How ‘The Batman’ Cinematographer Greig Fraser Crafted an ‘Urban Noir’ Take on the Caped Crusader

thewrap.com:

“The Batman” is a bona fide success, with critics and audiences alike raving about director Matt Reeves and star Robert Pattinson’s new vision for the Caped Crusader.

But one aspect the fans are specifically praising – which is somewhat atypical for comic book movies – is the cinematography.

They have good reason to single out the film’s visuals, as Reeves reunited with his “Let Me In” cinematographer Greig Fraser on the film, who has quickly become one of the most in-demand DPs with stunning work ranging from “Rogue One” to “Foxcatcher” to “The Mandalorian” — and he’s currently Oscar-nominated for his cinematography on “Dune.”But when it came to crafting a new and somewhat darker version of Batman than we’ve seen before onscreen, Fraser was careful to ensure that the photography itself wasn’t unrelentingly black. “I wanted this to be more of an urban noir, and I wanted to make sure that there were pockets of light in every frame,” Fraser recently told TheWrap in an interview about his work on the film. “It’s definitely one of the most challenging lighting jobs I’ve ever done.”Noir was clearly a significant influence on the approach to the film, but Fraser said that early on Reeves hit upon the idea that this would be a “point-of-view-driven noir,” which speaks to the intimate and character-rich nature of the film. “Everything has to have a base from Bruce Wayne or Batman,” Fraser added.The cinematographer said that they didn’t craft shots that didn’t have a motivation to Bruce’s point of view, which is why one of the film’s most stunning sequences – a car chase between Robert Pattinson’s Batman and Colin Farrell’s Penguin – is so thrilling.