Florian Hoffmeister is a prolific director of photography. Recent works by Hoffmeister include his lensing on the Apple TV+ series Pachinko, the critically-acclaimed political thriller Official Secrets starring Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, and Matt Smith, and the forthcoming film TÁR starring Cate Blanchett.
Hoffmeister is well-known for his collaboration with Terence Davies on feature films The Deep Blue Sea, starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russel-Beale, and A Quiet Passion, starring Cynthia Nixon and Jennifer Ehle. His work on Brian Kirk’s television phenomenon Great Expectations earned him further distinction as well as numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy, a BAFTA, and an ASC Award.
FLORIAN HOFFMEISTER
Every time I ask, ‘What do you need? What do I want? What does the director want? How do we collaborate? What is generated during the collaboration? What ideas, questions come across? And then I can start constructing something like a look.
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I do think that cinematography in a film is all about rhythm and timing. When you operate a camera, which I did for 20 years, it is like a musical instrument in a way. It’s a visual musical instrument that doesn't make sounds, but the way that you follow somebody, or the way that you pan…
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By the time I actually started studying cinematography, I was 24. And I really enjoyed that then, especially because of all the traveling I did. I spent a year in America and South America, just traveling by myself. You know, you have to somehow enrich and nurture yourself, and even though at the time when I was doing it, I sometimes felt like, Oh God, all my friends know exactly what they want to do. I somehow didn't fit into that framework right away. I think it was, in retrospect, it was perfect.
This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Yongling Hao. Digital Media Coordinators are Jacob A. Preisler and Megan Hegenbarth.
Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process & One Planet Podcast