Ben Davis, BSC on The Banshees of Inisherin, My Policeman, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 192: Ben Davis

Cinematographer Ben Davis enjoys working on both big budget Marvel movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel and Doctor Strange as well as smaller films such as The Banshees of Inisherin, My Policeman, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Ben feels that the challenges of shooting large scale movies vs. small intimate movies might be different, but each film speaks for itself and needs to be told in a particular visual style.

Despite having a father, cinematographer Michael J. Davis, in the film industry, Ben began as a pro skateboarder in the 1970's, where he spent a lot of time filming and photographing skateboarding. As a young adult, he visited his dad on a film set in the U.S. and he enjoyed it so much, he decided to try filmmaking as a career in the UK. Ben's first job was as a clapper loader, working his way up to camera assistant to notable DPs such as Douglas Slocombe, Dick Pope and Roger Deakins. Ben became an established commercial DP, then director Matthew Vaughn asked him to shoot the action crime drama Layer Cake. The two went on to make the comic book/anti-superhero film Kick-Ass and the spy movie Kingsman: The Secret Service. Ben loved the idea of Kick-Ass- that anyone could make a costume and be a superhero- but he didn't know it would set him on the trajectory of shooting comic book movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy. He met with director James Gunn who had a completed shooting script, and Ben liked that it felt completely different from other Marvel movies. After Guardians, Ben established a good relationship with the producers at Marvel and he's been able to pick and choose Marvel movies he's been asked to DP, such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel. He particularly enjoys working on Marvel movies that involve world building and origin stories, to establish the look of any future sequels.

Ben and The Banshees of Inisherin director Martin McDonagh have enjoyed working together regularly, beginning with Seven Psychopaths, then Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. When McDonagh called him about shooting Banshees, Ben agreed before even reading the script, because he knows McDonagh's scripts are lyrical with humor sprinkled into the drama. They were shooting during the pandemic, so the two had to spend 10 days quarantined in a house together, which was a great opportunity to talk through and visualize the film. McDonagh knew that he wanted a period piece about a remote, gray and dreary place, but he wanted to bring in a more colorful palette, so costume design became important to bring in more colors.

Ben was surprised by how melancholy the Banshees script was, but he also enjoys sad things. For Ben, The Banshees of Inisherin is about male conflict and how men are terrible at resolving grievances. The main character, Pádraic, is devastated when his best friend Colm suddenly decides to ...