the director put pieces of himself in many movies. “Steven always used his life experiences, his fears or his worries to enrich the story he created,” says Kamiński. Of The FablesSpielberg gave Kamiński an even better insight into the filmmaker’s beginnings. The film is about Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle), a young man who grows up in post-war Arizona and falls under the spell of the movies.

A big part of the film is Sammy learning how to make films, which means that Kamiński was also the cinematographer for those films. “Sammy’s films are much more challenging than his original films,” he says. “It was a very conscious decision on our part, because we wanted to show the talent and genius that he has.” The film follows Sammy as he discovers new ways to achieve desired effects, such as punching holes in the film to create flashes of light that simulate gunfire.

While Sammy’s films may seem crude compared to Spielberg’s current work, Kamiński emphasizes how “childish” the filmmaking process still is. “We still make films like this. We still throw dust, shake the cars and move tree branches over windows — techniques we’ve been using since the movies started. Stephen used very sophisticated techniques to make his films look professional…for a 12- or 13-year-old kid making war films.”

That mythical creatures examines Spielberg’s upbringing and how his parents influenced his work. “I think the time was right,” says Kamiński. “Unfortunately, what time has made good is that both his parents have passed away, so he felt quite compelled to tell his family’s story and how he fits into it.” While some aspects are fictionalized, most of the plot points, such as His mother’s affair, are true to life. Kamiński says it was “very brave to show it to an audience that might have a very ideal idea of ​​who this guy is. He is the most successful director in the world, but we all have our problems. We all have our pains.”