SPONSORED BY: ASC MASTER CLASS
With: James Whitaker, cinematographer, & Iain Marcks, host
About the Project
Created by executive producer Steve Conrad, the wry Amazon Original spy thriller Patriot traces John Tavner (Michael Dorman), a pot-smoking, guitar-playing ex-intelligence officer who suffers from PTSD who becomes integral to the clandestine U.S. effort to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Operating from under mundane cover as a Midwestern pipe manufacturing rep, Tavner carries out chaotic secret missions abroad while also trying to deal with family life at home.
The series also stars Terry O’Quinn as Tavner’s father and State Department handler, while Kurtwood Smith is his suspicious pipe company boss.
The program is largely photographed on practical locations using Arri Alexa Mini and XT cameras. Portions of the series have been shot in Illinois, Wisconsin and the Czech Republic.
About the Cinematographer
A native of Missouri, James Whitaker is known for his work in such features as The Cooler, Running Scared, Thank You for Smoking, Crossing Over and One for the Money, as well as the documentary Cobain: Montage of Heck. He photographed pilots for the series Breakout King and Hostages, and was also the second unit director of photography on Captain America: Civil War. He has photographed commercials for clients including Chrysler, American Express, Toyota, Geico, Jet Blue, Ikea and many more. After graduating from Denison University with a BA in economics, he earned an MFA in Cinematography at the Maine Photographic Institute. He started his professional film career in the camera department as a loader and still photographer.
American Cinematographer interviews cinematographers, directors and other filmmakers to take you behind the scenes on major studio movies, independent films and popular television series.
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