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"My mother began taking me to art galleries when I was a child. She had a big influence on my interest in art. I took black-and-white photos and made prints in my own darkroom when I was a teenager. I also loved foreign films. They affected how I saw the world. I knew I wanted to be a cinematographer when I was 13 or 14 years old. I decided that I was going to learn by being on crews, watching other people work, and then shooting my own films. At some point, I realized that filmmaking is a universal art form just like the paintings that I saw in galleries. Cinematographers have to understand and master technology, but they also need the instincts of an artist. You have to get inside the mind of the director, understand his or her vision, and interpret it as composition, light, atmosphere, mood, and emotions. I think it is really important for people to see films and stories from around the world. I believe they can affect how we feel on an emotional level about people and issues." Mandy Walker, ACS was born in Melbourne, Australia. She began her career shooting documentaries, music videos, commercials and short dramatic films, including the award-winning Parklands in 1996. Her subsequent feature credits include Love Serenade, The Well, Walk the Talk, Lantana, Australian Rules, Shattered Glass and the upcoming release of Australia. [All these films were shot on Kodak motion picture film.] A Conversation with Mandy Walker, ACS by Bob Fisher QUESTION: Where were you born and raised? WALKER: I was born and grew up in Melbourne, Australia. Later, I moved to Sydney, and a few years ago my family moved to Santa Monica, outside of Los Angeles. QUESTION: What was it like growing up in Melbourne? WALKER: I really like Melbourne. It's a very cosmopolitan city with a lot of European influences. It has a lot of Italian and Greek influence, and many people from different Asian countries. Melbourne kind of reminds me of New York City. In contrast, Sydney is a little bit more like Los Angeles. QUESTION: Why did you decide to move to Santa Monica, California, in 2005? WALKER: Because I was primarily working in the United States. QUESTION: Was anybody in your family a filmmaker or a still photographer? Let's make that a bit of a broader question. Did anyone influence your interest in filmmaking? WALKER: Not specifically, but my mother had a big influence on my interest in art, and learning how to express ideas and thoughts with images. She began taking me to art galleries when I was child and spoke with me about paintings and photography. I suspect that you can trace my interest in images to those visits to galleries. QUESTION: Were you a photography hobbyist during your childhood? WALKER: I was. I had a little darkroom. When I was a teenager, I used to take black-and-white photos, process my own film and make prints. I think that experience helped me understand that how you expose and compose pictures affects how people perceive them. I took pictures in high school, and also worked at a local television station. I thought I was going to become an artist. I was also passionate about movies. I still love going to the cinema. I sort of put those two things together and became a cinematographer. QUESTION: Were there movie theaters in your neighborhood? WALKER: We had to drive downtown to go to the movies, but my family was good about that. I loved foreign films when I was a teenager. I remember seeing Spanish, Italian and French films that affected how I saw the world. I was constantly seeing and learning new things. At some point, I realized filmmaking is a universal art form just like the paintings I saw in galleries. I also noticed that people who make films in different countries have different sensibilities, and might approach things differently. QUESTION: Did you decide to go to school and study filmmaking? WALKER: After graduating from high school, I took a film studies course. My teacher was an actor named John Flaus. I decided that I would try work my way up from the bottom and learn by watching how films are made. My teacher gave me phone numbers of people who were working in camera departments. I kept calling until someone gave me a chance to work as a runner on a feature film called Dusty in 1983. QUESTION: What happened next? WALKER: I kept making calls. I was a film loader on a couple of low-budget films. I was learning by watching other cinematographers. I pulled focus and operated on a few other films and shot student projects. I shot my first feature when I was 25. It was called Return Home. I learned to be a cinematographer by watching other people work, shooting film myself, and then seeing the results and learning from them. QUESTION: Were there other cinematographers who gave you advice? WALKER: Peter James, Russell Boyd and Dean Semler are some of the people whom I have always been able to contact and get suggestions. A lot of the other experienced and talented cinematographers have been generous with their time and advice. The director of Return Home was Ray Argall, a cinematographer whom I had worked for as an assistant and operator. He gave me my first break to shoot a feature film. QUESTION: You won a cinematography award in 1996 for a short film called Parklands in 1996. That recognition came from the Australian Cinematographers Society. Did that boost your confidence? WALKER: Yes, it did. Cate Blanchett was in that film. QUESTION: The following year you received cinematography nominations for The Well from both the Australian film critics and the Australian Film Institute. By then, you were also shooting music videos and commercials. Tell us about that? WALKER: It was an opportunity to work with different directors, using the latest equipment and experimenting with different film stocks, lighting, lab and telecine techniques. I haven't shot music videos lately, but I still work on a lot of commercials. I also shot documentaries. QUESTION: What did you learn while shooting documentaries? WALKER: One of the things that I learned was how to judge exposures by eye. It becomes an instinct that can affect how you perceive what is happening. Things don't happen in perfect light when you are shooting documentaries in the real world. QUESTION: You received another award of distinction from your colleagues in the ACS in 2001 for Lantana. WALKER: It's an interesting mystery with five different characters who don't know each other, whose lives become connected after a death. It kind of reminded me of some of those old Robert Altman films. The director was Ray Lawrence. He wanted to use natural light when possible, and minimal artificial light that was right for the scenes and the moods without it being obvious or distracting to the actors. We lit shots in forest scenes with headlights from cars on a road. We used practical lamps on sets, and opened and closed window curtains to alter the light, so it looks natural and sets the right mood. We also found locations where we could make the most of natural light. It was a challenging project. QUESTION: You were nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Shattered Glass, another crime drama. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe and various other awards. How about sharing some of your memories about working on that project? WALKER: It's a story about a journalist, whose name is Glass, who gets caught making up news. Billy Ray was the director. He didn't want it to look or feel over-produced, but he also didn't want a documentary look. Billy wanted it to look and feel natural and intimate. We shot that film pretty quickly. Every film and each director is different. QUESTION: You said that he didn't want a documentary look, but we are wondering if and how your documentary experiences influence you as a narrative filmmaker? WALKER: When I was getting started, I wanted to do a lot of different things and learn as much as I could. Documentaries can be quite an emotional journey. One of the things that I learned while shooting documentaries was how to judge exposures. We got one-light dailies that gave us a feeling for what happened if we were a little under or over exposed. It became an instinct that I now use everyday. QUESTION: You are currently in the middle of shooting a film called Australia. The director is Baz Luhrmann. Have you worked with him before? WALKER: We worked on a television commercial campaign for Chanel Number 5 perfume with Nicole Kidman a couple of years ago. She is one of the stars in Australia. QUESTION: Tell us what this film is about? WALKER: It is a modern, epic love story with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in leading roles. My visual references included Gone with the Wind, Giant, Lawrence of Arabia and Out of Africa. It takes place in Australia during the World War II. It has many Australian stories about the history of the war. QUESTION: How did you prepare to shoot this film? WALKER: It has been a really long and incredibly intense journey. We watched many Australian films and a lot of historical footage from the times and places where we were shooting. We also watched the epic movies I mentioned, and some from other countries, including Sergei Bondarchuk's War and Peace (1968) and Satyajit Ray movies. Then we had long discussions about what this story is about. I shot a lot of 35 mm pictures, which we used with drawings and paintings while discussing concepts for the look and visuals that were right for this story. Catherine Martin, the production/costume designer, was involved in all of these discussions. She combined the visual references that I mentioned and created what we called 'concept design references' that we referred to while shooting each scene. QUESTION: What format was chosen for production and why? WALKER: We were always going to shoot in widescreen, because of the scope of the story and the spectacular landscapes. We decided to shoot in Super 35 because of the flexibility of the spherical lenses. I wanted the ability to be very subtle with how we handled changes in light and wanted maximum control over focus. QUESTION: Does the look evolve as the story develops? WALKER: Australia is a modern approach to the classic Westerns and other epic movies that were made during the 1930s through the 1950s. We considered the landscapes a character. The style of cinematography and production design represented the emotional journey of the characters that Baz wants the audience to feel at different moments in the story. There are subtle differences in looks, depending upon what is happening. QUESTION: A fascinating thing about moviemaking is that it is a collaborative process involving cinematographers, directors, production designers and many other people. We have a question about that. How do you as a cinematographer get inside of the director's mind, so you know what they are thinking? Is it just words in conversations or something more? WALKER: Baz has amazing relationships with everyone involved and an ability to communicate and collaborate. Everyone has different ideas about colors, lighting and darkness. Sometimes it's easy to get into a director's head and understand his or her vision. Other times it's more difficult to interpret, but that's part of my role. I have to get inside the director's mind, and then trust my gut feelings because everyone has different ideas about colors, light and darkness, exposure, framing and movement. QUESTION: What role do you think films make for the cinema and television play in society? Are they pure entertainment or something more than that? WALKER: I think movies can both entertain and enlighten us. I believe they can affect how we feel on an emotional level about people and issues. They can affect our points of view about people and things in the world around us. I think it is really important for people to see films and stories from around the world. Film can be a universal language. QUESTION: This is probably an unfair question, but imagine this is 1880 or an earlier date before there was motion pictures. What do you think you would have done? WALKER: If I was born and raised before there were movies, I think I would have been a painter. Cinematography is a mix of having the instincts of an artist and mastering technology. You have to understand how to mix paints to create the right textures on the canvas using the right brushes. QUESTION: This is another unfair question. If you could go back in history and pick out a departed director or directors to work with, who would they be? WALKER: I would have loved to work with John Ford, David Lean and Alfred Hitchcock for obvious reasons. I also would have liked to work with Andrei Tarkovsky (A Russian director whose films included My Name Is Ivan and Solaris), because he saw things completely differently. You have to understand technology, but I also trust my gut.

Mandy Walker, ACS Ph