Amplifying the John Wick Cinematography with Dan Laustsen

Nuwan Perera
Jun 3, 2023
5 min read

The pulse-pounding action of the John Wick film series continues to wow cinemagoers with Keanu Reeves’ incendiary brand of gun-fu, dazzling martial arts sequences featuring the likes of Donnie Yen, and the ever-escalating level of spectacle with each new entry. Capturing all these images and in charge of amplifying the John Wick cinematography is Dan Laustsen who has been the director of photography in the series since John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017).

Laustsen is also a frequent collaborator of Guillermo del Toro, with his work on The Shape of Water (2017) and Nightmare Alley (2021) receiving academy award nominations. Laustsen’s work has always drawn praise from moviegoers, with inky black shadows, bright highlights, and eye-popping colors being his trademark style. We spoke to Laustsen about his process, working with famous directors, and how he makes every shot look like a visual treat. This is what we found out.

From Fashion to Cinema

Cinematographer Dan Laustsen on a film set next to a camera rig

Dan Laustsen originally studied fashion photography but realized early on that this wasn’t his calling. He was more interested in becoming a documentary photographer for National Geographic. During this unsure phase of his life, it was Laustsen’s elder sister who first suggested he try getting into the Danish film school. While he wasn’t very passionate about filmmaking, the 21-year-old Laustsen listened to his sister and applied anyway. A few months later Laustsen was attending classes at the National Film School of Denmark.

“For the first half-year, I was a black sheep, because I had never ever seen a film camera”, says Laustsen about the challenging early days at film school. He remarks how he didn’t even know how to pan or tilt the camera to follow a subject around a scene. After three years, Laustsen now admits that he’s become a big fan of film schools. He feels that learning how to make films with people who don’t yet know how to do it properly is an important part of the journey for any filmmaker. A month after he finished film school, Laustsen got his first gig on a feature film as a cinematographer.

The Director and the Director of Photography (DP)

With Laustsen constantly working with some of the most high-profile directors in the business today, we asked him what those relationships are like. He spoke about how some directors will have a very strong vision of the story they are telling. They will often have this in their mind for many years. So, the best approach to figuring out where to go with the look of the film is to always listen to the director.

Laustsen stressed the importance of respecting the director’s vision since a DP is hired to capture that vision on camera. It is therefore the DP’s responsibility to support the director at all times. “It's not me sitting in an editing room for months” laughed Laustsen, going on to say that there’s no point getting into a conflict with a director since they could always cut scenes out if they didn’t like what you filmed.

Director Guillermo del Toro (Left) speaking with Cinematographer Dan Laustsen on a film set.

Laustsen mentioned how all the decisions about the look of the movie should be completed during pre-production. The discussions on set are more about how to achieve a specific shot or overcome a technical hurdle. “Don’t be a backseat driver to the director” says Laustsen, adding that you cannot afford to waste time arguing with the director when the actors and crew are waiting to perform their roles.

Designing the Look in Pre-Production

Fortunately for Laustsen, most filmmakers that bring him on board are familiar with his style of lighting, and the colors he can bring to the table. He admits that having an established style does help the directors that pick Laustsen for their projects since they already know what he’s good at. For example, Chad Stahelski chose Laustsen after being impressed with his work on Crimson Peak, believing the deep shadows and rich colors of the gothic horror film would make John Wick: Chapter 2 pop.

Sally Hawkins (Left) and Doug Jones (Right) in The Shape of Water

Normally Laustsen would spend about 8 to 14 weeks in pre-production, working with the director, costume designer, and production designer to decide which colors need to be accentuated. He prefers to capture these colors on camera rather than relying too much on heavy color grading in post-production to get the desired look.

Amplifying the Visuals in John Wick

Laustsen talks about the importance of adding a third dimension to scenes to make them feel more exciting, more dramatic, and even fantastical at times. By this, he means an artistic input such as lights, shadows, camera movements, or even an element like water which can instantly amplify the scenery of the real-world location.

Adding fluorescent lights to the bridge during the bike chase in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019) is one example of this. The decision to keep much of the opening of Chapter 3 at night during a downpour is another. The nightclub with waterfalls in Chapter 4 (2023) was the next step in this amplification, pushing the rain indoors for a truly mesmerizing action sequence.

Laustsen also advised it's often useful to design light sources that could be kept in the shot itself. These would provide the key lighting while blending into the environment without drawing too much attention.

Keanu Reeves during the nightclub action sequence in John Wick: Chapter 4

Shot-Lists and Storyboards

According to Laustsen, director Guillermo del Toro has a very clear idea of what his films should look like and makes his own storyboards. In The Shape of Water (2017), these storyboards and the shot-list were very helpful for two reasons. Firstly, the film was shot chronologically, requiring the lighting to be adjusted for every single shot. Secondly, the camera was always moving, and these movements had to be designed with the blocking for actors in mind.

Cinematographer Dan Laustsen on the set of Nightmare Alley

In the John Wick series, concept storyboards were crucial for a different reason: the sheer number of complex action scenes. Laustsen says that everyone on set from the stuntpeople to the crew simply needed a guideline to follow, even if they weren’t consistent with the exact shots from the storyboards.

Getting More Action Coverage

Director Chad Stahelski (Left), Lawrence Fishburne (Middle), and Cinematographer Dan Laustsen on the set of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

We next asked Laustsen about shooting scenes with two cameras simultaneously. He admits this can help get more coverage of a complex sequence in action movies like the John Wick sequels. This gives a director like Chad Stahelski more options in the editing room, allowing him to switch between cameras A and B. Laustsen also adds that this doesn’t work with every film. In The Shape of Water, the constant camera movement would make it impossible to shoot with two cameras at once.

Advice and Inspiration

When asked where he finds inspiration, Laustsen says that he takes photos when he’s out walking around a city like New York. If he notices a street that looks interesting, this could serve as inspiration in the future. Old black and white films are another source of guidance, as is the concept art in del Toro’s movies or the pictures that Stahelski would often show him to convey fresh ideas.

As we wrapped up our discussion, the two-time academy award nominee left us with some advice for aspiring cinematographers. The first was to figure out what sort of lighting, and camera movement a DP likes to define their unique style. Secondly, it's best to practice as much as possible with friends.

And finally, while it's good to have a solid plan, a DP must be open-minded, think fast, and be willing to make changes on set. Laustsen understands that this is hard for young filmmakers who can be insecure about changing things on the fly. However, he stressed the need to be ready to go with the flow in case you get rain instead of sunshine.

Watch our full interview with Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Cinematography only on Junkyard Theory.