Reserve your seat (FREE) for our Cinematography Workshop with Stefano on May 14th:  https://mailchi.mp/0108799d4374/ferrari

Wow, I'm speechless. Stefanos photography looks like fine art. The level of dedication for the characters and their stories is amazing.

I didn't realize that these set ups were so intense. The shots don't even look like they are artificially lit.

EVERY.FRAME.A.PAINTING A true masterpiece!

I have been into documentaries for more then 2 decades now but most  of it are almost on squeezed budget so I would literally relay on reflectors or whatever light i could get my hans on to, his lighting is every dop's dream. Achieving that look is really much more fulfilling. Thank you for sharing this

I really appreciate how cinematic this documentary looks — it’s visually stunning, no doubt. But it also made me think: when a documentary becomes too focused on perfect lighting and visuals, it can slowly lose its soul. The more controlled and polished everything is, the less real emotion you capture from the people you interview. At some point, it stops feeling like a documentary and starts feeling like a movie — beautiful, but somehow empty. Sometimes the imperfect, natural light and raw emotion tell a much deeper truth than any cinematic setup ever could.

This is inspiring. I started out 2021 as a photographer and over the last two years transitioned to videography/cinematography and I’m struggling finding my lane. This is inspiring because I love shooting interviews and it’s a more consistent way of making money. To see someone doing it in such a cinematic style gives me a push to shoot my work.

This was an extraordinary insight into how Stefano thinks and functions during these docs. I love the fact that he still remembers their individual stories after the fact! Makes me feel like he's 100% invested in the art AND their stories  ⚡️

The rooftop interview looks so great that at first, I even wondered if it was filmed in the volume because it looked almost too perfect.

This was a great interview, and Stefano's artistry is inspiring.

God damn. Stunning. But I had never heard or seen examples of interviews where so much prep went into searching for the locations, then lighting them, and then bringing the interviews to those sites. That feels like it's a clear editorial choice on matching location to person, as opposed to recording them in their own spaces like a home, etc.

Great video, Mark and thanks for interviewing Stefano! His work really is beautiful. That interview shot in the car from the back seat might be the coolest looking interview shot I've ever seen.

It boggles my mind the budgets some of these doc series are pulling. Pretty wild to nonchalantly throw up four or five $13,000 lights for a doc interview (nevermind the amount of scrims, diffusion, flags, etc).

Really serious and professional material!

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Great video! I love what you and Luc F. put out and re-watch them all the time for reference!

Incredible story and incredible filmmaking. Truly one of my favorite viewing experiences.

The first thing I judge for interview lighting is if the subject is squinting because the lighting is too bright.

Often times as DoPs, we can over light and forget to maintain the humanity in the room which can destroy the authenticity of the story.  I often see a setup use a 1200D blasting into a silk directly into the subject while they are on the shadow side of the sun (think a room within a high rise building with windows, it's the windows they need to balance out as the sun is overshooting the room and onto the background outside of the windows), then this causes the subject to uncomfortably squint, making them look and feel uncomfortable which can also result in them rushing to give their answers.

To give you an idea of what level works the best, if we were to take a 300 watt LED COB mounted to a 37" softbox placed 2 feet from the subject, 5% to 10% brightness level works the best.  The downside to this is you cannot compete against full sunlight so you will either need to ND the windows, flag off the exterior or interior or find a location and time where the light levels are appropriate.

he's brilliant, and a good reminder, that in some of his interview clips here, the lighting can be blowing the shit out of the edges/highlights of the subjects lol - a reminder to go easy on myself from time to time

Incredible lighting work. Usually far from what we can develope on our daily work (with very small budget and less time) but an example for what can be done with great natural and cinematic feeling.

Signed up for the workshop before finishing the video ⚡⚡⚡

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This was an impressive and very enlightening interview. First time watching your work and I largely support what you’re doing here. It’s important to demystify the beauty and approach of lighting. I plan to refuse compromise indefinitely in my journey as a director of photography and persons. Filmmaking isn’t just about capturing content as much as it is about capturing the emotions within the the content. That’s the spirit of film.