Labor Day: Behind the scenes with the cinematographer, Eric Steelberg

I'm in the midst of writing up my thoughts on the Labor Day adaptation but in the meantime I've just found this short THR video interview with the film's cinematographer, Eric Steelberg. Steelberg and director Jason Reitman are old friends and collaborators (like Chris Christie and David Wildstein, they go back to high school together) and while Reitman's film has been getting knocked about quite a bit, no one is faulting the beautiful look of the movie. 

I thought you'd find his insight ... insightful. He explains how they used the camera to emphasize the darkness and Adele's agoraphobia, and that as the pair grew more comfortable in their relationship, the filmmakers allowed more light into the house. The film he and Reitman referenced, The Desperate Hours is a 1955 black and white film starring Humphrey Bogart as an escaped con who basically holds a family hostage for a long, tense afternoon. 

Steelberg also talks about rehearsing the famous pie baking scene - author Maynard (above, left) taught the actors how to bake a pie using a wax paper technique I've never tried - and that Reitman's goal was to make the scene fun and sexy while leaving our mouths watering for peach pie. It worked for me. 

I'll try to get my take on the movie up manana; for today I think I'm in the mood to bake a pie!

Labor Day: My take on the book by Joyce Maynard