Camerimage: How ‘Black Panther 2’ DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw Used Light to Convey Grief, Rebirth
Carolyn Giardina
November 15, 2022
"This film is so important culturally and to so many people," she said at Poland's international cinematography festival.
Describing lighting as “a character in the movie,” DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw said her approach to Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was about creating a “texture of grief throughout the film.”
She spoke about her work on the Marvel sequel – which takes place following the death of King T’Challa and additionally provides a moving remembrance of actor Chadwick Boseman, who played T’Challa in 2018’s Black Panther – at a screening of the film at the EnergaCamerimage cinematography film festival in Torun, Poland.
“As far as aesthetic choices for this, because of the importance for [Coogler] of grief, rebirth, migration, and all of this stuff that is so textural and delicate, we decided to de-tune and modify some T-series lenses,” she explained. “And then we used a wider lens for close-ups,” she says of her Panavision lens choices.”