How a Hollywood DP Prepares for Every Film | Garrett O’Brien | Eyes On Podcast

Ever wonder what a director of photography actually does? Most people know the director calls the shots. But the DP is the one figuring out how those shots look, feel, and tell the story.

Garrett O'Brien has been doing this at the highest level for years. He's got two feature films out last year: WALTZING WITH BRANDO, starring Billy Zane as Marlon Brando, and BAD MAN, starring Seann William Scott, a dark comedy based on a true story about a man who convinced an entire sheriff's department he was a state narcotics agent. 

In this conversation, Garrett gets into the real work behind the job: how he reads a script as a cinematographer, the detailed scene-by-scene breakdown he does before every film, and why communication is the skill that separates good crews from great ones. He also talks about shooting on location in Tahiti, recreating scenes from THE GODFATHER, going digital while making it look like 16mm film, and what happened when he had to step into a production mid-shoot with almost no prep.

It's a candid, practical look at a craft that most audiences never see, from someone who lives it every day.