One look at Mathew Rudenberg’s filmography, and one question comes to mind: how does he do it all? The South African-born cinematographer has lensed everything from the moody, arthouse visuals of Ultrasound to the explosive comedy of Die Hart 2, from cult TV hits like Kroll Show to the Emmy-winning polish of Actors on Actors.And now, he's crushing it on ABC and Hulu's High Potential.But it’s his deep experience in documentary filmmaking—which has taken him from Folsom prison to a Juggalo rally and earned him a SXSW Grand Jury Prize for The Work—that may be the secret to his success.We spoke with Mathew about his process and how nonfiction shooting informs his scripted work, and his advice for DPs looking to avoid being pigeonholed.Let's dive in. - YouTubewww.youtube.comNFS: Hi Mathew! Having joined High Potential in its second season, how do you adapt to a show's existing visual language while also hoping to innovate upon it?Mathew Rudenberg: One of the things I love most about shooting television is that it’s iterative. You can always look at what’s been done and ask, "How can we perfect this? "Joining High Potential in Season 2 was a great opportunity to take a step back, breathe, and really evaluate what was working and where we could elevate things.Building a visual language always starts with story and character. At its core, High Potential is about an unconventional character, Morgan Gillory, whose presence brings color and unpredictability into a grounded police procedural world. There’s a natural tension...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Wednesday, 15 October