March 12, 2021
Shot Talk – Promising Young Woman with Dir. Emerald Fennell & DP Benjamin Kračun, BSC
Summary
We’ve got a very exciting release this week! We added tagged images from the brand new movie (a ShotDeck exclusive!), Emerald Fennell’s pitch black comedy thriller Promising Young Woman. This film has been met with a slew of critical praise and several nominations at the Golden Globes and Independent Spirit Awards as well as wins for Carey Mulligan and Fennell at the Critics Choice Awards.
We were also lucky enough to sit down with Fennell and her DP Benjamin Kračun, BSC for an in-depth conversation about their creative process and the visual language of the film for the first edition of a new interview series we’re launching called Shot Talk.
Key moments
- 00:01:39 Scene Breakdown: The Opening Club Scene
- 00:03:20 Director Is the Driver: The Importance of the Opening Five Minutes of a Movie
- 00:05:03 Benjamin’s Kračun’s Prep Work
- 00:06:02 Challenges of Shooting at the Club
- 00:07:57 Discussing the Stair Shot
- 00:10:03 Christian Motifs and Color Choices
- 00:14:09 Pink and Blue: Subverting Gendered Colors
- 00:16:28 Lighting the Coffee Shop
- 00:19:48 Usage of Tonalities in Lighting
- 00:21:30 The Importance of Shotlisting
- 00:25:18 Discussing the Waist Shot
- 00:26:57 Hair as a Tool for Character
- 00:27:56 Scene Breakdown: The Lunch Scene
- 00:29:50 Emerald on Shooting Chronologically
- 00:30:57 Managing Crew Morale
- 00:32:09 Blunt Communication Between Director and DP
- 00:36:36 Building Frame Within a Frame Moments
- 00:38:27 Processes for Shooting at Dusk
- 00:41:54 Emerald’s Process with Actors
- 00:44:13 Pressures of Shooting on a Deadline
- 00:45:42 Final Thoughts
