American Cinematographer - January 2009 - (Page 29) reat novels pose singular challenges to those who seek to adapt them for the screen, and some would say Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road, published in 1961, poses more than most. Spare and unsparing in equal measure, the portrait of an unhappy marriage in suburban Connecticut in 1955 is a mainly interior drama whose characters and conflicts are rendered with piercing clarity and little sentiment. The novel’s observational stance was, in fact, an early concern for cinematographer Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC, who reunited with director Sam Mendes to help bring the story to the screen. “When I read the book, I was concerned the audience might not be drawn into the characters because there’s a sort of distance from them,” says Deakins. “It’s an interesting problem, really, and Sam and I talked about it a lot.” The key, says Mendes, lay in staying close to the main characters, Frank and April Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet), and telling their story as simply as possi- G Photos courtesy of DreamWorks LLC. Lighting diagrams courtesy of Roger Deakins. ble. “The novel is about a marriage, a period and a community, and I wanted to make it primarily a story about a marriage,” says Mendes. Referring to his previous films, American Beauty (AC March and June ’00), Road to Perdition (AC Aug. ’02) and Jarhead (AC Nov. ’05), he continues, “I’d directed an original screenplay and [adaptations of] a graphic novel and a memoir, but I’d never done a film adaptation of a great novel, and I was wary of that. After all, a novel can be great for the opposite reasons a movie is great. But I was drawn in the end to the simple Opposite: Frank and April Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) enjoy a rare harmonious moment in the kitchen. This page, top: The mentally unstable John Givings (Michael Shannon, gesturing at left) pays a disruptive visit to the Wheeler home with his parents (Richard Easton and Kathy Bates). Below: Director Sam Mendes (left) talks over a scene with Bates and Winslet. At the door to Mendes’ left, Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC checks the “daylight” flooding the room. American Cinematographer 29
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - January 2008 American Cinematographer - January 2009 Contents Editor’s Note Short Takes: Triangle of Need Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler Close Focus An Old Soul Brothers in Arms A Cut Above Post Focus: HPA Awards, Still Me New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index In Memoriam: Robert C. Jessup, ASC Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Gabriel Beristain American Cinematographer - January 2008 American Cinematographer - January 2008 - American Cinematographer - January 2009 (Page Cover1) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - American Cinematographer - January 2009 (Page Cover2) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - American Cinematographer - January 2009 (Page 1) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - American Cinematographer - January 2009 (Page 2) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Contents (Page 3) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Contents (Page 4) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Contents (Page 5) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Contents (Page 6) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Contents (Page 7) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Editor’s Note (Page 8) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Editor’s Note (Page 9) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Short Takes: Triangle of Need (Page 10) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Short Takes: Triangle of Need (Page 11) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Short Takes: Triangle of Need (Page 12) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Short Takes: Triangle of Need (Page 13) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Short Takes: Triangle of Need (Page 14) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Short Takes: Triangle of Need (Page 15) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 16) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 17) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 18) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 19) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 20) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 21) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 22) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 23) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 24) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 25) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 26) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Production Slate: Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler (Page 27) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 28) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 29) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 30) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 31) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 32) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 33) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 34) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 35) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 36) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 37) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 38) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 39) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 40) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Close Focus (Page 41) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 42) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 43) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 44) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 45) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 46) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 47) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 48) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 49) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 50) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 51) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 52) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 53) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 54) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 55) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 56) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - An Old Soul (Page 57) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 58) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 59) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 60) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 61) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 62) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 63) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 64) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 65) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 66) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 67) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 68) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Brothers in Arms (Page 69) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - A Cut Above (Page 70) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - A Cut Above (Page 71) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - A Cut Above (Page 72) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - A Cut Above (Page 73) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - A Cut Above (Page 74) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - A Cut Above (Page 75) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - A Cut Above (Page 76) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - A Cut Above (Page 77) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - A Cut Above (Page 78) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - A Cut Above (Page 79) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Post Focus: HPA Awards, Still Me (Page 80) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Post Focus: HPA Awards, Still Me (Page 81) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Post Focus: HPA Awards, Still Me (Page 82) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Post Focus: HPA Awards, Still Me (Page 83) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - New Products & Services (Page 84) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - New Products & Services (Page 85) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - New Products & Services (Page 86) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - New Products & Services (Page 87) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - International Marketplace (Page 88) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Classified Ads (Page 89) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Ad Index (Page 90) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Ad Index (Page 91) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - In Memoriam: Robert C. Jessup, ASC (Page 92) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - In Memoriam: Robert C. Jessup, ASC (Page 93) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Clubhouse News (Page 94) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - Clubhouse News (Page 95) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - ASC Close-Up: Gabriel Beristain (Page 96) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - ASC Close-Up: Gabriel Beristain (Page Cover3) American Cinematographer - January 2008 - ASC Close-Up: Gabriel Beristain (Page Cover4)
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