Inspired by true events, director Regina King’s One Night in Miami tells the story of Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and the evening of February 25, 1964. Based on the play by Kemp Powers, who also wrote the screenplay, the film shows these four icons as they gather in a Miami Beach hotel room to celebrate Ali’s (who was still going by Cassius Clay at the time) surprise win over Sonny Liston and to talk about much more than boxing.

Tami Reiker (left) on set

The film, which stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge and Leslie Odom Jr., earned three Oscar nominations: Best Supporting Actor for Odom, Best Adapted Screenplay for Powers and Best Original Song (“Speak Now”). Director King earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director.

We checked in with the film’s cinematographer — Tami Reiker, ASC — to talk about her process, working with director King and more.

How early did you get involved in One Night in Miami?
Regina and producers Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder sent me the script, and I loved it. I was also a huge fan of Regina King. I made a lookbook with my visual ideas and met with Regina. We really hit it off and had similar visions for the look and feel of the film.

What direction were you given from the outset about the look? It’s a period piece, so how did you go about giving it that feel?
From our first meeting, Regina and I discussed a rich, vibrant and saturated film. We wanted the vibrant blues and greens for Miami and warm tones in the hotel room. Regina and I worked closely with production designer Barry Robison and costume designer Francine Jamison-Tanchuck. We were constantly sharing color ideas, fabrics and paint chips.

For Regina, authenticity was crucial, and we referenced the actual events and locations. We studied photographers Saul Leiter, Garry Winogrand, Neil Leifer and Eve Arnold and the painter Jacob Lawrence.

For the fight scene, the GOAT book (“Greatest of All Time. A Tribute to Muhammad Ali”) by Taschen became our bible. It had color photos of the fight between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston, and we found the shot for the overhead from the book.

How did you work with the colorist on this?
The colorist for the film was Light Iron’s Ian Vertovec. The producers, Keith and Jesse, had worked with him before and highly recommended him. We instantly hit it off.
I had Ian use the LUT and files from the DIT as our starting point. We had set a look while shooting that was very close to how we wanted the film to feel. Ian did an incredible job and was such a pleasure to work with.

L-R: Tami Reiker and director Regina King on set

How was it working with a director who is also an actor?
Regina had a clear vision of the film she wanted to make; she’s very clear-sighted and discerning. Regina is definitely an actor’s director, which is exactly what this film needed. Regina and I were connected at the hip for four months, every waking hour working on our shots, scouting locations and planning out the days. She is a collaborator on every level.

Where did you shoot and for how long?
The film was pretty evenly divided between days and nights. Having enough time is always the main challenge. You always feel the ticking clock and the countdown to sunrise. A few of the challenges we had on the film occurred in the rooftop scene. The roof was built on shipping containers outside the stage in LaPlace, and we had 280 degrees of darkness to make it look like Miami.

Were there many night shoots versus day shoots? Can you talk about challenges?
The film was pretty evenly divided between days and nights. Having enough time is always the main challenge. You always feel the ticking clock and the countdown to sunrise. A few of the challenges we had on the film occurred on the roof top scene — the roof was built on shipping containers outside the stage in La Place, and we had 280 degrees of darkness to make it look like Miami.

The second night on the roof, the fog and a light mist rolled in and really bloomed our lights, but we made it all work in the end. Ian really helped with this in the color timing; he was able to increase the contrast on the shots where the fog had bloomed the lights and make the two nights match.

How did you go about choosing the right camera and lenses for this project? Why was this the right combination of camera and lenses?
Regina wanted the audience to have an immersive experience … to feel like you are actually in the room with these four men. I suggested to Regina we use the ARRI Alexa 65. The large format and 6.5K give you incredible detail and shallow depth of field. We didn’t have the budget for Alexa 65, but ARRI Rental Burbank worked with the producers to make it affordable on our budget. I chose the Prime DNAs for their softness and the ability to shoot wide open at T2.1, so we always had the shallow depth of field. You can really feel this in the hotel room, where the cameras are floating on jib arms and shifting the perspective.

Can you describe the lighting? Any happy accidents?
Every day was a moment of discovery in the hotel room. Having the camera operators manually operating on floating jib arms allowed them to organically react to the actors.

Now more general questions… How did you become interested in cinematography? 
I came to cinematography through a passion for still photography.

What inspires you artistically?
I’m inspired by film, photography and travel. I’ve been very fortunate to have travelled the world for shoots and always find inspiration in exploring new countries.

What are some of your best practices or rules you try to follow on each job? 
You learn so much about yourself on each movie. I would say I work hard on patience and leading with kindness.

What’s your go-to gear (camera, lens, mount/accessories) – things you can’t live without?
I always bring my EasyRig. It’s been all over the world with me, it’s a size small and the rental houses never have small EasyRigs.

Finally, do you find that there are more female DPs working or being given the opportunity to work?
There is wave of female DPs emerging. It’s exciting to see the change in the industry and more doors opening for female cinematographers.