Exploring Cinematography in Filmmaking

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 92 - DON BURGESS - CINEMATOGRAPHER

On this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, we speak with cinematographer Don Burgess (AQUAMAN, CONTACT, FORREST GUMP). Always the outdoorsman, Don spent much of his youth and young adulthood filming sports movies and learning the ropes while hanging off them on the side of a mountain. We learn how he fell in with director Robert Zemeckis in a pivotal meeting to shoot FORREST GUMP and how they typically prepare and work together through production. We also discuss Don’s night work on CAST AWAY and the difficulties of working on a tropical island. We reflect on deriving strength from longtime crew members, and Don reveals how, after the introduction of film incentives, he’s since developed local crews around the world. Later, Don gives us a recent example of when he was able to remotely DP a shot across the Pacific Ocean with his trusted New Zealand crew. Among his many illustrious credits, Don can also boast of surviving the 2nd unit on the arduous production of director William Friedkin’s SORCERER.

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This episode is sponsored by Godox