American Cinematographer - January 2009 - (Page 43)

riously, Button’s condition gradually improves as he ages — physically, he ages in reverse, getting younger with the passage of time. At the heart of the story is a romance with a childhood sweetheart, Daisy, who grows up with Button but cannot, because of his ailment, grow old with him. Although Benjamin Button spans eight decades, the filmmakers decided against using a variety of technologies to create different period looks. “The intention was to be as naturalistic as possible,” says Miranda. “Our initial influence for textures and framing was [painter] Andrew Wyeth. I took my still camera to the locations, documented the natural light and figured out what I wanted to add or subtract. I didn’t want it to feel like we were beaming in light anywhere. When you bring in 40-footers and lights and cables, the original [look] sometimes gets muted.” Most of the picture was captured with the Thomson GrassValley Viper FilmStream, which Fincher and Harris Savides, ASC had used on Zodiac (AC April ’07). Benjamin Button was shot in 4:4:4 FilmStream mode with the camera’s CinemaScope option, which yields a 2.37:1 aspect ratio at 1920x1080 resolution. Miranda’s lens of choice was a 6-24mm Zeiss DigiZoom, and he frequently used the 10mm, 12mm and 14mm focal lengths within the zoom range. He turned to faster Zeiss DigiPrimes when the situation called for extra speed. For monitoring on set, Miranda had a look-up table, nonbaked, that would add a light contrast to the images and take away some of the Viper’s green cast on the screen. “If I had left the image flat, it would have been hard to judge,” he says. “The LUT wasn’t great or perfect, but with it, we knew what we could get out of the imagery. “Like all of David’s movies, this movie features very exact framing, and camera moves go from a definite Point A to a definite Point B,” continues Miranda. “The only handheld work is Tarsem’s, the travel-around-the-world sequence.” The shots to which Miranda refers were made on film by director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall); when Fincher found out lead actor Brad Pitt was touring the Far East and Singh was in the same area, he asked Singh to shoot footage of the actor in exotic locations to enhance the appearance of Button experiencing the world. According to Miranda, film was chosen for those segments because using a Viper in those locales wasn’t feasible. Miranda also shot some 35mm on the show, using Kodak Vision2 50D 5201 and Vision3 500T 5219 in Arri 435s to achieve some slow-motion effects. “I don’t Opposite: While aging in reverse, the youthful but elderly-looking Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) admires his improving physique. This page, top: Button has a drink with a stranger who turns out to be his long-lost father. Below: Director David Fincher (in gray ski cap) and cinematographer Claudio Miranda (black ski cap) crank up a vintage Victrola for a period funeral scene. Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. American Cinematographer 43

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

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