Episode 35 - Benoît Debie
Acclaimed Belgian cinematographer Benoît Debie joins host Chloe Aftel to discuss the way that encouraging experimentation and improvisation in film can push the story even further and make the visuals even more impactful to the audience. Debie discusses how his process came to be, citing his time working on his first feature film, Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible (2002), and how having the limitation of only using natural lighting in that project while also trying to preserve the color in the scenes taught him to embrace spontaneity and intuition as a part of his artistic process. He discusses some of the techniques, tools, and processes he uses to create these visuals, emphasizing the importance of experimentation and how failure can create the most inspiration towards a better final image. Debie also discusses the importance of respecting not just the story and the audience, but also the creatives as well, discussing how his collaboration with his crew is the most significant part of his process and how leading with respect creates an environment that actualizes potential through failure, embracing unknowns and always learning.
Highlights:
Debie talks about intentional accidents and how working with Gaspar Noé has helped him embrace being willing to tackle a project with flexibility and intuition in mind
He brings up the flexibility that working in both feature film and commercial work allows him, saying that by working in both it gives him the freedom to be more selective about the projects he decides to pursue
Debie talks about his approaches to portraying female characters, especially when the scene involves sensitive topics, stating that it’s important to respect both the story and the character, and how the use of exploitation in those visuals would only take away from the impact of the story
He discusses various different techniques he uses to create different effects, including using older lenses when shooting digitally to help give the visuals a more natural and analog look
Biographies:
Benoît Debie is an acclaimed Belgian cinematographer, best known for his innovative and experimental approaches when it comes to lighting and color grading. He grew up in Belgium and began his career working as a camera assistant after graduating from the Institut des Arts de Diffusion. Throughout his early career he worked both in television and on various short films and commercials, but he would eventually get contacted by frequent collaborator, Argentinian director Gaspar Noé, to work as a director of photography on Noé’s 2002 feature film Irréversible, a project he said working on helped create the foundation for his visual style. Since then he has worked on various feature projects, including Innocence (2004), Enter the Void (2009), Spring Breakers (2012), and The Sisters Brothers (2018), the latter in which his work on ended up earning him a César Award for Best Cinematography the same year.
Chloe Aftel has spent her career working in commercial photography, photojournalism, and film. She’s an established name in modern photography with work featured in The New York Times, Mother Jones, Playboy, Dazed & Confused, Vogue Germany, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, and more. Aftel has photographed victims of sexual violence, reported on COVID 19's impact on the trans community, and gained access as the first reporter in COVID wards of the West Coast’s hardest-hit hospitals. She has covered underground abortion providers, the impact of gender pronouns on daily life, and clergy abuse. Aftel's first book, Outside & In Between, is an award-winning anthology covering gender non-conforming people across the United States.
