The Story of Silent Films

EPISODE 156 - PETER SUSCHITZKY- Cinematographer

Team Deakins sits down with cinematographer Peter Suschitzky (THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, DEAD RINGERS) for a great conversation. We learn that Peter started shooting at a very young age and was printing images in the darkroom at the age of 6! Peter tells us stories from working with the great directors John Boorman, Peter Watkins and David Cronenberg. Peter tells us about interviewing with George Lucas for Star Wars, why he hadn’t seen a single one of Cronenberg’s films before his interview for Dead Ringers, and his collaborations with Peter Watkins. Peter believes it is easy to fall into formulaic filmmaking if you work too much, and to him that is the enemy of creativity. We discuss still photography as it is a huge part of Peter’s life, and how to Peter, capturing a good still is very difficult (perhaps more so than cinematography), though satisfying when it works well.