Robert Richardson

[framing The Hateful Eight (2015) in the ultra-wide 1:2.76 aspect ratio of anamorphic Ultra Panavision 70] The most complex thing for me was that the set was primarily this one building where they arrive in this stagecoach. But if you shoot a medium shot with the lenses, anywhere you're seeing two-thirds or more of the room, depending on where the character is, because it's such a wide frame. You're lighting the entire set and other characters are constantly in your frame. Quentin first looked at It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) [shot in Ultra Panavision 70, too]. Part of what happened in that film is that you had a medium shot with all the characters in the frame. It was an adjustment for all of us.[2015] Show less «

[on photographing many of Quentin Tarantino's films] Most have a pop approach to the use of vibrant color, which is quite in opposition to the majority of work being done in cinema. That was a tremendous shift for me because I had to move from what I'm normally prone to use, which is a muted palette, to one that's fuller. Show less «

I don't watch my movies after I've shot them. I can't go back. I went back to see Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) with the AFI and I just can't watch it - I remember sitting there going, "I can't look at this", and I get out of the room, because all I can see are my faults - I'm just looking at how poor my work is, and that is an extraordinarily uncomfortable thing for me, so I walk out. I don't watch my films; I haven't seen any of them for years. I mean, I know they exist there. Show less «

[from his Oscar acceptance speech for Hugo (2011)] To all the past, future and present filmmakers, this is for you. Show less «

[on Kodak's new Super 8 camera] I am a strong believer that a filmmaker should have as many tools at his or her command. The news that Kodak is bringing back Super 8 came as a great delight for it fortifies the future of film being made available to all. My career began with Super 8 and that transferred into working with the stock on a number of projects from JFK (1991) to Natural Born Killers (1994). I could not be pleased more to hear that what I felt was slipping away into darkness is returning to the light. [2016] Show less «

[on photographing Samuel L. Jackson's scenes in Django Unchained (2012)] Skin naturally reflects in a way that makeup doesn't. So we had to figure out a way to light him. Because the primary story circles slavery, of course every shot will, in one way or the other, deal with the contrast of black and white. I hope we succeeded. Show less «

It's important not to confuse visual clichés with artistic photography. If a choice had to be made, I would much rather shoot a good picture than a good-looking picture. Show less «

My career is based primarily upon finding a balance with a director and their vision, and that means sublimating my own personal ego toward their material. It's far better to shoot a good picture than a good-looking picture. Show less «

I took my name off World War Z (2013). It was a digital show. We worked very hard coming up with lookup tables [a digital roadmap]. They were pretty radical, but they were a look the studio had agreed upon. There was no disagreement with the studio, nor the director. Then they dropped it all. They chose their own lookup tables. And a little later, they decided they were going to release it in 3D. I felt I was at a point in my life where: 'OK, you have to take some strength for all of us that can't. So Paramount's going to be angry with me. It's going to result in conflict.' And I said I was willing to take that conflict on, because no one's protecting us. If the studio has a right to change your things, you hope to have some artistic position to battle them. (...) I haven't seen Paramount send me one script for a few years. [2016] Show less «

[how he accidentally came up with the idea to shoot The Hateful Eight (2015) in anamorphic Ultra Panavision 70] We went in thinking we were going to shoot standard format for 65mm and one day I was with Gregor Tavenner, my first camera assistant, and Dan Sasaki [Panavision VP of optical engineering] was showing us standard Panavision lenses for 65mm and while looking at them, I slipped behind the curtain and saw this shelf filled with odd-shaped lenses [triangular with prisms]. They were Ultra Panavision lenses...[2015] Show less «