DoP Benjamin Kračun on concocting ‘The Substance’

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Without a doubt one of 2024’s biggest cinematic events is The Substance. Coralie Fargeat’s body horror premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival to great critical acclaim and has been gathering more and more attention ever since. We managed to sit down with the film’s cinematographer Benjamin Kračun for an interview.
If you’ve seen the film, you surely know just how gripping it looks and feels. The Substance has a very distinct visual style, and Ben was kind enough to share some behind the scenes looks on prepping, shooting, and working with Coralie.
During our discussion we go through how they planned to differentiate the two main characters with lighting and colors, how the story set in LA was actually shot in France, and of course, the extreme body horror elements.