Christopher Rosen

November 19, 2021 

Haris Zambarloukos has worked with Kenneth Branagh for years, from his blockbuster Marvel film “Thor” to his latest project, the Oscar favorite “Belfast.”

Oscar-winning “La La Land” cinematographer Linus Sandgren is responsible for helping bring Daniel Craig’s final turn as James Bond to a conclusion in “No Time to Die.”

For her first film in more than a decade, Jane Campion hired Ari Wegner as the cinematographer for “The Power of the Dog,” one of the most acclaimed films of the year. 

SEE Gold Derby interviews with 2022 Oscar contenders

But what’s the best advice these three masters of craft have ever received in their years as cinematographers?

“Someone said you’re only as good as your worst shot in the film. That threw me,” Zambarloukos says in the Gold Derby “Meet the Experts” cinematography panel. “That was such a weight to bear. That was a good bit of advice that has helped me through in that you have to think of the film as a whole. There has to be clarity and continuity. It also meant if you had a lot of bad shots it all fits together.”

For Sandgren, less is always more — advice he took from an electrician early in Sandgren’s career.

“He was a simple man, he did everything very simple. He told me less is more in lighting and that there’s only one sun,” he says. “You don’t need to overcomplicate things. I think about him actually very often, many times a year, when I’m working and I’m getting into very complicated situations. How can we simplify this?”

Watch the full and lively panel discussion with Zambarloukos, Sandgren, and Wegner above. Click each name at the top to watch that person’s individual interview.

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