ELVIS director of photography Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS breaks down her incredible Oscar-nominated visual approach to the film. We discuss her great level of detail recreating iconic Elvis concerts, how different lenses were used for each of the decades, portraying Elvis’ internal struggles through evolving lighting, and more.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Relationship with director Baz Luhrmann (03:17)
• How lens choice represented different time periods of ELVIS (06:10)
• Camera movement of ELVIS (13:20)
• The importance of meticulous prep (16:55)
• What to look for in a great camera operator (22:59)
• Lighting the Vegas hotel room (25:26)
• The evolving lighting in ELVIS (28:51)
• How historical accuracy can be a fun challenge (35:16)
• Detuning lenses for a custom look (36:33)
• Filming Elvis’ last performance (41:13)
• And more!

Show Links

• ELVIS trailer
• ELVIS IMDb
• Mandy Walker ASC ACS IMDb
• Mandy Walker ASC ACS’ Instagram