A RIVER OF LIGHT - Interview with DoP Christian Berger about CRLS

I scheduled an interview with Christian Berger (DoP) for a Dutch magazine I write for. We agreed that we should meet at a seminar organized by Dedo Weigert in Munich on 14 November 2013. Berger would be there to lecture about the use of reflected light for cine and video production using dedicated reflectors and there should be hands on time as well. Since I brought a DSLR with me I thought I might as well interview him on video too. He agreed. The illustrations that are in this clip I found in an older video that Berger had made a couple of years ago. Since this is a budget less production I asked Berger if I could use some exerpts from that video. I also used exerpts from the cinema trailers of four different feature films he shot with reflected light. Berger has very strong ideas about light either being on a location set or in the studio. His departure point is the natural light which he imitates and then he goes from there. And so creating beautiful lit scenes and then adds just those details and nuances what makes it special. Using a light source with a parallel light beam like sunlight and some special surfaced reflectors. He embarked on this journey in 2001 with a couple of scenes in La Pianiste with Isabelle Huppert and directed by Michael Haneke and shot all his films that way until today. It brought him an Oscar nomination for best achievement in cinematography for The White Ribbon also directed by his fellow countryman Michael Haneke. One of my faovurite quotes: You should not know there is a lamp, you should not realize there is a lamp. by TOM POEDERBACH http://www.poederbach.com