TECHNIQUE BLACK & WHITE
S hortly after the release of Nebraska , the legendary Nest, In the Heat of the Night ) phoned the film’s DOP, Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC, GCA, much to his surprise. “Haskell called and said: ‘Hey Phedon, what film stock did you use on that Nebraska thing?’” Papamichael recalls. “I felt bad telling him it was shot on an ALEXA, but it really shows how far film emulation has come.” In 1967, Haskell Wexler received the Academy Award for best black & white cinematography for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – the last film that was honoured before the black & white and colour categories merged. Since then, only 18 of the best cinematography nominees have been black & white films, with just three snapping up the award: Schindler’s List (excluding the red coat), Roma and Mank . cinematographer Haskell Wexler, ASC ( One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s © JEAN LOUIS FERNANDEZ
TECHNIQUE
MASTERING DOPs Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC, GCA, Edu Grau, ASC, AEC, David Chambille, AFC and Sam Levy share insights into the technical challenges behind black & white cinematography MONOCHROME
WORDS OLIVER WEBB
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