The Cinematography Podcast Episode 80: Xavier Grobet

Mexican-born DP Xavier Grobet grew up surrounded by visual images. His mother was a professional photographer, and from an early age, Xavier made his own Super 8 movies every summer with his cousins and family members. He started out going to architecture school, but soon decided his passion was film. Xavier's generation of fellow Mexican filmmakers, “Chivo” Emmanuel Lubezki, Rodrigo Prieto, and Alfonso Cuarón were also attending film school at one of the two main colleges in Mexico City. One of Xavier's early experiences was operating the third camera on a French film, Les Pyramides Bleues, with Alfonso Cuarón as the assistant director. Many American productions were shooting in Mexico at the time, so Xavier was able to work on huge movies like Tony Scott's Revenge and Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Once he moved to America, it took awhile to get established again, but he got a big break shooting the Julian Schnabel film Before Night Falls and the series Deadwood. Xavier Grobet's most recent work has been on HBO's phenomenal series Watchmen, on episodes three, five, and seven. Going into the world of Watchmen proved to be a huge challenge, because each episode works as its own separate piece, but required a familiarity with the script for the entire series to ensure the consistency and look of the story. He always found ways to shoot from different angles, and used blue lighting selectively to suggest and reveal Dr. Manhattan. It was daunting working within the framework of the show's look and following its guidelines, but Xavier embraced it and made it his.

Find Xavier Grobet

Instagram: @xmexdp

See Watchmen on HBO

Xavier also shot episodes of the acclaimed Netflix series Unbelievable.

Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras

Aputure: The LS-mini20 Daylight 3-Light Flight Kit from Aputure is a lightweight 3-point lighting setup that's great in the studio but also great on the road. This handy light kit has been discontinued, but you can still buy a few at Hot Rod Cameras.

Close Focus: Trash TV infiltrating our TV viewing, director/actor Werner Herzog's take on it, Ben and Illya pitch their worst reality TV show ideas.

Ben's short end: Miro, an online whiteboard for writing scripts, changing scenes, making script notes and collaborating remotely.

Illya's short end: The sequel to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted Face The Music, looks totally excellent.

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Podcast Credits:

Editor in Chief:  Illya Friedman@hotrodcameras instagram@illyafriedman instagram

Ben Rock:  @neptunesalad twitter@bejamin_rock instagram

Producer: Alana Kode