The 1970s was influenced by conceptualism and performance arts, and Donald Graham Burt, a university student who was then transitioning from boy to manhood was drawn to the conceptual movement. He found it as a way of expressing himself and relied on the art form as a medium to communicate his heart. It’s been more than forty years since Donald graduated but his approach to work and life has remained the same. I caught up with the two-time Academy Award winner to discuss art, design, films, and life in general.
It starts with situating yourself within their perspective, as “The Killer” cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt says.
That perspective was firmly established in the film’s opening sequence where subjectivity was key. The Parisian opening scene features the titular character — the assassin known only as “The Killer” played by Michael Fassbender who readies himself to kill a target in the building across from him.
Messerschmidt who sat down with Variety expressed that his familiarity and previous work with “The Killer” director David Fincher shortened the process of bringing the script to life. For Messerschmidt and Fincher, the goal was to hone in on the core themes of the story, and then start delving into the details from here.
In this episode, cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, ASC is joined by interviewer Wally Pfister, ASC to discuss his work on The Killer — the neo-noir thriller from director David Fincher that follows an assassin on the run after a botched hit job.
In The Killer, the titular antihero misses one of his intended targets for the first time in his career, and is forced to flee and survive the inevitable consequences. The film marks the second Fincher-directed feature shot by Messerschmidt, following the 2020 film Mank, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
In this interview, Messerschmidt discusses the film’s Paris-inspired color palette; how he shot scenes “loosely” or “rigidly,” based on the main character’s degrees of control over varying situations; how he approached the lighting for a complex fight scene; how he incorporated planned postproduction decisions for lighting, flares and camera destabilization into his workflow; and what he learned about what an audience sees versus what it hears.
Erik Messerschmidt, ASC first emerged as a filmmaker when he was hired by Society member and mentor Mark Doering-Powell on several features as a grip and later gaffer. After Messerschmidt served as Society member Jeff Cronenweth‘s gaffer on the David Fincher-directed Gone Girl (2014), Cronenweth encouraged Fincher to hire Messerschmidt to photograph the Netflix series Mindhunter. Messerschmidt would reunite with Fincher for their 2020 feature Mank, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
Wally Pfister, ASC is a filmmaker whose cinematography credits include the Christopher Nolan features Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), The Dark Knight (2008) and Inception (2010). He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography for all of these works, winning one for Inception in 2011.
After a fateful near miss an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.
Netflix Presents: Michael Fassbender “THE KILLER”
Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker
With Sophie Charlotte and Tilda Swinton
Casting: Laray Mayfield Sound Design: Ren Klyce Music: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross Costume Designer: Cate Adams Editor: Kirk Baxter ACE Production Design: Donald Graham Burt Director of Photography: Erik Messerschmidt ASC Executive Producer: Alexandra Milchan Producers: William Doyle, Peter Mavromates Produced By: Ceán Chaffin p.g.a.
Based on the graphic novel series “The Killer” Written by Alexis “Matz” Nolent Illustrated by Luc Jacamon Originally published in the French language by Editions Casterman
Screenplay By: Andrew Kevin Walker
Directed By: David Fincher
Release Date: In Select Theaters October 27 / On Netflix November 10
In the David Fincher-directed film, The Killer, from a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker, and based on a graphic novel, Michael Fassbender stars as an assassin battling his employers when a hit goes terribly wrong.
Speaking during a panel at Deadline’s Contenders London event, editor Kirk Baxter addressed a rumor that the role required Fassbender to not blink at all.
There were many times watching the dailies where he heard Fincher’s voice saying, ‘That’s terrific, but let’s see that once again without the f—ing blinking.’ Baxter added, “Not so much that Fassbender needing that direction, it’s just been a thing.”
Press conference featuring Director of Photography Erik Messerschmidt ASC, Sound Designer Ren Klyce, Director David Fincher, and Editor Kirk Baxter ACE.
Red Carpet featuring Producer Peter Mavromates, Director of Photography Erik Messerschmidt ASC, Writer of the original “The Killer” (“Le tueur”) comic Alexis “Matz” Nolent, Editor Kirk Baxter ACE, Sound Designer Ren Klyce, Director David Fincher. The original stream has the ambient sound turned down to a minimum because it is too busy and noisy, and only barely intelligible in the close-ups.
After a fateful near miss an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.
Netflix Presents: Michael Fassbender “THE KILLER”
Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker
With Sophie Charlotte and Tilda Swinton
Casting: Laray Mayfield Sound Design: Ren Klyce Music: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross Costume Designer: Cate Adams Editor: Kirk Baxter ACE Production Design: Donald Graham Burt Director of Photography: Erik Messerschmidt ASC Executive Producer: Alexandra Milchan Producers: William Doyle, Peter Mavromates Produced By: Ceán Chaffin p.g.a.
Based on “The Killer” Alexis “Matz” Nolent Illustrator: Luc Jacamon
Executive Producer (and co-showrunner) J. Miles Dale joins us on the podcast to discuss the horror anthology series Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, which was recently nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards. Joining the conversation are nominees: Supervising Sound Editor Nelson Ferreira, MPSE, and Director of Photography Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC.
To avoid spoilers, be sure to watch “The Autopsy” before watching this podcast! But be forewarned, it is extremely dark — both thematically and visually — which was entirely by design. Anastas Michos:
“The genre is squarely within a horror/sci-fi mode. It is about what we don’t see in life. That’s what makes shooting horror films or thrillers so interesting. That we allow the audience to only see what we want them to see, and tease the rest of it into the blacks [of the image].”
Cinematographer Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC, takes us into the thrilling world of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities with “The Autopsy.” Michos’ mastery weaved an emotive visual narrative through skillfully dark color palettes, dynamic lighting, and expert composition, turning settings into characters and creating an immersive, unforgettable experience. Go behind the look, and learn about the choices Anastas made on “The Autopsy” that earned him a well-deserved Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie.
Michos takes us Behind The Look: THAT SHOT of his favorite sequence of “The Autopsy” starting in the morgue.
“The Autopsy” is the third episode of Netflix‘s Cabinet of Curiosities. A seasoned sheriff investigates a dead body in the woods and calls on an old pal, a medical examiner, to help piece together a series of chilling events.
The Fincher Analyst 