THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL

With a celebration of the theatrical experience at the forefront, director Ryan Coogler and Autumn Durald Arkapaw ASC sunk their teeth into a genre-bending vampire tale with a difference, exploring new formats, techniques, and making history while telling a fresh story supported by emotion-evoking visuals with soul and a sublimely haunting soundtrack. 

Original ideas and a bold vision were the driving force behind Sinners — the latest cinematic collaboration between Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed) and Autumn Durald Arkapaw ASC, expanding on the partnership formed when they entered the world of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. While that ambitious production’s challenges included a year-long shoot and capturing underwater sequences with IMAX-certified digital cameras, Sinners saw them push the limits once more, achieving a number of filmmaking firsts along the way. 

Sinners is a fresh blend of concepts, genres and techniques, its multilayered narrative extending beyond vampiric horror and supernatural folklore to explore Black history and the Blues. Connecting the past and present, the film is supported by a sublime score composed by Ludwig Göransson, who Coogler met at the University of Southern California. The film also made history as the first feature lensed by a female cinematographer shot on IMAX 65mm and 65mm larger-format film and the first film shot on both 65mm IMAX cameras and 65mm System 65 cameras, expanding the aspect ratio from 2.76 to 1.43 for select parts of the story.  

In the genre-bending chiller, vampires attack a rural Black community in 1930s Jim Crow-era Deep South, with the majority of the action unfolding over one ominous evening at a juke joint opened by twins Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan). Having returned to Mississippi in an attempt to leave their troubled pasts behind, the twins’ plans to open the joint as a creative space for their community, featuring their cousin and talented Blues musician Sammie as the star attraction. But their plans are foiled when a sinister force appears.  

Durald Arkapaw was “blown away” by Coogler’s refreshingly original concept. “I couldn’t put the script down; it’s such an amazing piece of original work,” she says. “I wondered how he came up with such a fresh and exciting idea.” 

The cinematographer shared her thoughts with Coogler in a long email — a process they often use to explore initial ideas and inspirations. “The visuals jumped off the page and culturally there’s so much history of the Delta Blues and Mississippi in our ancestry,” she says. “This story is close to my heart because my father is Creole and born in New Orleans, where much of my family still lives. Its themes dealing with the Black experience in the south, community, and the legacy of segregation resonate deeply with me.” 

Coogler’s films always have a deep personal connection but this project was particular significant, inspired by his ancestral history and relationship with his uncle James who had a passion for Blues music. “The musical element of Sinners is so important, tying everything together,” adds Durald Arkapaw, “whether it’s the Irish or African American characters, musically there’s a relationship between both cultures.” 

Mood and tone were explored first as Durald Arkapaw gets most of her inspiration “from Ryan talking about the story, why it’s personal to him and what the soul of the movie is, all coming from an emotional place”. References included one of Coogler’s favourite horror films The Thing — which also focuses on a group in a tense situation and enclosed space — and Durald Arkapaw’s favourite, There Will Be Blood. From a musical perspective, the Coen brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Inside Llewyn Davis were influential, as was a train sequence from The Last Emperor for Sinners’ complex train scene. 

Coogler shared the book Photographs by writer and photographer Eudora Welty who shot “beautiful black-and-white photographs” of rural and working life in 1930s Mississippi which Durald Arkapaw found to “have so much emotion and depth to the portraiture”. 

Celebrating the Sinnerma experience  

Shooting Sinners on celluloid and the largest formats possible immerses the audience in a textured, impactful visual experience. Coogler originally conceived the film being shot on 16mm but following discussions with the VFX team, it was suggested shooting on 35mm would offer a more stable negative needed for the VFX work.  

“The studio then asked if we’d considered large-format. That became a bigger conversation as there’s 65mm 5-perf and 15-perf,” says Durald Arkapaw. Excited at the prospect of shooting on IMAX and 5-perf 65mm, she contacted Andrew Oran at FotoKem who prepared a menu of 70mm clips (the projection format for footage shot on 65mm) to watch in a theatre including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Tenet, and The Hateful Eight. 

“Ryan thought The Hateful Eight’s wider landscape photography could be impactful when we were conveying the flatness of the Mississippi Delta. I’m a huge fan of anamorphic so that approach excited me,” says Durald Arkapaw. “It was also important to capture the sun dipping and rising along the horizon, something especially significant in telling our vampire story.” 

Both already advocates for celluloid shooting, the filmmakers were wowed by the format. “Ryan stood up, walked to the screen and said, ‘This is what I’ve been missing.’ At that moment I knew he was in love. So was I.” 

IMAX and Panavision sourced cameras for a test shoot in the Lancaster desert, the closest they could get in California to replicating the environment in which they would shoot in New Orleans. Comparing the 35mm and 65mm 15-perf and 5-perf test footage at Fotokem, they were impressed by the 2.76:1 footage captured on the Panavision System 65 cameras.  

Another lightbulb moment occurred when the filmmakers viewed the IMAX footage projected on 70mm in the theatre at IMAX’s West Coast HQ in Playa Vista. “Ryan flipped out and screamed at the screen, he was so impressed. He’s such an inspiring leader and that’s what you need. From that moment on there were many conversations to support, organise, and move forward with that choice.” 

Once the decision was made to venture into multiple format territory, Coogler and Durald Arkapaw decided what parts of the story to shoot in IMAX or Ultra Panavision. “Throughout prep and shooting Ryan fell in love with the IMAX format, and would say, ‘I think we should shoot this in IMAX too?’ So the list of IMAX scenes got bigger as the film evolved.” 

Non-dialogue scenes were the natural choice for IMAX, since the camera isn’t sync sound. “The camera is very loud, so it wouldn’t be suitable for heavy dialogue scenes,” says Durald Arkapaw. “Even some of the quieter horror scenes still involve talking, so during prep, the final fight sequence and select landscape opening shots stood out as the best candidates for IMAX.” 

Always aiming to elevate the story, Coogler wanted to experiment shooting some scenes that might not be the obvious choice for IMAX, checking if the actors were happy with Automatic Dialogue Replacement (ADR) being used. Durald Arkapaw feels “the movie’s much better for it and I’m happy he turned some of those scenes into IMAX scenes”. 

For instance, they initially planned to only use IMAX for the wide opening shot of a pivotal farmhouse scene and then cut to Ultra Panavision for dialogue inside the building, but was then captured entirely in IMAX. “I can’t imagine that scene as anything other than completely IMAX now. It’s one of my favourite scenes I’ve ever operated.”  

It was difficult for Durald Arkapaw to operate when monitoring four to six cameras on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but as Sinners was an even more personal story to Coogler, she wanted to be right next to him, operating A camera. Having operated most of her films and preferring it, she generally wants “to be the person assessing and then framing the shot; it’s just part of the job and where I excel”. 

Shooting on IMAX film was a new and invigorating experience for the cinematographer “because the format is larger than life in every way”. Managing two cameras and formats brought with it a lot of responsibility when switching from the 100lb System 65 camera which was not handheld and the 65lb IMAX camera that could be handheld. “The IMAX mag only runs for two and a half minutes, so it’s not on your shoulder for very long, but it is heavy,” she adds. 

Selecting the right Steadicam and B camera operator to work alongside Durald Arkapaw was integral when executing sequences with precision. Her husband, cinematographer Adam Arkapaw ACS, recommended Steadicam operator Renard Cheren, who Durald Arkapaw worked with on commercials. ”I had to think about who could fly these cameras, because not many have done it. I asked Renard to test it at Panavision and see how he felt, and he did a great job right out of the gate,” she says. “Some of the most powerful sequences in the movie are Steadicam such as the surreal montage oner in the juke joint which Renard shot on the IMAX camera.”  

Ethan McDonald, a first AC Durald Arkapaw has worked with for eight years, also excelled in his first venture into the world of IMAX. “The focus in this film is brilliant from him and B camera focus puller Andrae Crawford, who I worked with on Black Panther. Ryan likes to move the camera a lot, use Steadicam, cranes and handheld, so you need excellent focus pullers. I also shoot wide open which doesn’t make it easy on them!” 

All sequences were shot with Panavision System 65 studio and high-speed cameras and some sequences with IMAX MSM 9802 cameras and an IMAX MKIV high-speed camera shooting 40 frames per second for a couple of high-speed sequences. Lens choice was pivotal when capturing the expansive story, with Panavision Ultra Panatar offering the 1.3 squeeze anamorphic needed and 50mm and 80mm Panavision IMAX lenses Dan Sasaki built for Hoyte van Hoytema ASC NSC FSF to use on Oppenheimer offering a “nice softness”. Sasaki also made an 80mm IMAX Petzval lens for shots including a dream sequence at the end of the movie and the musical montage. A Canon EF 1200mm USM super telephoto zoom lens captured the “blood moon” which Durald Arkapaw highlights as apt because “Ryan is always the one giving you the ladder to reach for the moon”. 

Expanding the frame and in turn the story for select sequences fulfilled Coogler’s vision, with IMAX used to “pop the ratio further” and “look inside a character’s mind”. Becoming the first team in history to expand from 2.76 to 1.43 in a production shot on film did not surprise Durald Arkapaw, as “Ryan’s bold, so whenever we do something, it’s going to be something never done before”. It is also testament to Coogler and frequent collaborator editor Michael Shawver “who did a brilliant job in the final edit, choosing when to cut to IMAX”. 

As Coogler sees the filmmaking and viewing experience as personal and creates productions “with his filmmaking family”, he encourages audiences to celebrate the theatrical experience. The writer-director considers Sinners his “love letter to all of the things I love about going to the movies, as a cinephile, especially watching films with an audience. It’s the communal experience—and this movie was made to be seen with a crowd of people you don’t know”. 

With a focus on choosing what is right for the story and will resonate with audiences, around the film’s release, emphasis was placed on a trip to the cinema to see Sinners in all its splendour being a true “theatrical event”. The film was lovingly crafted with a variety of viewing formats in mind, so highlighting the options available to audiences was also at the forefront in a video Coogler filmed with Kodak exploring the impact of aspect ratio on cinematic storytelling. 

“Ryan was that kid who bought a movie ticket two weeks early and then waited in line, excited to see the next big release. So when the film was finished, he wanted to give audiences that same experience, to generate excitement for the way the film was shot, help them appreciate the beauty of the different formats, and allow them to choose where and how they wanted to experience it,” adds Durald Arkapaw. “The different options are really important because a 70mm IMAX moviegoer has a different experience than someone watching the film in 2.76, where the aspect ratio never pops. It’s been amazing to see everyone respond so positively.” 

Also treasuring the moviegoing experience, on the film’s release Durald Arkapaw took to social media to offer tickets for two of her favourite seats at the CityWalk IMAX in Hollywood to “a cinematography student in the LA area of similar background to myself and who is passionate about shooting film”. Believing “you have to see you to be you”, she wanted upcoming talent to have the chance to “be inspired by the craft on opening weekend”. 

Dancing with the devil 

Sinners challenged the filmmakers to shoot on two different formats, in extreme heat and rain, venture into twinning techniques and capture a sprawling supernatural montage sequence spanning Black musical history as the camera moves through the juke joint. 

When creating the film’s standout musical numbers — including powerful performances from singer Miles Caton in his acting debut as Sammie within the musical montage — multiple layers were used to represent each culture and genre of music in a unique way, moving the camera from one to the next, requiring precise coordination from all departments. 

“The surreal montage was so imaginative that it needed Ryan to walk us through how he envisioned executing it, and what it meant to him personally.” says Durald Arkapaw who worked closely with the music team, composter Ludwig [Göransson], camera crew and VFX. “It’s five shots in total stitched together, so we discussed what camera mode and format was best. The script includes details such as, ‘Tilt up towards the burning roof and tilts down to reveal a crowd dancing’, so it’s very complex.” 

Three Steadicam shots of the interior space of the lumber mill, captured by operator Renard Cheren, were stitched together before the camera tilts up to the burning roof VFX takeover, based on a burning roof plate we shot. The camera then tilts back down to a shot filmed on a different day at the exterior lumber mill night exterior location, captured on a 50-foot MovieBird telescopic crane which then pulls back on 100 feet of track to end on the backs of the three vampire characters before cutting to their faces, all shot on 15-perf IMAX film. 

Sins and twins 

While cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema ASC NSC FSF and director Christopher Nolan offered useful advice to Durald Arkapaw and Coogler about shooting with IMAX film cameras, having explored it on productions such as The Dark Knight, Dunkirk, Interstellar, and Tenet, valuable advice from another of Durald Arkapaw’s fellow cinematographers and friend, Jody Lee Lipes ASC, helped when venturing into new territory to capture twinning sequences of Michael B. Jordan’s characters, twins Smoke and Stack. 

Like Sinners, twinning was a huge touchstone in productions Lee Lipes lensed such as Derek Cianfrance series I Know This Much is True, starring Mark Ruffalo as twins, and Dead Ringers. “There are so many ways of approaching it and Jody emphasized the importance of getting all departments together early in prep, going through a scene and shooting it as a test,” says Durald Arkapaw. “The sound department has a big responsibility because you’re recording the sound of Michael B. Jordan playing Smoke, and then he changes into Stack, and you have to play the dialogue back in sync.”  

The process involves playing back the audio of one character for the other character to hear and is dependent on precise timing while taking into account the added significant aspect of music. “Twinning can be as simple as two people sitting at a table, you lock off the camera, shoot one character, they change and come back and you shoot the other character,” she adds. “It’s more complex if you want to move the camera. Ryan and I took that very seriously as we wanted it to feel like there were two separate characters as much as possible, making it believable as possible, and not calling attention to the effects.” 

Durald Arkapaw’s ambition to achieve as much as possible in-camera is supported by Coogler whose films are always grounded and character driven. “He wants the audience to feel something deeply, and that’s more likely when what they’re seeing feels real. When the world on screen is tangible, the audience can dive in and truly connect.” she says. “So even if we know it’s going to ultimately be a VFX shot, we do as much as possible in camera. We explored all modes at our disposal for twinning, deciding whether it would be split screen, techno dolly, or if the characters were touching and required a more complex technique using head replacement.” 

This utilized the “Halo Rig”, created by our VFX team. It features 12 small digital cameras on a circular body rig worn by Michael B. Jordan. After rolling camera on the main format, the rig gathered reference material of the scene and Jordan’s complex interactions, facial movements, and accurate lighting, which the VFX team used to seamlessly replace his head in a digital space that could be put on the body double playing the role of the other twin brother. 

Split screen was used for simpler sequences when the camera did not move. If a repeatable move was needed and the camera moved, pushed in or boomed up, a TechnoDolly was used. “If we’re shooting an interior space, we can control the lighting but on an exterior set, we had to make sure lighting stayed consistent because it takes multiple hours to shoot a twinning sequence. It’s important the B side pass matches the A side hero pass.” 

A film of firsts 

The significance of becoming the first female to shoot on 65mm IMAX film is not lost on Durald Arkapaw, considering it a true honour. “While I’m simply here doing my job and happen to be a woman, it becomes clear to me, especially on big movies, that I’m still one of very few women” she says.  

“Also, just being a woman of colour working on these big-budget films is significant. I’m fully aware there aren’t many of us in this space, and it feels especially meaningful that it’s Ryan giving me the opportunity to become the first woman to shoot on 65mm film, because he’s a trailblazer. People who look like us don’t often get chances like this. Ryan and I understood the weight of that, and we carried it with intention and heart. 

“I want to execute on a high level and do great work, not just for myself, but for the women coming up who’ll look up who shot the film. The work will mean something to them, too. This career often means being away from your family and children, and I don’t take that lightly. So if I’m going to be out there, I’m going to make it worth everyone’s time.” 

Among Sinners’ other filmmaking firsts was Kodak’s creation of the first 65mm Ektachrome 100D 5294 colour reversal stock, following on from the 35mm version they made for Euphoria. A few rolls were created, working closely with Kodak’s head of motion picture, Vanessa Bendetti, who Durald Arkakpaw collaborated with on The Last Show Girl. “It excited Ryan and I very much but it was not something we could shoot all the time as it’s 100 ASA and we filmed a number of night interiors and exteriors.” 

The Ektachrome stock captured a few portrait shots which were significant to Coogler and folded into some of the montage scenes. “Those shots are very humanistic and feel like they’re from a different time and place. They have a different texture but sit nicely alongside sequences shot with Kodak [VISION3 500T] 5219. It was great to have Kodak’s support and be able to shoot it with IMAX cameras,” she says. “And if you see the 70mm screening, you can experience it in its true 1.43 aspect ratio.” 

During prep Durald Arkapaw received references from Coogler which Beachler had pulled. The references from the US Farm Security Administration collection included imagery from the ‘40s shot on 35mm Kodachrome slide film, detailing day laborers picking cotton in Mississippi. “They don’t make Kodachrome anymore, so it was nice to shoot on some reversal stock that had a similar essence to those beautiful old photographs, these were big references for us,” she adds. 

FotoKem also played a key role in the format exploration, also providing end-to-end services including film processing, nextLAB dailies, colour finishing and 70mm prints. Durald Arkapaw was delighted to work with some of the same team she collaborated with on The Last Showgirl – dailies colourist, John Rocke, and final colourist, Kostas Theodosiou. 

“FotoKem is like family as I’ve worked with them for years on many of my smaller independent films early on in my career. So to go from a movie shot on 16mm to a 65mm project was amazing,” she says. “They were pivotal in our process and working with visual effects because it was such a unique workflow, nothing like what we’re used to when shooting digital. We’re the first to have so many effects shots in a 65mm 5- and 15-perf film, made possible through a huge team effort requiring lots of coordination with our fantastic VFX Supervisor Michael Ralla, and post producer, Tina Anderson, who’s worked on Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino films.” 

Although Sinners was shot on film, the team had to take it through a digital workflow due to the demands of the twinning work. “But the important thing, and what’s so great about working with Kostas, is that, having worked on all of Christopher Nolan’s films, he keeps the approach as close to a traditional printer light finish as possible,” says Durald Arkapaw. “His eye is tuned to that format and he respects it. Once we aligned on how I like my shadows, density, and highlights, it was beautiful. He just understood it inherently and protected that look throughout.” 

Coogler always includes Durald Arkapaw in the post process, including her in key VFX reviews. “I believe you have to stay closely involved with VFX because it’s your image they’re adjusting,” she says. “If a DP walks away at the end of principal photography and moves on to another project, that image is still evolving, and things can change. So it makes total sense for me to be part of that conversation. It’s such a collaborative process on Ryan’s films, and I really appreciate that the goal is always to make it feel as real as possible, and true to what we intended.” 

Rich colour is an aspect of the Sinners world of which Durald Arkapaw is particularly proud and is also thanks to the work of costume designer, Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Malcom X). Colour palettes were previewed when test footage of hair, make-up and costume were screened at New Orleans’ Prytania Theater, requiring a special lens for the projector to unsqueeze the 2.76 footage shot with a 1.3x anamorphic lens.  

“Seeing tests projected is when you start to show the team how you will expose and light,” says Durald Arkapaw. “The colour story is incredibly important to Ryan on this film, especially given the significance that red and blue hold. I always get excited about what costumes I’m going to shoot because Ruth’s always have so much texture, colour and personality.” 

Light in the darkness 

While Sinners is the first horror Durald Arkapaw has lensed, she is a fan of noir, exploring darkness, under exposing a negative and creating density in the shadows. “This film is so many genres but the fluidity of that’s interesting because the consistent tone and mood of the lighting works for all of the modes of storytelling. Farmhouse scenes when the vampire characters are introduced are a blend of a Western that turns into a horror sequence.” 

Using lighting in a stylized and naturalistic way creates spaces that feel real, a goal Durald Arkapaw has achieved with her gaffer of more than 10 years, Brian Bartolini. Her love for top light — sometimes introducing supplemental gear for close-ups to light faces — requires flawless rigging, allowing the camera to move freely and actors to walk into believable spaces free from kit on the floor. 

“Sinners’ sizable night exterior set-ups had to feel authentic. “I hate night exteriors where you feel a bunch of strong source lighting, and it just feels fake,’ says Durald Arkapaw. “This film features rural spaces with little electricity, lit mostly by moonlight, so I wanted it to feel true to that. At times, it’s dense and dark, but the final result looks realistic, which helps support the horror aspect, making the moon feel like the only source of light.” 

Moonlight was a colour temperature of 4700K while the tungsten interior “white” light was 2300K. The juke joint interior on stage featured 19-inch and 22-inch 500 watt and 30-inch 1,000-watt double diffused Jem Balls with unbleached muslin, dimmed on Variacs. For ambient light, 12K Fresnels were bounced into unbleached muslin attached to the ceiling and 1/2 CTO was used to match the 2300K white light inside. 

For the exterior of the juke joint, shot on location in Braithwaite, a 40’x40’ softbox was hung from a 250-tonne, 200’ boom construction crane, rigged with 36 CreamSource Vortex 8s through full grid diffusion. More localised key lighting of actors was achieved using a 12K telehandler with a 20’ x 20’ softbox rigged with four LiteGear Auroris X through double Magic Cloth. A 4K HMI balloon for moonlight/fill light and a separate 16K Tube balloon from SkyLight Balloon Company with tungsten and HMI globes to match our 4700K moonlight colour. 

Across the river, five 120’ Condor booms with two 18K Pars in each and 1/2 CTO were used to light trees and background for added depth. About 40 CreamSource Vortex 8s were on the ground spread out everywhere to light trees and foliage. 30 Vortex 8s in Pixel Mode created a fire effect in the surreal sequence where characters were dancing inside a burned down juke joint. SFX fire bars were also used when needed to create real fire light and effects. 

For the film’s opening scene, taking place in a church and which is among Durald Arkapaw’s favourite sequences, eight 18K ArriMax Pars – four on each side of the church – were bounced into a row of 8’ x 12’ ultra bounces for key light. Scenes shot at the grocery store featured soft boxes on the ceiling with LiteGear Lite Tiles through full grid diffusion. When capturing driving shots practically using the Biscuit Rig (self-driving camera car), two Vortex 8s were rigged through the front windshield for fill light on the actors’ faces. 

While Durald Arkapaw’s black level is soft and “has a milkiness to it”, she is a fan of creating contrast to shape the shot. “Whether I’m shooting day or night exteriors, I want there to be a dark side to the face and shape to the set. On big night exteriors such as a fight sequence when Sammie jumps out of the mill, I wanted all light to come from above. We also had to light across the river a quarter mile away, so there were a bunch of lights on condors, lighting the background to give it depth. This takes a great rigging crew and time to pre rig.” 

The cinematographer and Coogler create character with lighting, embracing bold choices that allow characters to move in and out of darkness, incorporating shadow play. “You want the tension to live in the unknown, to hold back just enough,” says Durald Arkapaw. “I prefer shaping light in the space rather than fully illuminating everything, because that’s not how real life works, people drift in and out of light.” She adds, “It was important to create real, lived-in spaces and use practicals that would motivate the light naturally, as it would have been in the 1930s.” 

Production designer Hannah Beachler (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Creed) incorporated practicals authentically to create a period feel. “She’s brilliant at creating emotional spaces that feel lived in, rich with history and texture,” says Durald Arkapaw, who aims to showcase Beachler’s work through beautiful wide shots. 

Beginning prep on the ground and scouting with Coogler helped Durald Arkapaw build the vision alongside the director from the project’s infancy. Coogler also went to Mississippi, where the film is set, with collaborators such as composer Göransson to explore the musical landscape and gain inspiration. Ultimately the team decided New Orleans would be a suitable location to double for Mississippi. 

As Beachler lives in New Orlean she saw some locations prior to Durald Arkapaw arriving because she was shooting The Last Show Girl. “It’s a great collaboration with Ryan and Hannah. We talk through where the best landscapes are to shoot, and which direction to orient our sets, because Ryan knows I love to shoot into the backlight.” she says. 

Around 65% of the movie was shot on stage at Second Line Stages in New Orleans with the rest on location in New Orleans. In the lumber mill set, Beachler created a space allowing the camera to move in all directions, hanging lanterns and string lights as motivators in the shot. 

While New Orleans offered beautiful landscapes and talented crew, the weather was not always as kind during the 66 day-shoot. “It’s a sunny day and then the thunder and lightning comes for you, but I’ve experienced that in Atlanta too,” she adds. “My team was amazing at adapting, especially my grip team headed by key grip Miguel Benavides, they were essential in making things happen despite the weather. They pivoted quickly to solve problems, whether it was laying TechnoDolly tracks in muddy terrain or managing massive night exteriors with our electric team in between thunderstorms.” 

From the heart 

Filmmaking is an internal and personal process for Durald Arkapaw, who puts her life experience into the way she frames and lights. “I have such a connection to the emotional quality of whatever story I’m telling; I have to feel it first to communicate that to the audience. Always think about what you want to say emotionally and visually, and then approach the technical side of it,” she advises. 

“You have to put yourself into it, you need to be inspired and excited by the work, because you’re the protector of the image,” she says. “You’re the one taking everyone’s contributions and translating them for the world to see. So I choose lenses that feel soulful to me. Yes, I can be a nerd and love the technical side, but it has to come from the heart first, that’s when the work really shines. It can be easy to just make something look good, but what the audience truly wants is to feel something. And for that emotion to be there, it has to start with you.” 

Working with Coogler during that process of emotional connection is “collaboration at the highest level”, an experience Durald Arkapaw was delighted to continue on Sinners. “He’s one of the kindest people and it’s a bonus that he’s an amazing filmmaker. Everybody on set loves working with him, wants to do a good job for him and puts their heart and soul into these films to make sure the vision is accurate,” she says.  

“So we’re all celebrating together as it feels special to be a part of an original film made by someone who is inspiring and cares about the people working for them. Shooting large format, telling an important story, using twinning techniques, and framing for two camera systems, it demands your full attention, and presence, your whole being. But in the midst of that intensity, something beautiful happened. This film carries the weight of that effort, every ounce of belief our team poured into it.”