It’s a 19 degree Fahrenheit winter wonderland outside, and that must mean we’re at Sundance Film Festival 2019 in Park City, Utah. Thankfully we have a whole host of wonderful documentaries to help keep us warm! Director of Cinematography, David Paul Jacobson discusses his work on the feature documentary, Ask Dr. Ruth. The film follows Dr. Ruth’s journey from survivor of the Holocaust to famed sex therapist. A still from Ask Dr. Ruth by Ryan White, Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by David Paul Jacobson DP: David Paul Jacobson FILM: Ask Dr. Ruth (dir. Ryan White) SUNDANCE CATEGORY: Doc Premieres CAMERA: Canon C300 MK II GLASS: Zeiss CP2, Canon L, Angenieux Zoom cinema5D: What was your approach to shooting Ask Dr. Ruth? DPJ: Films are not made in a vacuum, and each individual project deserves its own approach. With most of Ask Dr. Ruth, I was a camera department of one, which informed much of the approach. Nearly half of Dr. Ruth’s 90 years have been spent in front of some recording device, but we wanted this project to feel different for her. Keeping a small footprint was a practical consideration to maintain as intimate an environment as possible. Dr. Ruth didn’t feel like she was on one of her talk show sets with lights, crew and all the vanities. It made her far less performative and hopefully shows the audience a side of her that they’ve never seen before. As the person responsible for the look of the film,...
Published By: CineD - Friday, 1 February, 2019