Cinematographer Jeffrey Waldron prides himself on having an eye for detail and understanding how to use lighting, framing and camera movement to tell a story. He put those tools to use recently on the Nicole Holofcener-directed Julia Louis-Dreyfus film, You Hurt My Feelings.
Cinematographer Jeffrey Waldron
The A24 film tells the story of Beth (Louis-Dreyfus), who overhears her husband (Tobias Menzies) giving an honest reaction to her latest book — leading to the downfall of their marriage. Through Waldron’s lens, we see Beth’s world in a new light, with each shot carefully composed to capture the emotional nuances of her journey.
Waldron’s work includes A League of Their Own, The Morning Show, Dear White People and Little Fires Everywhere (which we interviewed him about back in May 2020). We reached out to Waldron to get his take on the film and his work…
How early did you get involved, and how did you work with the director?
I read the script, loved it and shared some ideas with Nicole, which she clicked with instantly. We didn’t overthink the look of this film; I showed her some references I liked, we looked at locations together and I showed her some compositions that came to mind.
Nicole has an elegant, effortless cinematic style of her own that is apparent in her work. I wanted to honor this while also bringing what I felt was a unique, nuanced lighting and compositional feel that was appropriate for this story.
How would you describe the look?
I would describe the look of the film as simple and grounded. It’s heightened enough to create a comfortable, soft world for our characters to inhabit and dramatic enough to give a sense of real stakes to what might be considered petty relationship issues.
You shot in NYC? Any specific challenges to shooting there?
New York, especially on this budget, is always a challenge, but I don’t think there’s a more visually wonderful place to be in the spring. Simply walking down a street or through Central Park, it’s easy to be inspired. Beth and Don’s Upper West Side apartment was on the 16th floor, which posed challenges not only for getting equipment in and out but also for approaching our many day-for-night interiors. Each practical location posed these sorts of puzzles, which is part of the fun of shooting in New York City.
How did you work with Nicole and colorist Nat Jencks to achieve the intended look?
After reading the script, I sent Nicole a series of images that came to mind — all sharing a soft color palette, a soft lens look, a bit of grain and heightened naturalistic lighting. Nicole loved these instincts for the film. Colorist Nat Jencks and I met early on to discuss the color look, and I ended up falling in love with a Kodak-inspired LUT he had that we used for the film.
Can you describe a note you gave to Nat about the film?
I sent Nat the same set of images that I had sent Nicole, and we connected on those in our initial meeting. He has excellent instincts and was very in tune with what I was after, so when I saw his first pass, the look was already in a great place. The schedule for this film was very ambitious, so most of my color notes were attempts to add further nuance and shape to our fast lighting setups.
How did you go about choosing the right camera and lenses for this project?
I knew we didn’t have a big budget, and there wasn’t a mandate on format or resolution, so I chose the ARRI Alexa Mini — a sensor I know well for its dynamic range, color rendition and speed.
The visual approach was quite simple and soft, so I chose Panavision Primos, which to me thread the line between the perfection of modern optics and the humanness of older lenses. The Primos resolve beautifully and have great contrast, but I wanted a softer feel from them here, so I de-tuned them with the help of Sal Giarratano and the team at Panavision New York to lessen contrast and add subtle diffusion into the highlights.
In addition to this, I shot the interiors with a very subtle Hollywood Black Magic filter.
Can you describe the lighting? Any “happy accidents” you captured?
We wanted the lighting to be crafted but not distracting, so while it’s all motivated from real-world sources, it’s heightened in the sense of direction, softness and color to create the simple, comfortable, lived-in tone of the film from scene to scene. I suppose it was a happy accident that the furniture store we found to shoot in specialized in contemporary lighting fixtures, which provided fun visual interest but also great sources of light for our scene there.
L-R: Nicole Holofcener and Julia Louis-Dreyfus
The scenes I am most proud of in this film are the ones where the simple approach to lighting makes room for great performances. Don chasing Beth down outside of Sarah’s apartment at blue hour comes to mind. It was the beautiful convergence of a magic time of day and a magical performance — even though the cinematography and lighting (we did light this to maintain shape) is utterly simple.
Explain your ideal collaboration with the director or showrunner when starting a new project.
Each relationship is very different. The collaboration with Nicole was ideal for so many reasons. Her trust in me allowed me to put this film together visually at the pace we needed to without a lot of micromanagement. She made it clear what she wanted and liked what I brought to it. It is also ideal for me to work with directors that push me in new visual directions that I think are great. The combination of our efforts creates a sum greater than the parts.
How did you become interested in cinematography?
As a kid I wanted to be a hand-drawn animator. This led to me becoming proficient in film cameras at a young age, so I gradually drifted toward live-action cinematography, and it became an obsession. I would volunteer on weekends in high school on independent film sets to learn everything I could.
Jeffrey Waldron shooting on the streets of NYC
What inspires you artistically?
I find most of my inspiration by watching the work of great cinematographers — from the past as well as my contemporaries. Beyond that, I find a lot of inspiration from and parallels to music. My wife and I both write and play a lot of music, and it’s my other great obsession.
What new or newish technology has changed the way you work?
Certainly, the transition to LED lighting is the most impactful technological innovation in my work over the past decade. The fact that it has become so pervasive, portable, affordable and controllable that it has trickled down to low-budget sets like this one… That was a game-changer. Being able to change the color and brightness of any light wirelessly on the fly helps tremendously at this fast pace.
What are some of your best practices or rules you try to follow on each job?
I tend to make myself new directives and mandates for each new project, and most go out the window pretty early on. The only tried-and-true rules I have for myself are still to hire the best and kindest crew you can find and try not to beat yourself up too bad when things don’t turn out perfectly.
What’s your go-to gear – things you can’t live without?
I try to approach each project with an open mind about which camera and lenses I’m going to use. I like to let those choices be informed by the specific needs of the material, the director, the schedule and the budget. That said, I find myself using Hollywood Black Magic filters a lot, and lately I’m finding the Sony Venice’s ND system to be something I don’t want to live without.
