Director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino and DP Sayombhu Mukdeeprom discuss the Netflix film, Beckett and their close collaboration

Director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino and cinematographer Sayombhu
Mukdeeprom have worked together on Call Me By Your Name and
Suspira. Ferdinando served as the second unit director on both
films. Beckett is the second feature Ferdinando has written and
directed. Sayombhu also shot Ferdinando's first feature, Antonia,
and was Oscar-nominated for his cinematography on Call Me By Your
Name. Prior to his experience working with Ferdinando and director
Luca Guadagnino, Sayombhu built his cinematography career in
Thailand, shooting films such as the Cannes festival winner, Uncle
Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives directed by Apichatpong
Weerasethakul. Beckett is a thriller, reminiscent of Alfred
Hitchcock films, starring John David Washington as an American
vacationing in Greece with his girlfriend, played by Alicia
Vikander. After a tragic accident, Beckett is pursued by the police
and drawn into a political conspiracy while being chased across the
country. Ferdinando intended to have the film nod at Hitchcock, but
he wanted to stay away from the heightened, perfectly choreographed
elements of Hitchcock movies such as North By Northwest, where
every scene is a spectacle, with amazing set pieces following one
after the other. For Beckett, Ferdinando liked the idea of shooting
everything with very natural light, keeping the movie grounded and
not quite so heightened. As a hero, Beckett is relatable and
believable- when he fights or runs, he sweats, gets out of breath
and becomes seriously injured, and all of the action sequences are
grounded in reality. Sayombhu enjoys shooting films using natural
light, preferring to reshape or bounce sunlight. If he has to use
lights, he uses as few as possible, and in a way that's almost
invisible. He also prefers to light the environment rather than the
actor, to give them space to move around, so that they can live in
the moment and he can capture it as it happens. When Sayombhu
scouts locations, he uses his eyes and his gut feeling to explore
the place and memorizes the kind of natural light available,
noticing potential issues before figuring out how to overcome them.
To have a good rapport with a director, Sayombhu suggests listening
to the director first, and only then make a suggestion that would
make it better. Ferdinando enjoys collaborating with Sayombhu
because they both understand the importance of preparation during
pre-production and research, and they have similar taste in
filmmaking and visual language. You can watch Beckett on Netflix.
Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes
and links: http://camnoir.com/ep138/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras:
www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Aputure:
https://www.aputure.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website:
www.camnoir.com YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook:
@cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz