E114 - Shooting House of the Dragon with Cinematographer Catherine Goldschmidt BSC

In this episode of The Directors' Take podcast, your hosts Oz Arshad and Marcus Anthony Thomas are joined by Cinematographer Catherine Goldschmidt BSC, whose credits include Doctor Who, A Discovery of Witches and most recently HBO's House of the Dragon and she is also co-founder of a UK collective of female cinematographers called Illuminatrix. In last week's episode, 1st AD Steven Eniraiyetan described the Director, 1st AD and Cinematographer as the 'Holy Triangle', so we brought on one of the finest up and coming Cinematographers to break down exactly what that relationship looks like. This chat covers:

 

-What is a cinematographer?

-What do you look for in a director when choosing a project?

-What do the first conversations with a director look like?

-How did you transition from shorts to long form?

-What does prep look like for you?

-How do you craft a visual language and establish rules?

-How do you bring your own style into a show that already has a very established look?

-What does the relationship with a director look like when you're shooting?

-How you work with multiple cameras.

-What scene are you most looking forward to shooting in season 2 of House of the Dragon.

 

With a background in shooting award-winning independent features and documentaries, Catherine was named a “2022 Rising Star of Cinematography” by American Cinematographer Magazine for her more recent work in episodic. Her TV credits include lead DP on the 12th Season of Doctor Who, the Emmy-nominated show Dummy, (for which she pioneered a new approach to framing that was featured in both American Cinematographer and British Cinematographer Magazine) and the critically acclaimed BBC/Amazon original mini-series Chloe. She also shot a block on the last season of A Discovery of Witches for Sky/AMC, and most recently on HBO’s hit prequel series to Game of Thrones – House of the Dragon, for which she garnered a 2023 ASC Award nomination.

Catherine has an MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute, and a BA in Film Studies from Wesleyan University. She is a voting member of BAFTA, a full accredited member of the British Society of Cinematographers as well a member of ICG Local #600.

https://catherinegoldschmidt.com/

 

Nuggets of the week

Marcus: How Hit HBO Shows Like 'The Last of Us' and 'Euphoria' Get Greenlit

Oz: IMDb Pro

Catherine: https://www.european-traveler.com/netherlands/rijksmuseum-largest-vermeer-exhibition-ever-in-amsterdam-in-2023/

 

Credits

Music by Oliver Wegmüller

 

Socials

Instagram: @TheDirectorsTakePodcast

Twitter: @DirectorsTake

Catherine's Insta: @cgdop

 

If you have any questions relating to the episode or have topics you would like covering in future releases, reach out to us at TheDirectorsTake@Outlook.com.