Ulf Söderqvist
Cinematographer
As an accomplished director of photography who has shot commercial campaigns for GE, GM, Pizza Hut, Pepsi, Nissan and Sony Playstation, Ulf Söderqvist conducts workshops across the country about cutting edge digital camera technology. He honed his craft shooting in 35mm film and on HD (Viper, HDCAM, Varicam), but chose the revolutionary Silicon Imaging SI-2K Digital Cinema Camera four years ago to shoot the indie feature Adopt a Sailor, starring Peter Coyote and Bebe Neuwirth. He's been a huge fan of the camera ever since and has worked with many independent filmmakers, including Charles Evered, Tom Upton (A Little Party) and Todd Ahlberg (Meth), to turn modest budgets into cinematic feature films. Currently shooting Sony's TV series Star-ving, Ulf sat down with director Laurene Williams to talk about his life as a d.p., his process in shaping a narrative feature and his experience shooting the indie film Phil Cobb's Dinner for Four.
Tell us how you ended up speaking English, Swedish, German and French? What's your background?
I was born and raised in Sweden. Studied political science and history as well as sound engineering. I started out working as a sound engineer for the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation in Stockholm. As I always been shooting both stills and film since childhood an opportunity came my way to start working as a camera assistant and later on led to becoming a DP. I moved to Switzerland where I started my own production company with a full post production facility based in Lausanne, however Switzerland was not too easy of an environment to work in and I wanted to go after something bigger and bolder… I made a move to New York and spent a few years going back and forth between Europe and the US shooting mostly national TV commercials. As we all know LA is the place to be if you want to make it and work on big projects, especially feature or TV shows. Made a move out West in 1999 and the rest is history.
What did you shoot on?
I am coming out of 35mm film.
But you made the switch to HD. When did that happen?
I never made a switch. It is just another medium to capture light with. Still prefer 35mm. However, since 1995, when I started to shoot HD, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of work I do shoot on HD and since 2006 2K raw.
You and I talked quite a bit about the look we were going for with Phil Cobb’s. The look really lays down the tone of a film. Based on the script, you think we got it?
For Phil Cobb's you and I agreed to go with a documentary feel in terms of camera blocking and mostly operated hand held. You wanted a strong colorful saturated look, something I believe we achieved thru set design and lighting.
The camera is remarkable in many ways. You were onto it pretty quickly?
I am the first one in the world to shoot SI-2K actually started out as SI-1920HD. Started using the camera in 2006.
Lots of projects since then. It's always a new mix of circumstances, people and goals. How did Phil Cobb’s Dinner for Four differ from your other film shoots?
It was a very challenging shoot with a shoestring budget. The crew consisted of just a few good people. My son was changing hats in several departments. So that said it was very challenging to shoot a full-length feature in that short amount of time with such small resources... we pulled it off.
Try not to remember how short the shoot was.
Fourteen long days!
What made you decide to the take the project in the first place? No amount of charm could have done it because we all knew it would be brutal.
I really liked the script. Besides that you and I really hit it off together. I must say I was hesitant due to the time and resource constraint. I don't regret it at all!!
What's your approach to working on a film with a micro-budget?
SIMPLIFY !!! Design lighting and camera set-ups that are realistic to happen with all desired footage in the can on time. I try to contain scenes as much as possible and universally light for an entire set with minimal tweaks between camera angles. Extensive use of fluorescent and HMI sources, to keep the set moving faster and the temperature on location down. Very important we all know how incandescent sources heat up practical locations and put a lot of strain on the actors. Besides I love the quality of fluorescent light.
What was the biggest challenge for you on this film?
To move fast enough with the very limited crew and still keep an image quality equal to a lot bigger budgets.
Were you nervous about working with a first-time director? Be honest!
Absolutely not. I have done several projects over the years with first-time directors and I do like the fact that you are more likely to be able to influence the director. It is also by having extensive discussions with the director before shooting to get a strong sense of the director’s strength and weaknesses.
All the hat juggling makes us pretty good flame throwers. How was post production for you?
I was quite involved in file conversions and so on as well as color timing of the film. It was mostly a good experience. I was only frustrated when computers and software would not cooperate.
Any advice for the newbie cinematographers out there?
Try to network with aspiring directors and start shooting. The more you shoot the more you learn. Learn your craft really good, then the real fun starts because through knowledge on how things are done you will be able to break the rules and define your own style.
