autumn

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”>

With her nomination for the cinematography of “Sinners,” Autumn Durald Arkapaw becomes the first woman of color — and only the fourth woman ever — to be recognized in the category. The recipient of a record-setting 16 nominations, Ryan Coogler’s vampire film set in the 1930s was advanced in every category for which it was eligible. Arkapaw previously collaborated with Coogler on 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

Arkapaw got on the phone on Thursday morning from her home in Altadena — thankfully spared from last year’s fires — that she shares with her husband, Adam Arkapaw, also a cinematographer.

“It’s nice to have an understanding of what each other does because it’s a hard job and making films isn’t easy,” said Durald Arkapaw of having two cinematographers under one roof. “But we also have a family, so usually when I’m working, he’s watching our son and vice versa. So it’s kind of a team effort. But there is an understanding. I wouldn’t say we talk about it all the time because it gets exhausting. You get enough of that when you’re at work.”

What do these historic firsts mean to you?

Autumn Durald Arkapaw: I’m trying to take a moment to kind of let it sink in. I’m just so honored every time I get to stand next to Ryan and make a film with him, because what I think he does and says is very unique. And we’re always doing something for the first time and with a very unique group of people. Like having all heads of departments be women of color and these are women that inspire me every day. I think now to be a part of that because [production designer] Hannah [Beachler] and [costume designer] Ruth [E. Carter] have also been able to do some work that’s been recognized. Now being a part of that group, I feel very honored, especially for a film like this. That it’s for this film, means a lot to me.

What is it about this film in particular that makes it even more special?

Arkapaw: I think for myself and most of the team members, we have a lot of history and culture rooted in this story. My family’s from New Orleans. My father was born there, my great-grandmother was born in Mississippi. So when I read the story, it felt very close to home. And I think that allows you to be able to pour yourself into it. And there’s a lot of meaning in it and you want to make your ancestors proud. This film has so much love that was poured into it on set and I think it really connected with a lot of people. And I think that’s how you do really great films. You pour as much as you can of yourself into it.

The film was such a success when it came out earlier this year. What is it that you think audiences were responding to?

Arkapaw: I’m an operator so I love to have my eyepiece to the camera and Ryan sits right next to me. So a lot of the stuff that we photographed, I was there in the moment. It was very felt. And I always said, “If I don’t feel it, then I don’t feel the audience can.” So I’m very much someone who shoots from the heart and wants to make sure that emotion is being conveyed. Ryan is the same way. There was a lot of that going on on set, where there were moments where you felt like you actually weren’t making a movie. Things were unfolding in front of you in a very unique way. Like it felt like a real space at times. That matters. If you feel that way on set, it is, it does feel communicated all the way up until the audience sees it in this dark room. And then they don’t feel like they’re watching a movie anymore. And it’s nice when that translates. It doesn’t always happen. And with this film it did, on an insane level.

When did you and Ryan start talking about shooting in 65-millimeter Imax?

Arkapaw: He had envisioned it to be 16-millimeter. So originally, I made some lenses with Panavision that I shot “The Last Showgirl” with before this. And so I was kind of testing those in hopes that it would be something we would use. And then the studio called Ryan and said, “Have you guys thought about large format?” And he called me immediately after and he was like, “Let’s talk about it.” And we got a bunch of different formats together and when you’re talking about large format in a film context, it means 65-[millimeter]. So we tested all these different formats. And obviously we fell in love with the [Imax formats] 15-perf and the 5-perf. And putting them together for the first time was unique. That was fun to do because we tested it and then we kind of put an edit together and looked at it as a team and it all felt very right. So it’s nice to do something historic like that and have it work and have the audience enjoy that big shift of ratios.

Just from a workflow aspect, what was it like having to adjust to these new technologies?

Arkapaw: I always feel like with Ryan, he always gives me a big challenge. He likes to think big and outside the box. We did that on “Wakanda Forever.” We shot a bunch of our scenes underwater with actors, for real. And in this film, there were a lot of different sequences, moving the Imax camera around in the studio, treating it like it wasn’t necessarily a large-format film, but shooting like we would if it was a smaller camera and being true to how we like to move the camera. It’s a lot of logistics involved. You have to have an amazing team. My team personally is fantastic and they did a great job. Focus-pulling is not easy on a film like this.

So it was a challenge. But I think because everyone’s so inspired by Ryan, he’s a great leader on set and everyone really likes him, so they want to do a good job for him. I see that every time we do a film, I have the same crew that I use. It’s like a family. And they respect him. So when you give us a challenge, we really want to make sure that we do it well so that it’s a good experience for the moviegoers. Because he’s always reminding us on set about that: “Big movie, big movie.” We’re making a movie for the theaters.

When the movie was coming out, people really liked that the explainer video that Ryan made about all the different formats. How did you feel about that video and that, for something that felt so technical and nerdy, it got really popular.

Arkapaw: I remember the moment that he brought it up, we were at the Playa Vista Imax headquarters and we had just done a screening to look at the prints. And he was like, “I want to talk to you guys.” And so myself and Zinzi [Coogler], our producer, and our post-producer Tina Anderson, we went and talked for a second and Ryan said, “I want to shoot a video that explains all the formats so that people can understand what we did and what it means and all that stuff.” And his eyes lit up and I thought it was such a cool idea. Fast-forward to it coming out and everyone really embracing it because it was so thoughtful. It was really cool.

If you see it in Dolby, it’s special, but if you go see it this way, it’s even more special because the screen opens up. So I think putting that in the hands of audiences is very thoughtful. And that’s how Ryan is. He wants them to have this information because when he was a kid and going to theaters, we all felt that same way, where that one night you walked to the theater or you drove and you waited an hour to see it and it was a whole experience. And so I think that’s why it went viral because people wanted to be a part of that.

Do you have a preferred format?

Arkapaw: My preferred format is the origination format, because I’m framing the movie for Imax 1.43:1 and then also with the 2.76:1 Ultra Panavision format. So my best way of seeing the film would be the Imax 70mm full-frame print. And obviously, there are only about 40 theaters in the world that project that. I don’t think we had it in all 40, maybe we only had 11, I think, across the world. But I was very much telling everyone that if you can get a ticket, please go see it in the 70-[millimeter] projection of Imax, full-frame. It’s so beautiful.