The Pigeon Tunnel cinematographer Igor Martinović

The Pigeon Tunnel is director Errol Morris' latest documentary
about David Cornwell, otherwise known as the author John le Carré,
who wrote several best-selling spy novels after serving as a spy
himself. Cinematographer Igor Martinović explores the nature of
deception visually in the film, using multiple mirrors and
reflections of Cornwell as he's being interviewed. For The Pigeon
Tunnel, Igor wanted to create a visual story that enhances the
story Cornwell tells about his life, adding another layer that the
viewer might not notice right away. They used four cameras to shoot
the interviews, and 12 mirrors to reflect Cornwell in different
parts of the room. Igor liked the idea of a spy's multiple personas
represented by multiplying images. It was tricky to shoot with so
many mirrors reflecting the cameras and lights, so for some shots,
the equipment had to be erased in post. Igor also used mirrors in
some b-roll shots, as Cornwell walks though the forest between the
mirrors. For the re-creations dealing with Cornwell's troubled
childhood, Igor played around with some surrealist composition and
kept the frame imbalanced, to represent the unstable conditions
that he grew up in. Igor has worked on several commercials,
documentary features and documentary series with director Errol
Morris. With his 1988 film, The Thin Blue Line, Morris changed how
documentaries were made. His approach to documentary filmmaking is
something he describes as “anti-verité.” Even though his films are
non-fiction, Morris always approaches each one as a filmed story,
using composed interviews with the subject speaking directly to the
camera, and creating artful reenactments. As a cinematographer,
Igor was a long admirer of Morris' work. When shooting the
documentary Man on Wire,  Igor watched The Thin Blue Line as a
reference, and it inspired some scenes in the film. He's enjoyed
being able to work with Morris now. In 2011, Igor shot a horror
movie, Silent House, that was almost entirely filmed in one take.
It was actually about 15 total shots, limited mainly by the amount
of space they had on each memory card. He found it to be an
interesting challenge, as if they were filming a dance or a play.
They were able to accomplish the long takes through extensive
rehearsals and improved the performances each time. The Pigeon
Tunnel is currently on Apple TV+. Find Igor Martinovic:
https://igormartinovic.com/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras:
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