When a great film wraps us up in its story it is easy to forget all the elements that have gone into what’s unfolding before our eyes, after all the point of film is to transport us as an audience to a place that exists outside of our everyday reality.
As we watch from our seats getting caught up in a film’s dialogue and wondering what the actor’s next move will be, much of the film’s story is being told through the pictorial art form of cinematography.
French cinematographer Johanna Coelho knows how vital it is to have great images that accompany and complement the narrative story of a project. Her versatility and the brilliant techniques she exercises with her craft have made her a highly sought after director of photography for countless international films, music videos and television shows.
“A cinematographer needs to be extremely adaptable. He or she needs to have a creative and technical mind in every condition, while also being a problem solver who is always ready with a solution,” said Coelho.
Having worked as the director of photography on the films Scaremonger, The Black Room, Broken Leaves, You Try Living Here, #OnlyinLA, and many more, Coelho has been known to go to great lengths to get the shot, something the film There Is No Place Does Not See You proves.
The film, which was an adaptation of a story by Rainer Maria Rilke, was predominantly shot in the desert and revolved around three dancers. Coelho, who used the Red Scarlet camera and zero lighting equipment for the shooting of the film, was faced with the difficult challenge of balancing the natural light of the sun in order to light the dancers. Making her job even more complicated was the fact that two of the dancers were light skinned and one was dark.
A true genius when it comes to capturing the perfect image, Coelho explains “I planned all of the shots in a very specific sequence in order to ensure that all of the dancers would be well lit, and that it would look continuous throughout the whole choreography. I made drawings of all the locations and the sun’s position throughout each time of day. It was challenging, but it worked out well!”
Johanna Coelho’s obsession with the various ways to use a camera, capture an image and elicit a feeling in her audience is something that has stuck with her since childhood.
“One thing can be said in so many different ways using images. I have always been so curious and excited about having to pick one angle over other another, and how it affects the meaning of the story,” said Coelho.
In addition to working on a number of award winning film productions, Johanna Coelho is also known for her work as the director of photography for the music video for Finch’s hit song Anywhere But Here, Ivan Solis’s song Molly J, and the television show A Good Life.
