Late Night with the Devil cinematographer Matthew Temple, ACS

The critically acclaimed horror movie Late Night With the Devil
blends found-footage, mockumentary and 1970s late-night television
into a movie with genuine scares. Cinematographer Matthew Temple,
ACS used shaky camerawork, close-ups, and multiple video sources to
add to the feeling of watching “behind the scenes” documentary
found footage. Though they didn't use vintage tube cameras for the
1970's TV look, Matt and the camera operators used studio pedestal
bases or a crane for the cameras. “Right from the get-go,
(directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes) came at me with this word,
'verisimilitude,' which means to make something feel real.” says
Matt. “And that was kind of the seed for the television show.”
During the preproduction period on Late Night with the Devil, the
Cairnes brothers gave Matt a lookbook that they'd created
referencing documentaries from the time. Matt had honed his craft
on Australian TV shows like Comedy Inc., a sketch comedy show that
spoofed movies and TV shows. He learned how to deconstruct a movie
and replicate a specific look. Matt used the same approach for the
film and watched several late night talk shows from the 1970's to
get the visual aesthetic right. As he learned and took notes, Matt
made an extensive document setting out rules for the camera crew to
follow to keep the look authentic. Using the studio pedestal bases
and cranes were key, with Sony Venice cameras in 4K mode with
Fujinon zooms. “We had three pedestal cameras. They were new
Venices, but nonetheless they were on pedestals. Each operator had
to do their own focus and zoom and trucking up the pedestals in
shot. I was careful to hire two camera operators who really knew
what they were doing with studio cameras because the last time I
did that was 35 years ago.” Matt himself acted as the third camera
operator. He would brief the other camera operators in
preproduction, break down the scene, and map out how all the
cameras would work together. It was critical that the cameras
always have a logic and placement and appear to be moving together.
Growing up in Australia, Matt was impressed with the Australian
movie Mad Max as a teenager. After studying some photography and
stage production, he got a trainee job at ABC Television in Sydney.
He slowly worked his way up as an assistant, operator, Steadicam
operator and DP in Australian television. Late Night with the Devil
is Matt's first feature film as a cinematographer. He previously
worked with directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes as a Steadicam
operator on their first feature, 100 Bloody Acres. Matt thinks
Australia is its own independent film and TV powerhouse because of
their ability to innovate and work with very small budgets. Find
Matthew Temple: https://www.matthewtemple.com.au/ Instagram
@dpwolfie Late Night with the Devil is still playing in some
theaters and is available on Shudder and VOD.
https://www.latenightwiththedevil.movie/ Sponsored by Hot Rod
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