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Mobile Filmmaking

The Bob Richardson Look

Nic Cage in Martin Scorsese’s criminally underrated “Bringing Out The Dead.”
Brian Doyle Murray as Jack Ruby in Oliver Stone’sJFK.”
Adrian Brody & Jennifer Esposito in Spike Lee’sSummer of Sam,”shot by Ellen Kuras (in the Bob Richardson style).
Isiah Washington in Spike Lee’s “Clockers,” shot by Malik Hassan Sayeed (in the Bob Richardson style).

Teaching myself lighting for camera, this is my first attempt at recreating the Robert Richardson look from Oliver Stone’s “JFK,” and Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out The Dead,” shooting on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. Also inspired by Malik Hassan Sayeed’s work on Spike Lee’s “Clockers,” and Ellen Kuras’ work on “Summer of Sam,” also for Spike Lee.

The Bob Richardson look: halo effect from top light, heavy backlight, blown out afterglow.

I didn’t quite nail it (not enough fill and bounce, too much top light) but I’ll continue to tweak, aided by back issues of American Cinematographer featuring interviews with Richardson and Kuras.

Back issues of American Cinematographer (right to left, top to bottom: “Clockers,” “Summer of Sam,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Casino,” “JFK,” and “Nixon.”

Special thank you to my Dad, who allowed me to interrupt his morning coffee to sit for this.

Next up, I’ll attempt to recreate the look of Janusz Kaminski’s photography on Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report.”

The “Film Bleu” look of Janusz Kaminski’s photography for Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report.”

Watch the trailer for “Bringing Out The Dead” here:

“Bringing Out The Dead” trailer.

Watch the trailer for “JFK” here:

“JFK” trailer.

Watch the trailer for “Summer of Sam” here:

“Summer of Sam” trailer.

Watch the trailer for “Clockers” here:

“Clockers” trailer.

Watch the trailer for “Minority Report” here:

“Minority Report” trailer.