American Cinematographer - January 2008 - (Page 32) Right: Wearing his director’s cap, Washington discusses a shot with cinematographer Philippe Rousselot, ASC, AFC. The Great Debaters is their second collaboration, following Antwone Fisher. Below: Rousselot lines up a shot. continues. “We set up despite the menacing clouds, and as we got ready to shoot, the sun broke out. It gave us a gorgeous light through the foliage of the cypresses that lasted through the entire scene. The second we finished the last shot, the skies opened and torrential rain drowned the set. It’s always better to remember the lucky parts!” For the digital intermediate (DI), which was carried out at EFilm in Hollywood, Rousselot worked with a frequent collaborator, French colorist Yvan Lucas. “Yvan timed the films I did at Éclair Laboratories in France — he timed Henry & June, among many others,” says the cinematographer. Since EFilm hired Lucas, Rousselot has collaborated with him on three DIs, The Brave One, Lions for Lambs and The Great Debaters. On Washington’s film, Rousselot found the DI process particularly helpful with day-for-night scenes. “It achieves a level of realism that’s impossible photochemically,” he says, adding that he and Lucas made subtle modifications to contrast and saturation throughout the process. “Applying windows to control highlights and specific areas in the picture allows one to time the film with greater precision and better results.” I Erratum In our coverage of Transformers (Aug. ’07), a member of Mitch Amundsen’s crew said the production used an Ultimate Arm to accomplish many high-speed moves remotely. According to Mark Terry of Filmotechnic International, the device used for this purpose was Filmotechnic’s Russian Arm. 32 January 2008
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