SEASON 2 - EPISODE 85 - HANS ZIMMER - COMPOSER

Composer Hans Zimmer (DUNE, INTERSTELLAR, THE LION KING) joins us on this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast. Hans takes us back to his early career working the espresso machine for composer Stanley Myers and later making runs for director Bernardo Bertolucci on THE LAST EMPEROR before reflecting on his experience composing the score for the South Africa-set, anti-apartheid film A WORLD APART. We later discuss the purpose of score in a film and how Hans works to create an environment in which a director’s story can unfold, as does a cinematographer. We learn what Hans is really doing when he’s procrastinating, and we weigh the value of being original and being good. We also trade notes on working with director Denis Villeneuve, and Hans reveals his deeply personal connection to the score and story of THE LION KING. Towards the end, Hans opines that the Hollywood sound is really made in London, and he revels in the joy of conducting an orchestra that has played everything until he brings his original score to their stands.

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This episode is sponsored by the Dallas Film Commission & Godox

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 84 - WIM WENDERS - WRITER / DIRECTOR

Writer and director Wim Wenders (PERFECT DAYS; WINGS OF DESIRE; PARIS, TEXAS) joins us on this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast. Early on in the conversation, Wim recounts waiting in the toilet stalls as a student in Paris and watching over 1000 movies in a year before realizing working in film was his way forward. Wim walks us through his first three features, including a disastrous visit to the Venice Film Festival, and reveals how those experiences led to the genesis of his first road movie: ALICE IN THE CITIES. After a winding trip through the American West, Wim was wooed by colour photography and reveals how he and late, great Sam Shepard willed PARIS, TEXAS into existence. Wim later reflects on wrestling with expectations on its followup, WINGS OF DESIRE, and the welcoming invitation to study toilets in Japan that led to the wonderful PERFECT DAYS, which he likens to a documentary about a fictional character. We also learn which of Wim’s many films is his favourite, and we venture a guess at the future of filmmaking and filmgoing.

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This episode is sponsored by Godox & the Dallas Film Commission

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 83 - PAUL SCHNEIDER - ACTOR

On this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, we speak with actor Paul Schneider (BRIGHT STAR, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES, GEORGE WASHINGTON). Growing up in a small town in North Carolina, Paul shares how working in film and television never crossed his mind until a pivotal viewing of Jane Campion’s THE PIANO. Attending film school following the encouragement and support of a high school teacher, Paul studied editing but found himself frequently cast in his friends’ short films, culminating in a performance in GEORGE WASHINGTON, shot entirely by his film school friends. Paul later shares how, to prepare for a role in Jane Campion’s BRIGHT STAR, he practiced his Scottish accent by studying a copy of TRAINSPOTTING. We later discuss the importance of a director having a clear vision for a film and loving a collaborative director who includes their crew and cast in their creative decision making process. Paul also reveals the secret character trait that informed his character in JESSE JAMES, and we discuss the emotional mathematics of the collaboration found in filmmaking that result in a film’s final cut.

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This episode is sponsored by the Dallas Film Commission & Godox