Exclusive Video Interview with Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS on Lion

The ASC Clubhouse was the scene of an insightful discussion about his work in this award-winning drama — now available as a 10-part video series for Friends of the ASC.

Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS arrived at the ASC Clubhouse in Hollywood on December 8 for a “Coffee and Conversation” event moderated by filmmaker and American Cinematographer contributor Jim Hemphill. The two spoke about Fraser’s recent release Lion, directed by Garth Davis, for which the cinematographer won the Golden Frog at Camerimage.

Adapted from the non-fiction book “A Long Way Home,” Lion, starring Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel, is about a five-year-old Indian boy who, after a wrong train takes him thousands of miles away from home and family, survives many challenges before being adopted by an Australian couple. Twenty-five years later, armed with only the scantest of clues, he learns of a new technology called Google Earth, and sets out to find his lost family.

Fraser spoke about the challenges of shooting an ambitious film on a modest budget, comparing and contrasting his experience on Lion with the set of his other current release, the Star Wars picture Rogue One (the subject of American Cinematographer's February cover story).

Among the topics covered during the discussion were:

• How he joined Lion
• His relationship with director Garth Davis
• His first thoughts upon reading the script
• His process reading script the first time
• His experiences working in India
• How he approaches a project going into it
• How he approached Lion
• How they approached filming in India
• How he designed the Lion set to deal with the challenges
• The LED lights he uses
• What he learned on Rogue One that he could bring to Lion, and what he learned on Lion that he brought to Rogue One

Fraser also took numerous questions from the audience.

Since this event, Fraser's work in Lion has earned him Academy and ASC Award nominations.