Bonus Episode: Past Lives cinematographer Shabier Kirchner

In this bonus episode of The Cinematography Podcast, we interview
Shabier Kirchner, the cinematographer of Past Lives. The film is
nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Original
Screenplay. Past Lives, written and directed by Celine Song, is
about childhood sweethearts reconnecting as adults after many
years. When cinematographer Shabier Kirchner, who is from Antigua,
was sent the script, it immediately resonated with him. “Past Lives
was not just a standalone amazing script, but I found myself in the
material. A lot of what I was going through, being an immigrant to
the US, being from the Caribbean, reconnecting with a friend,
falling in love, all of that stuff was happening while I was
reading the material and it just felt like it was written for me.”
Shabier and director Celine Song had an amazing first conversation,
and he wasn't aware that she'd never made a film before.
Fortunately, they had an extensive amount of time to prep the
movie, and they chose to shoot on Kodak 35mm film. The film takes
place in New York and Korea, and they knew they had to shoot it out
of order, starting with all of the New York scenes which take place
later in the story. Shabier and Song also spent time discussing how
to use the language of the film to express what the characters were
experiencing. Past Lives tells a story about how relationships
change over time. Shabier chose to translate this into deliberate
pacing with long tracking shots, keeping the lighting natural and
simple. In the film, natural elements tell the passage of time as
well, through rain, clouds and the changing light. Even the
characters Nora and Hae Sung tell a story about time in their
movements. “We were speaking about the final scene in the film, and
I asked Celine a question of what direction should they walk? In a
very Celine fashion, she (said) 'Well, they should walk right to
left because that is into the past. And she should drop him off in
the past and then walk from left to right back into the future and
up the stairs.' That very small and simple moment in our
conversation led and informed the entire language of the film in
terms of how we move the camera from left to right.” Shabier broke
out as a cinematographer a few years ago on director Steve
McQueen's five-part anthology series, Small Axe, winning a BAFTA
for lighting and photography. The series tells both real and
fictional stories about London's West Indian community in the
1970's and 80's. McQueen chose to treat each episode as a series of
small films, rather than a TV series. They would discuss and prep
one, scout it, shoot it, break for a week, then begin prep for the
next episode. Starting with Mangrove, the longest in the series,
they shot in order as much as possible, with Lovers Rock next.
Shabier says it was a nice release for the crew's pent-up emotions
on Mangrove, which dealt with anti-police protests and then the
trial of nine Black men accused of starting a riot. They knew they
could put joy and energy into Lovers Rock, a much simpler story
about a house party, love and music. Shabier thinks McQueen
structured the shoots for Small Axe in a way that was very smart,
creating a serious mood when they needed to be serious, and
lightening the mood as needed. Past Lives is still in some theaters
and available on VOD. https://a24films.com/films/past-lives The
Small Axe series is on Amazon Prime. Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras
www.hotrodcameras.com The Cinematography Podcast website:
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