It is rare to find a film that is so distinctly bisected by its visual language. Hacksaw Ridge is absolutely one of those instances. As filmmakers, we often talk about “visual arcs,” but Mel Gibson and his team created two entirely different… Read More »Hacksaw Ridge (2016) – Cinematography Analysis
There are certain films that resonate deep in your bones not just for their story, but for the sheer audacity of their visual craft. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is undeniably one of those films. When Disney… Read More »Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Cinematography Analysis
When this movie first hit US screens in a truncated, re-ordered version, it was rightfully panned. But once Leone’s original vision was restored with its non-linear, dreamlike structure intact it ascended to its place as a cinema classic. The film’s… Read More »Once Upon a Time in America (1984) – Cinematography Analysis
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is often remembered as the “fun” one the apology for the darker, grittier Temple of Doom. But revisiting it now as a filmmaker and colorist running Color Culture, I’m struck by how visually sophisticated it actually… Read More »Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) – Cinematography Analysis
Most submarine movies make the same mistake: they treat the vessel like a stage set. You get the ping of the sonar and the periscope shot, but you never really feel the weight of the water. Das Boot is the exception. It… Read More »Das Boot (1981) – Cinematography Analysis
There are a handful of films that live rent-free in my head. Braveheart (1995) is one of them. I spend most of my waking hours staring at screens, tweaking curves, and obsessing over color spaces at my grading service, Color Culture. It… Read More »Braveheart (1995) – Cinematography Analysis
Let’s be honest about Return of the Jedi. It’s the messy sibling of the Original Trilogy. As a filmmaker and the lead colorist at Color Culture, I spend my days staring at waveforms and dissecting images, and Jedi (1983) is a frustrating, fascinating… Read More »Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) – Cinematography Analysis