Based on the true story of two best friends, Jane (Yara Shahidi) and Corinne (Odessa A'zion), Sitting in Bars With Cake depicts a harrowing journey of maturity as Jane's weekly resolution to bake a new cake to bring into a different bar takes on deeper meaning after Corinne receives a life-threatening cancer diagnosis. Director Trish Sie and cinematographer Matthew Clark, ASC balanced the story's comedy and drama across a nuanced visual arc they defined in prep, shaped on set while shooting with Panavision VA primes, and polished in post in collaboration with Light Iron supervising colorist Corinne Bogdanowicz. Here, Clark and Bogdanowicz each reflect on the project, which is now streaming on Prime Video.
Panavision: How would you describe the movie?
Matthew Clark, ASC: Sitting in Bars With Cake is a funny drama. It starts off being a comedy, but then it gets really serious pretty quick. When we make that turn, I really wanted this portrait of these two women to have this different look. The idea was to show their relationship and how it changes over time. Once Yaras character becomes more emboldened, shes able to take care of her friend, and thats part of what allows her to become her own person. Its a really good story about the relationship between these two people.
This is the third movie Ive done with the director, Trish Sie. The first two were really sort of straight-up comedies, and this one had more meat to it. We looked at a lot of photographs. Philip-Lorca diCorcia was one of our references; a lot of his work is staged, but it's very practical lighting-wise. William Eggleston was another photographer we looked at, for his thoughtful naturalism and a lot of wide-angle inspiration, which also took me to a movie called St. Vincent. That movie has a lot of graphic elements that are super-simple but tell the story very well and allow Bill Murray to be Bill Murray. Manuel lvarez Bravo is another photographer we looked at for his ability tell a story with one frame.
We had so many different bars, and when I worked with Dave Elwell, my gaffer, we tried really hard not to have the same color in every bar. For this bar well do a lavender and yellow. For that bar well go with a blue-green kind of palette. This ones supernatural but not too over the top, just a lot of harsh light in the backgrounds. It was fun to play around with that.
Corinne, how did Matt and Trish describe the desired look for the project?
Corinne Bogdanowicz: They wanted this movie to feel grounded and not too poppy and happy. We used a lot of coolness in the shadow areas to create beautiful images that played with light and dark. The movie has a lot of colorful locations in bars, contrasted with less colorful locations like hospitals that we let play more natural and cooler.
Clark: Trish and I wanted to make sure that we didnt go back into Trish's commercial look but walked the line of it. There were times we could have been a little more dramatic or a little more comedic in the shooting of it, but we got it to a nice place. My favorite quote is what Conrad Hall, ASC said: You cant have sugar in every shot.' I believe that tremendously.
What led to the decision to shoot with VA primes?
Clark: Dan [Sasaki, Panavision's senior vice president of optical engineering and lens strategy] suggested the VAs because I wanted a large format for the job. With the VAs, there are so many different things you can do to make them less pristine. Dan was able to really work with the lenses to give me the tone I wanted. Its so great to be able to work with someone who has the ability to see the finer points and make them happen physically in a lens. You dont get that anywhere else.
One of the things Trish and I wanted to do was to go for a very naturalistic look, something that allowed the characters to breathe and find the spaces. Thats one of the reasons I wanted those lenses, because I felt like they provided a natural proscenium for them to play in, with aberrations on the edges. It provided them a place to move and still have some quality that wasn't just a wide shot.
What brought you to Light Iron for this project?
Clark: Ive worked with Corinne a lot. Shes my go-to person. Its always nice to have someone that you've developed a second language with. I usually develop a visual book that I'll send her, and we talk about the style the blue tones, the warm tones, the colors, and how we want to relate that to the texture and the contrast. We talk a lot beforehand, which allows us the time to switch things up and riff on whatevers happening. Working with her and Light Iron allows me to be more creative on set because you can just go with the flow and know that someones got your back.
How has your collaboration evolved over the projects you've done together?
Clark: At first, Corinne was trying to feel out my style, while I try not to have a style. I'm looking to find a true fit for the story that's my style. I look to be versatile. And she can do comedy, she can do drama, she can do grit, she can do all these things, which is a testament to her abilities.
What were the main areas of focus during the grade?
Bogdanowicz: We added grain for filmic texture and kept the palette a bit muted. We kept the skin tones natural so the audience can really connect with the characters.
Clark: One of the things that Corinne and I worked very hard on was to keep the visual arc going and allow it to be a little gritty in the beginning and a little more naturalistic into the end, where youre not brought down by the look of it. Part of that was having grain, having blue in the shadow detail, having little desaturated looks every once in a while, not so much over-the-top comedy things going on. It was just a matter of rounding off the edges.
Bogdanowicz: We did the HDR grade as the pr
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
January 8, 2024
Colorfront (colorfront.com), a leader in high-performance, on-s...
07/05/2026
February 9, 2024
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning pioneer i...
07/05/2026
March 20, 2024
NAB 2024, Las Vegas - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-awa...
07/05/2026
April 1, 2025
CINEMACON, APRIL 1, 2025 - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming syste...
07/05/2026
June 15, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), an Academy and Emmy Award-winning de...
07/05/2026
June 15, 2025
Colorfront participated in the ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Summit on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Held at The Phenomena Experience, the event feat...
07/05/2026
July 1, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...
07/05/2026
July 1, 2025
Passion and dedication will take you places. Come with us on a short trip to the heart of India, where Annapurna Studios is living-up to the inspi...
07/05/2026
July 3, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...
07/05/2026
September 1, 2025
IBC 2025, Amsterdam - Colorfront (colorfront.com) - the Acade...
07/05/2026
April 17, 2026
LOS ANGELES - April 17, 2026 - Colorfront today announced Colorf...
07/05/2026
April 23, 2026
NAB 2026, Las Vegas - the Academy and Emmy Award-winning develop...
07/05/2026
Thursday 7 May 2026
Sky continues Sphere Abacus partnership with The Death of S...
07/05/2026
Thursday 7 May 2026
Sky Confirms Saturday Night Live UK will return this September for Series Two
Saturday Night Live UK will return for a second series, as S...
07/05/2026
Save 20% on the Sky Glass Gen 2 and Sky Glass Air TVsThursday 7 May 2026
How to watch the World Cup on Sky Glass
Tune into the World Cup on the BBC and ITV vi...
07/05/2026
Production sound mixer Dirk Sciarrotta has mixed Family Feud for 28 seasons. Thats up to 200 syndicated episodes per year, plus primetime celebrity specials - a...
07/05/2026
As audience expectations have evolved, Owen has stopped trying to hide microphones or excuse amplification. Instead, he treats sound as a fully immersive part o...
07/05/2026
Well known Irish faces pushed to the edge in new series of
Uncharted with Ray G...
07/05/2026
RT will premiere A Traveller Family, a compelling new documentary exploring the...
06/05/2026
New pricing tiers for vocal/dialogue restoration tool
NoiseWorks Audio's AI-powered vocal and dialogue processing plug-in is now available in three diff...
06/05/2026
Popular mixing & routing software overhauled
Following a recent public beta test, RME have launched the final release version of the powerful mixing and rou...
06/05/2026
New SOS Video Feature
Focusrites ISA C8X is a milestone product that brings together the companys analogue heritage and their expertise in digital audio. Yo...
06/05/2026
06 May 2026
VEON's Kyivstar Authorized to Resell Starlink for Businesses & ...
06/05/2026
UKTV has secured the exclusive rights to the early back catalogue of iconic Australian drama series Neighbours, following a landmark content deal with Fremantle...
06/05/2026
Wednesday 6 May 2026
Sky commissions feature documentary to mark 10th anniversa...
06/05/2026
Wednesday 6 May 2026
Sky and Formula 1 agree long-term partnership across UK, Ireland and Italy
Sky in the UK & Ireland to remain the home of Formula 1 until ...
06/05/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign launches nationwide, supported by new...
06/05/2026
Wuppertal May 6, 2026
Riedel Expands Leadership Structure, Appoints Marc Engro...
06/05/2026
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 6, 2026 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced its latest broadband innovations for ANGA COM 2026, highlighting its vision for a new e...
06/05/2026
Statement from Rupert Murdoch, Chairman Emeritus, Fox Corporation on Ted Turner&...
06/05/2026
Friday 8 May on RT One and RT Player
Meet the NSPCA team caring for and protecting animals in need in this six-part series
Fly on the wall, six-part series...
Based on the true story of two best friends, Jane (Yara Shahidi) and Corinne (Odessa A'zion), Sitting in Bars With Cake depicts a harrowing journey of maturity as Jane's weekly resolution to bake a new cake to bring into a different bar takes on deeper meaning after Corinne receives a life-threatening cancer diagnosis. Director Trish Sie and cinematographer Matthew Clark, ASC balanced the story's comedy and drama across a nuanced visual arc they defined in prep, shaped on set while shooting with Panavision VA primes, and polished in post in collaboration with Light Iron supervising colorist Corinne Bogdanowicz. Here, Clark and Bogdanowicz each reflect on the project, which is now streaming on Prime Video.
