DYNAMIC DUOS
IN SYNC Ben and Igor have collaborated on projects including Netflix series Black Rabbit
DEF: How do your visual styles complement one another? IM: I care a lot about framing. It’s crucial for connecting to the
IT WAS LIKE a bolt of lightning WHEN I SAT WITH HIM”
DEF: What are your reflections on Black Rabbit, now that it has
audience and creating visuals that can convey emotion. The way I do it is often by having unusual framing – not your classical coverage. When we started working together, Ben immediately said, ‘This is what I love as well.’ I think that’s where we match the most. DEF: Describe your collaboration on Black Rabbit. we were on one overpass shooting another overpass. It was an incredibly hot day; Jason Bateman had bought these quasi-ridiculous umbrella hats for everybody. We shot that overpass with the camera zooming in slowly and then coming out. We go back to video village, and the three of us are watching together, and it’s like, ‘Let’s walk away.’ None of us needed any convincing. BS: On one scene, we had a super-long zoom lens, and Other times, I’ll bring something to Igor, and I’ll be so proud and so courageous. There’s a scene at the beginning of episode 5 where we reverse time, and we see the night before. I said to Igor, ‘What if the bathtub
been released?
BS: Other than how proud I am of this series, I’m equally as happy about the fact that Igor and I got to work together again. I love the guy. I hope we get to collaborate many, many more times; it was one of the things that made the experience unbelievable. It was a pleasure behind the camera. IM: It was the set with the least conflict or drama. What makes Ben an incredible director – and I think he’s going to have a great future as a director – is that he’s prepared. It makes my job much easier when the skeleton is there. DEF: Do you have any more projects in the works? BS: Not yet. It’s tricky; as a guest director, I often come into a show where the cinematographer has already been hired. As I forge my way ahead into hopefully working on pilots or, God willing, a feature film, there’s one phone call that I will make right away, and it’s to Igor.
is overflowing, and then we cut suddenly to a shot of the shower running, but the colour temperature has changed?’ He goes, ‘I don’t think that’s going to work.’ IM: Ben is a very visual storyteller. There was one sequence where it’s a conversation in a hallway, and Ben suggested a camera move that I didn’t see. We tend to push each other whenever possible. BS: For me, the thing that drives filmmaking to be its best are those uncomfortable, challenging situations when everybody has to become even more creative.
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DEFINITIONMAGS
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