David Fincher & The Art of Cinematography with Oscar® Nominee Jeff Cronenweth A.S.C.

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Today on the show we have Oscar® nominee Jeff Cronenweth A.S.C.
Cronenweth worked as a loader and 2nd assistant before graduating high school, and then enrolled in film school at USC where he studied cinematography. Among his classmates were John Schwartzman and Robert Brinkmann, as well as [director] Philip Joanou.
After graduation, Cronenweth resumed working with his father, joining a core camera team that included operators John Toll and Dan Lerner, and 1st assistants Bing Sokolsky and Art Schwab.
Jeff worked with father Jordan Cronenweth (cinematographer most notable for Blade Runner) as a camera loader and second assistant camera during high school, working his way up to first assistant camera and then camera operator until the mid-1990s.
Moving up to first assistant, Cronenweth began working with Toll, who was just beginning his work as a cameraman, and veteran Sven Nykvist.
"I couldn't have learned from better people than John, Sven and my father,"
Cronenweth relates.
"They were all soft-spoken, but very tenacious in achieving their goals. It was a great experience to watch them, learn set etiquette and see how they delegated responsibilities and dealt with producers and crews. I did six pictures with my father and eight pictures with Sven." [From American Cinematographer Magazine.]
The first major motion picture where he acted as a DP was on David Fincher's masterpiece Fight Club. Other notable feature films on which he worked as a DP are One Hour Photo, K-19: The Widowmaker, Down With Love, The Social Network, Hitchcock, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl.
Enjoy my conversation with Jeff Cronenweth A.S.C.
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[@alexalexis7899]

Alex, the stuff you asked about Social Network is well documented on the DVD/Blu-ray of the film... which I find it hard to believe you haven’t watched and rewatched a few times by now. Personally I would have loved for you to ask Jeff about the nuts and bolts relationship he has with Fincher; like, how do they work, exactly? What do they discuss in pre-prod? What do they discuss daily before tackling a new shot? Does Fincher always ask for specific lighting cues (as it seems to be the case), does he discuss light quality, shape and position? What sort of vocabulary do they use? How do they approach camera placement? Would’ve been phenomenal to hear all that straight from the horse’s mouth. Fincher can be a bit cryptic and vague when answering these questions, but I think Jeff would’ve laid out their process. Maybe next time.

[@theboofin]

Yeah, a big opportunity missed to really gain some proper insights.

[@Tedwardy]

Great advice. If you don't push the boundaries, where's the fun?

[@daisyguerra2780]

FANTASTIC interview!! Enjoyed it very much!!

[@unknownpmc5581]

Probably one of my fav looking films TGWTDT, TSN. It's so sexy and perfect.

[@alexiscuarezma]

Man, this was a great interview. It was great hearing how they got mime for The Social Network! lol such great problem solving. Thanks so much for bringing these interviews. And it's great to see Cuban in the industry. I'm originally from Nicaragua.

[@IndieFilmHustle]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@johnta17]

wonderful interview

[@venvatpictures]

42:58 i think it's the GAP commercial

[@simongilmore5618]

Fight Club isn't on 4k yet... hopefully soon

[@ShotDrawnCut]

Another great interview! I'd love to see Propaganda Films reels!