Tag: Netflix

Frame & Reference Podcast: “The Autopsy” DP Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC

Kenny McMillan
August 17, 2023
Frame & Reference

Frame & Reference is a conversation between Cinematographers hosted by Kenny McMillan. Each episode dives into the respective DP’s current and past work, as well as what influences and inspires them. These discussions are an entertaining and informative look into the world of making films through the lens of the people who shoot them.

Step into the fascinating realm of cinematography with our special guest, Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC. A seasoned expert in the field, Anastas unlocks the mysteries of television and feature film cinematography, highlighting the way technology is reshaping these two distinct mediums. We navigate the landscape of artificial intelligence and its impact on the world of filmmaking, as well as the unique perspectives of different unions and guilds.

In this engaging discussion, we venture into the realm of personalized creativity in cinematography. We grapple with the thorny issue of image authorship and the absence of laws in the United States that safeguard the creators of these images. Anastas enlightens us on how he navigates projects without relying on the safe and familiar, and what elements give a project an organic feel. We also explore the role of lenses, both physical and virtual, in crafting the look of an image.

As the conversation evolves, we explore the creative process of filmmaking. Anastas shares his insights on the influence of nostalgia and artificial intelligence on new ideas. We touch on the unique work of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, delve into the intriguing concept of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, and discuss Anastas’ experience working with actor F Murray Abraham. Brace yourself for a riveting expedition into the world of film production, full of collaboration, innovation, and a dash of humor. Don’t miss out!

Listen to the podcast:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube

Support the podcast on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee
Follow Frame & Reference: Twitter, Instagram
Follow Kenny McMillan: Instagram, OWL BOT

Clubhouse Conversations: “The Autopsy” Cinematographer Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC

Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC
August 12, 2023
American Cinematographer

In this episode, cinematographer Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC is joined by interviewer Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC to discuss his work on Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities — the Netflix horror-anthology series featuring eight macabre stories guest-directed by notable genre filmmakers.

Presented and “personally curated” by Guillermo del Toro, Cabinet of Curiosities offers an assortment of modern horror fare rooted in the traditions of gothic and grand-guignol storytelling. The series’ guest directors include Ana Lily Amirpour, Panos Cosmatos, Catherine Hardwicke, Guillermo Navarro, David Prior, Vincenzo Natali, and Keith Thomas. Michos shot Episode 3 — “The Autopsy,” directed by Prior — and earned ASC Award and Emmy Award nominations this year for his work on the installment.

In this interview, Michos discusses his approach to shooting his episode with minimal lighting; the importance of amping up contrast between colors to strengthen and maintain his palette’s intended effects; his personal philosophy on color association; and why cinematographers must follow their own instincts when making decisions on camera operating and movement.

Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC is a cinematographer whose credits include the features The Kissing Booth (2018), The First Purge (2018), The Empty Man (2020) and Vanquish (2021).

Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC first began working as photojournalist in New York, and has since served as director of photography on over 40 features, including Sideways (2004), Walk the Line (2005), The Descendants (2011) and Ford v Ferrari (2019). He is a two-time Academy Award nominee for his cinematography on Nebraska (2013) and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020).

Watch the full conversation.

Find all episodes in our ASC Clubhouse Conversations series.

The Cinematography Podcast: Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC

Ben Rock & Illya Friedman
August 9, 2023
The Cinematography Podcast (Cam Noir)

Cinematographer Anastas Michos ASC, GSC humbly calls himself a journeyman cinematographer. However, after 25 years and multiple awards, Anastas possesses expert skill and versatility that can be seen across all genres. Most recently, Anastas was nominated for an Emmy for “The Autopsy,” an episode of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities anthology TV series on Netflix.

Del Toro selected the directors for each episode of Cabinet of Curiosities, and he chose idiosyncratic directors who brought their own sensibilities to each piece. Anastas had worked with “The Autopsy” director David Prior before on a horror film called The Empty Man, and they enjoyed collaborating together again. Anastas enjoyed working on Cabinet of Curiosities because it felt like making a short film rather than a TV show, with each piece a crafted short story rather than a serialization. For a consistent look, each episode used the same production designer, Tamara Deverell, who also did the production design for del Toro’s Nightmare Alley. While shooting the episode, Anastas was always conscious that “The Autopsy” should fall under the look of del Toro’s brand.

Anastas has always enjoyed shooting horror films because they explore the human condition in a very specific way. The cinematographer can creatively stretch the imagination and the image in a way that can’t be done as much in dramas, comedies, or romances, since they’re usually based on our day-to-day reality. But Anastas likes to switch around among genres- after working on an intense horror film such as Texas Chainsaw 3D, a light rom-com might sound really good. He’s interested in any project that has a great story, script, director, and crew.

Before finding his way behind a camera, Anastas thought he’d go into the music business since he grew up in a musical family. Instead, he became a news cameraperson, learning visual storytelling on the job. He’s found that his music background has actually served him well as a cinematographer- he feels musicality is very much a part of camera movement. One memorable time early in his career, Anastas was working Steadicam for Born on the Fourth of July. Director Oliver Stone pulled him aside and had Anastas put on a Walkman so that he could move the camera to the pace of the music Stone wanted.

After working as a camera and Steadicam operator for several years, Anastas got to shoot his first feature as a DP for Man on the Moon. Anastas found director Milos Forman to be simultaneously generous and demanding, with the capability of recognizing someone’s potential and holding them to it.

Listen to the podcast:

Cam Noir
Apple Podcasts
Spotify

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities anthology TV series is on Netflix.
Find Anastas Michos: Instagram

LIKE AND FOLLOW US, send fan mail or suggestions!: editor@camnoir.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube

Podcast Credits:

Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras (Instagram), Greentree Creative
Host and Editor in Chief: Illya Friedman (Instagram)
Host: Ben Rock (Twitter, Instagram)
Producer, Web and Social Media Content Writer: Alana Kode
Editor: Ben Katz
Composer: Kays Alatractchi

Emmy Nominee: Cinematographer Anastas N. Michos on “The Autopsy” from Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

Edward Douglas
August 10, 2023
Below the Line

‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ cinematographer Anastas N. Michos: Capturing horror that dwells in reality

Joyce Eng
August 10, 2023
Gold Derby

The Cinémathèque Française Will Host a David Fincher Retrospective with the Attendance of the Director

The retrospective supported by Netflix, Patron of the Cinémathèque Française (French Cinematheque), will open with a preview screening of The Killer followed by a discussion with Fincher. The next day, a screening of Zodiac will be followed by a Master Class with the director.

From October 13 to 22, 2023. Paris (France).

October 13:

October 14:

October 19:

October 20:

October 21:

October 22:

Opening date for reservations: August 22, 2023 – 11:00 a.m.

Zodiac / “David Fincher by David Fincher, a Film Lesson”: September 14, 2023 – 11:00 a.m.

Presentation of the retrospective by Guillaume Orignac (in French).

David Fincher’s “The Killer” Will Premiere in Competition at the Venice Film Festival

The Venice Film Festival has just announced its lineup for its upcoming 80th edition, running from August 30 to September 9. It includes the World Premiere in competition of David Fincher‘s upcoming film The Killer on Sunday, September 3, 7:30 pm CEST.

Logline: After a fateful near miss an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Gabriel Polanco, Kerry O’Malley, Emiliano Pernía, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, Tilda Swinton

Running Time: 1h 58m

Director’s Statement:

The Killer is my attempt to reconcile notions I’ve had for years about cinematic stories and their telling. I have always held: “What were you doing in Chinatown?… As little as possible”—to be the single greatest evocation of backstory I’ve ever heard. I was also playfully curious about the revenge genre as a tension delivery-system. So when Mr. Walker came aboard and fully embraced these notions/ questions about broad brushstrokes of understanding giving way to the blind-stitch of “moment expansion” – I felt we needed to try something. Mr. Fassbender’s 3-hour response time for: “Yes, let’s!” sealed it for us both and, of course, we all wanted Tilda (Mr. Walker wrote it with her in mind—but please don’t tell Ms. Swinton, she could become insufferable if she knows literally everyone feels this way about her.)

The Killer hits Netflix on November 10, 2023.

Tim Miller interviewed by Alejandro Marin

Alejandro Marin
April 11, 2023
Canal Trece Colombia (YouTube) / Alejandro Marin (YouTube)

Tim Miller, creator of Love Death + Robots with David Fincher, and Director of Deadpool, attended the Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival (FICCI, Colombia), and he talked about science fiction, comics, animation, Terminator: Dark Fate, actress Natalia Reyes, Heavy Metal, James Cameron, and David Fincher.

Listen to the podcast version:

alejandromarin.com
Apple Podcasts
Spotify

37th ASC Awards Nominee Interviews: Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC

The American Society of Cinematographers / American Cinematographer
March 2, 2023

Cinematographer Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC speaks with American Cinematographer‘s Tara Jenkins about his nominated work on Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities – “The Autopsy” (Netflix).

Michos is nominated in the Pilot, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made For Television category (Category sponsored by ARRI).

Mank (Original Musical Score) Deluxe Edition 3xLP

nin.com
Release date: February 2, 2023

The critically acclaimed score for David Fincher‘s Mank from Academy Award™ winners Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross. Featuring 90 minutes of new compositions in the style of orchestral, big band, and foxtrot music of the 1940s.

3xLP pressed on 180-gram vinyl in a deluxe hinged box set. Foil-stamped canvas spine.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Welcome to Victorville
2. Trapped!
3. All This Time
4. Enter Menace
5. First Dictation
6. A Fool’s Paradise
7. Once More unto The Breach
8. About Something
9. Glendale Station
10. What’s at Stake?
11. Every Thing You Do

Side B
12. Cowboys and Indians
13. Presumed Lost
14. (If Only You Could) Save Me
15. Means of Escape
16. All This Time (A White Parasol)
17. M.G.M.
18. A Respectable Bribe
19. I, Governor of California
20. A Leaden Silence
21. San Simeon Waltz
22. Time Running Out

Side C
23. Mank-Heim
24. Lend Me A Buck?
25. You Wanted to See Me?
26. In Your Arms Again
27. The Dark Night of The Soul
28. Clouds Gather
29. Way Back When
30. An Idea Takes Hold
31. Marion’s Exit
32. Absolution

Side D
33. Scenes from Election Night
34. Election Night-Mare
35. All This Time (Dance Interrupted)
36. All This Time (Victorious)
37. I’m Eve
38. A Rare Bird
39. Look at What We Did
40. Menace Returns
41. Forgive Me
42. Final Regards
43. Where Else Would I Be?

Side E

44. The Organ Grinder
45. All This Time (Not No More)
46. Costume Party
47. Dulcinea
48. Shoot-Out at The Ok Corral
49. The Organ Grinder’s Monkey
50. An Act of Purging Violence
51. All This Time (Happily Ever After)
52. A Rare Bird (Reprise)

Order the Mank (Original Musical Score) Deluxe Edition 3xLP

Mank marked the fourth collaboration between Fincher, Reznor & Ross.

They will reunite again for The Killer, out November 10 on Netflix.

David Fincher’s “The Killer” hits Netflix on November 10

“Don’t improvise. Trust no one.”

January 18, 2023
Netflix

After a fateful near-miss, an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.

Starring Michael Fassbender, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton.

Director David Fincher reunites with Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker.

Watch the full “SAVE THE DATES | 2023 Films Preview | Netflix Official Trailer”.

It Still Stings: Mindhunter’s Sidelining Robbed Us of a Killer Conclusion

Jim Vorel
December 28, 2022
Paste

It’s safe to say that in recent years, Netflix has struggled to generate the kind of “prestige” dramas that still routinely draw viewers and critical buzz to premium cable networks or streamers such as HBO. Few among us could hope to understand the demographics being sought by such a massive entertainment juggernaut, or decrypt the desires of the unknowable algorithm as it tries to translate social media hype and bots sharing GIFs into subscriber predictions for three quarters from now. Trying to account for every variable would take supremely gifted intuition and insight into the human condition … the exact skillset of the fictional (but reality inspired) protagonists of Mindhunter. And Netflix let Mindhunter lay fallow, so who’s going to save us now?

The drama devised by creator-writer Joe Penhall and showrunner David Fincher was the rarest kind of Netflix project—a beautifully rendered, big budget, period piece drama with near universal critical praise and audience plaudits to match. And yet, as is so often the case with these diamonds in the rough, the show simply didn’t seem to have the groundswell of support and widespread hype to match the adoration it received from its rapt viewers. At the very least, it wasn’t as widely adopted as Netflix seemingly demands every show be in order to avoid the ever-looming axe, although Mindhunter was never truly canceled with finality—instead, it was sent into “indefinite hiatus” as Fincher’s attention drifted by necessity to an array of other projects. That “hiatus” has now stretched for more than three years, and although rumblings of a Mindhunter revival always seem to be percolating, each passing month only renders a third season less likely when all is said and done.

And that truly is a shame, because Mindhunter was one of the most gripping, unnerving, brilliantly designed and powerfully acted series that Netflix has ever brought to the world of streaming. It’s also a painfully incomplete narrative, as its second season concluded with numerous major storylines dangling in space, robbed of their dramatic possibilities. Watching the series again in retrospect, it’s clear that Mindhunter had a map for where it was headed over several more seasons, but it feels very unlikely we’ll ever see the satisfying payoff of its journey into the darkest parts of the human psyche.

Read the full article