A collaboration with world-renowned writers and actors, Kamiński’s project “Making a Scene” consists of 11 very short vignettes that bring together the best of serious acting, even with such laconic scripts. A single line of dialogue was written by each of the participating writers, including among them Lake Bell, Andrew Bujalski, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater, Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen, Spike Jonze, Jeff Nichols and Danny Strong. Kamiński then created 11 short films based on their writings, featuring stars Cate Blanchett , Bradley Cooper, Chewetel Ejiofor, Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha), Michael B. Jordan, Adele Exarchopoulos, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Robert Redford, Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey.
About the project, Kamiński says; "Most of the vignettes are very whimsical, it's like they're off-center. We've worked with thrillers, we've worked with a bit of comedy, we worked with French New Wave, as well as we did some very conventional stuff. These little vignettes allowed me to do stuff that's not necessarily linear, but still employ filmmaking style."
Polish-born Janusz Kamiński attended Columbia College in Chicago from 1982 to 1987, and thereafter recieved a B.A. in Film from the American Film Institute. Kamiński twice won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, in 1993 for Spielberg’s Schindler's List (1993) – filmed in Kamiński’s native Poland, and in 1998 for Saving Private Ryan (1998). Since then, he has become the go-to director of photography for Steven Spielberg. He has been nominated four additional times for Spielberg’s Amistad (1997), War Horse (2011) and Lincoln (2012), and Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007). Amistad (1997) has also garnered Kamiński an Oscar nomination. Kamiński debuted as a director in 2000, with The Lost Souls, a film that was influenced by the "road films" of the 1970s - Serpico, and Easy Rider.
The 11 vignettes by Kamiński commissioned for The New York Times represent the best's of making a scene when global talent is framed together.
View Kamiński's 11 shorts here.
Edited by Elcin Marasli, 28/11/2013