Marvel Cinematic Universe’s cinematography and camera work have always come under criticism, with an exception of certain films, of course. In a conversation with MCU’s mini-series Moon Knight’s cinematographer, we asked him how the series, which has earned remarkable praise for not only the plot but also the visuals, stands out from the feature films. Andrew Droz Palermo, who shot episodes 2 (Summon the Suit) and 4 (The Tomb), tells us how the cinematography of MCU has changed over the years.
The filmmaker whose first Marvel project is Moon Knight, tells News18.com, “We tried to push the show into a place that we felt we hadn’t seen a lot from them (MCU). We wanted to bring in a lot of contrast, and make the image a bit thicker. A lot of that, though, is built on the things that other cinematographers before me had been pushing, and all the various TV shows and movies, and we couldn’t have done it without them for sure. I and Greg Middleton, the other DP, really pushed to make it as ‘filmic’ as possible, to make all of our choices be not about speed, but about what makes it feel the most like a movie. We feel audiences really want that as well.”
The man behind the camera for films like A Ghost Story and The Green Knight agrees that the brilliant cinematography has a lot to do with the director’s vision as well. “I don’t think a cinematographer can exist without a good director. I always say that the best ideas that come out on a TV show or movie are the ones where we meet in the middle, where I may have an idea, the director may have an idea and they come together. My directors, Justin and Aaron, were incredible and so inspirational for me, so I thank them for also letting me explore and do some really interesting things and pitch them really wild ideas.”
However, he says he is okay to remain nameless if the audiences forget to credit the cinematographer while hailing the actors or the directors for Moon Knight.
“I’m happy to ride on the coattails with my directors. And I also have to give hats off to Grant Curtis who was really steering our ship. I was happy that episode four landed in our lap and when I saw that script, I was excited and knew there were going to be some really fun places we could get to take it. Such as making the four by three kind of Indiana Jones Tomb Raider rip off, tomb busters and of course getting to go into the hospital or mental health facility. I’m happy that people are excited about it and also happy to remain nameless if people have forgotten.”
Talking about how the Marvel Films and TV series are different stylistically, he says that the line between the two is blurring. “The line is blurring more and more. I think the TV shows are really doing a great job of keeping that same quality that the features have started and I love that’s happening broadly and not just in the Marvel World. TV is really starting to look just as good as movies. While the big difference is, that with movies they get a lot more time to shoot. You may be shooting one page a day whereas sometimes on Moon Knight we were shooting five pages a day. Still, we try as much as we can to not push the image below to get the content. I really think that that line is beginning to blur and it’s an exciting time for TV.”
Shooting for Moon Knight, however, had its set of challenges, like any other superhero film/series. Palermo says that the most challenging thing for him to was sorting out Oscar Isaac’s character (Steven/Marc/Moon Knight) talking to his own reflection.
“All the reflection work was really difficult, sorting out Oscar talking to himself and handling the technical challenges of how the camera moves, how to handle that with visual effects or technology that can allow repeated moves. And of course, that challenge was even harder for Oscar as he was acting against himself. But anytime he was talking to himself in reflection, it was a real challenge.”
Moon Knight will be airing its finale episode on Wednesday, May 4. The miniseries, co-directed by Mohamed Diab, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, and starring Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke, and May Calamawy among others, is streaming exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar.
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