Two of television’s top cinematographers joined our recent roundtable to discuss their ideas for location shooting, tips for newcomers, and more. Emmy nominees Matt Ball and Leighton Cox are both recognized by the TV Academy in the nonfiction cinematography category.
Ball is a two-time nominee for his work on Tucci in Italy and Cox is a two-time nominee (and previous winner) for Welcome to Wrexham. Though the two acclaimed DPs had not met before, they discovered they have a lot in common working in the documentary series space, as well as living across the pond (Ball is English, and Cox is Welsh, a native of Wrexham) and occasionally dealing with grumpy grips.
Gold Derby spoke with Ball and Cox about what led them into this eclectic career and skills they maintain along the way. To watch an individual chat with each nominee, click on their names in the first paragraph.
Gold Derby: I would love to start with both of your backgrounds. How did you get into this field?
Matt Ball: A long time ago now, I started as a trainee in a facilities company in London as a kit room trainee and then just kind of worked the steps from kit room, to assisting, to going out as a company assistant, senior assistant, freelance assistant and just kept going on making those moves. That was 30 years ago now, something like that.
Do people tend to drop out of those programs along the way? Obviously you have to have skill to keep ascending.
Ball: Yeah, I guess people do drop out. I know some people I used to work with who have gone on to completely different careers now, sommeliers and things like that, actors. People change and move careers all the time, but I always had another job to go to, another job in the diary and just kept with it.
Do you feel like production has been steady, or increased now?
Ball: I think, no, I think it’s gotten a lot worse recently. I live outside of London in the South East, in Essex. I’m about an hour and a half hour from central London by train, so not too far. I think it’s been really difficult for a lot of people for a long time.
I’ve been really fortunate. I did Barefoot Contessa, I shot in the States for a long time. And I’ve had the Tucci [projects]. I did The Pioneer Woman in Oklahoma for a long time. So I’ve always had these recurring shows, which I’ve been really fortunate to have. But I know a lot of people haven’t been as fortunate. I don’t think the phone is ringing for lots of people at the moment.
Leighton Cox: I started after I came out of university. I bought my first camera because I wanted to make skateboarding videos. And I’d always been fascinated by the process, the tools, the kits, which naturally just led me in to work for corporate companies where I do the video production side of things. As my skills grew, I went into AP work, shooting AP work, then shooting PD work and then yeah, moved into sort of specialized camera work like long lens and gimbal and that’s when I picked up the Steadicam which we talked about before. More recently over the last five years or so it’s been DP work.
Is there one skill you’re most thankful for or to have acquired along the way? Or something to tell younger or aspiring DPs to kind of hone as they’re coming up?
Ball: It’s hard to see these things in hindsight. At the time, it was always just to kind of learn from people that I was working with all the time. Try and keep busy, try and learn from the people you’re working with. You can never know everything about our job. It’s a craft that you’re just constantly learning from, so I would say to just keep trying to learn new things all the time.
Cox: For me I think it was people skills. Figuring out how to be around people with and without a camera. But I think editing has informed the way I shoot the most, that’s been so helpful along the way.
There is so much equipment and physicality involved in what you do. Are there muscles or postures you train along the way? Monthly massages to avoid injury?
Cox: I go to the gym and I run because our camera package is a Venice with the Angénieux EZ-1, mattebox filters, wireless, radio hop, batteries, shoulder rig, so it’s like seventeen kilos by the end of it. And you can find yourself in some awful situations where your back’s against the wall, Channing Tatum’s doing a dance or something like that, and you’ve got to get the shots. So yeah, I don’t know, it helps to be physically capable to do the work.
Ball: I don’t go to the gym. I probably should. The job is the gym. Stuff gets hard, but you get used to it. I don’t know if my body is just kind of used to doing it, but touch wood,I haven’t woken up with a knackered back or anything yet. So, yeah, I’ll just keep doing it. I should probably make some effort to go to the gym.
Cox: The job is the job, sometimes.
Ball: I’m getting old now. One day it’s going to get me.
Cox: I knew a Steadicam operator that has a terrible back now, they can’t walk, and so I was just terrified of that. I just prayed that the vests got better and techniques got better. I’m sure they didn’t, so I know I’ve gotta work at this.
What are you both enjoying most about what you get to do now? What most excites you about the business and your jobs?
Ball: I think, primarily, it is the consistency, being able to continue to work pretty regularly. I really loved going to Italy and discovering a country so intensely for so long. I’d like to do that kind of thing again. I think that’s kind of it, the idea of just keep working, keep doing good interesting work. That’s what I like to do.
Cox: So long as they want me back on the show, I basically get to work on a show and just be with my friends. I stay close to home, which I know a lot of people don’t get to do, the ground is five minutes from my house. I straddle other documentaries during the season because I’m not full time on it, but every other job stint that I do is like two or three weeks away, four days away. It might not be as glamorous as Italy, that job looked awful, by the way. I’m sure it was a terrible experience. I love my hometown, so I’m really enjoying where I am right now.
Do either of you have an interest in narrative or do you prefer the documentary side of things?
Ball: I prefer documentary, really. I like being an observer to it. Like seeing what happens, finding out as we’re going.
Cox: In doc you’re just creating the story as it appears in front of you. I’ve done a few days [on narrative] and I picked up a tripod once, because often on documentary work you just get it done, and I got shouted at because that’s the grip’s job.
Ball: We’ve all been there. That’s happened to me, too. Again, with a grip as well. I don’t know what it is about these guys.
This article and video are presented by National Geographic and FX.
