01-17-2025 - Case Study
Clubhouse Conversations: Academy Award Winner Wally Pfister, ASC, and Phedon Papamichael, ASC, on A Complete Unknown
By: SonyCine Team
American Cinematographer’s award-winning series, Clubhouse Conversation, brings together cinematographers for a unique discussion on feature films in this year’s awards race. In this episode, cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC, GCA, (Nebraska, Ford v Ferrari) is joined by interviewer Wally Pfister, ASC (The Dark Knight, Inception) to discuss his work on A Complete Unknown — the biographical drama from director James Mangold that chronicles Bob Dylan’s transformative years as a folk musician and cultural icon.
A Complete Unknown follows 19-year-old Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) as he navigates 1960s New York — rising through the Greenwich Village folk scene, forming pivotal relationships with fellow artists while pushing his own creative limits, and making a daring choice that forever redefines American music.
In this interview, Papamichael discusses how his use of the Sony Venice 2’s high-ASA capabilities helped capture the film's naturalistic night exteriors; his "fluid" approach to shooting live musical performances; his inspiration for the film's Kodachrome-inspired aesthetic, and more.
Here are a few highlights from the conversation or watch the full interview here.
01:01:43 – Phedon mentions that shooting on film wouldn’t allow him to shoot at the ASA he wanted, 12,800, so he chose to shoot digitally and process the footage to film afterward. He mentions that this is the first time he’s shot with the Sony VENICE 2 and how the camera was recommended to him.
01:04:35 – In talking about achieving the film look with a digital camera, Phedon remarks “Wow with this Sony camera I can actually shoot night exteriors at 11 stops…without big back lights… and it’s incredible shooting an 11 at night.”
