Clubhouse Conversations — Sinners

In-depth coverage of cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, ASC and Ryan Coogler's work on Sinners is featured in American Cinematographer's June 2025 issue. Learn more here about how to subscribe to the industry's leading journal of motion-picture production techniques.

In this episode, cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, ASC and director Ryan Coogler are joined by interviewer Lol Crawley, ASC, BSC to discuss their work on Sinners — a Southern Gothic horror fable centered on twin brothers who attempt to leave behind a life of crime, only to encounter a greater and stranger darkness.

Sinners follows one extraordinary day and night in the lives of the twins, Elijah and Elias Moore (Michael B. Jordan) — nicknamed "Smoke" and "Stack," respectively — and their younger cousin, aspiring blues musician Sammie Moore (Miles Caton). Following Smoke and Stack's purchase of a sawmill in their Mississippi hometown, Sammie joins the pair in turning the land into a juke joint and recruiting their talented friends as the establishment's performers and personnel — an effort that proves successful, but is encroached upon by a looming supernatural evil. The film marks Arkapaw's second feature collaboration with Coogler, following their work together on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Conversation Highlights

Durald and Coogler's conversation with Crawley explores a range of strategies, as well as the creative and practical challenges they encountered, including:

• Shooting the film using a combination of 5-perf 65mm Ultra Panavision and 15-perf 65mm Imax
• Incorporating Steadicam and TechnoDolly moves and visual effects to achieve complex oners and capture Jordan's twin performances
• Lighting the cast's skin tones with minimal intervention and an emphasis on texture
• Their treatment of the film's most ambitious set piece, which brings together past and future forms of musical expression
• Developing a shorthand that enabled a workflow built upon trust and a shared filmmaking rhythm

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, ASC is a cinematographer whose credits include collaborations with directors Gia Coppola, Max Minghella, Spike Jonze and Ry Russo-Young. After being put on Variety’s “10 Cinematographers to Watch” in 2014, she has gone on to shoot the features Teen Spirit and The Sun Is Also a Star (2019), the documentary Beastie Boys Story (2020) and the Marvel Studios series Loki.

Ryan Coogler is a filmmaker whose directing credits include the features Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Lol Crawley, ASC, BSC is a cinematographer whose credits include the features Four Lions, 45 Years, The Childhood of a Leader, Vox Lux, The Secret Garden, White Noise and The Brutalist. For his work on The Brutalist, he received the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 2025.

You’ll find all episodes in our ASC Clubhouse Conversations discussion series here.

Unit stills by Eli Adé, SMPSP. Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.