Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Unlock my full pro tools, grading system & community here: https://colorist.inc
Cinematographer Steven Poster, ASC has spent five decades behind the camera, and helped lead the industry from film into digital along the way. He's shot for Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, and John Carpenter, and served as president of both the American Society of Cinematographers and the International Cinematographers Guild. He also oversaw one of the first digital intermediates ever finished, lensed the cult classic Donnie Darko, and shot the iconic "Like a Prayer" video for Madonna.
We explore his origins learning his craft from a Chicago newsreel shooter, his career-long drive to innovate new technologies and techniques, his approach to daylight and diffusion, and why he thinks DPs shouldn't operate their own cameras.
Grab Sweet Spot, my free exposure tool that gives you simple, scene-accurate metering in stops, for every camera: cullenkellycolor.com/toolkit/sweet-spot. Steven called it a “game-changer” after using it on his most recent project.
Chapters
0:57 — Welcome
1:21 — Chicago beginnings and union politics
6:52 — Seeing digital coming: NHK, Sony, and the HD experiments
10:48 — Stuart Little 2 and one of the first digital intermediates
14:57 — Three weeks on the soccer field: working blind
21:19 — Donnie Darko: 22 days, anamorphic, and an untested film stock
28:32 — Shooting daylight: polarizers and diffusion
31:31 — Coming up with Vilmos Zsigmond
34:39 — Blade Runner: the tunnel shot
44:57 — Collaborating with Richard Kelly on Donnie Darko
51:25 — Why a DP shouldn't operate their own camera
52:52 — Working with Sophia Loren
57:06 — Lessons from Ridley Scott
1:00:48 — Core principles: don't be afraid
1:03:27 — Next-generation display technology
Unlock my full pro tools, grading system & community here: https://colorist.inc
Cinematographer Steven Poster, ASC has spent five decades behind the camera, and helped lead the industry from film into digital along the way. He's shot for Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, and John Carpenter, and served as president of both the American Society of Cinematographers and the International Cinematographers Guild. He also oversaw one of the first digital intermediates ever finished, lensed the cult classic Donnie Darko, and shot the iconic "Like a Prayer" video for Madonna.
We explore his origins learning his craft from a Chicago newsreel shooter, his career-long drive to innovate new technologies and techniques, his approach to daylight and diffusion, and why he thinks DPs shouldn't operate their own cameras.
Grab Sweet Spot, my free exposure tool that gives you simple, scene-accurate metering in stops, for every camera: cullenkellycolor.com/toolkit/sweet-spot. Steven called it a “game-changer” after using it on his most recent project.
Chapters
0:57 — Welcome
1:21 — Chicago beginnings and union politics
6:52 — Seeing digital coming: NHK, Sony, and the HD experiments
10:48 — Stuart Little 2 and one of the first digital intermediates
14:57 — Three weeks on the soccer field: working blind
21:19 — Donnie Darko: 22 days, anamorphic, and an untested film stock
28:32 — Shooting daylight: polarizers and diffusion
31:31 — Coming up with Vilmos Zsigmond
34:39 — Blade Runner: the tunnel shot
44:57 — Collaborating with Richard Kelly on Donnie Darko
51:25 — Why a DP shouldn't operate their own camera
52:52 — Working with Sophia Loren
57:06 — Lessons from Ridley Scott
1:00:48 — Core principles: don't be afraid
1:03:27 — Next-generation display technology
