American Cinematographer - January 2009 - (Page 62) Brothers in Arms After parting ways with his brothers, Zus continues his fight against the Nazis, taking up with a band of Russian partisans. look with him,” notes Serra. They studied Russian films of the era and looked at the early “Sovcolor” process. “They didn’t have Technicolor, but they had a version of Agfacolor,” explains the cinematographer. “It was often blue and pink. We discussed simulating it, but it wasn’t appropriate.” Serra also wanted to obtain a more organic look than what could be achieved with the DI process. “Nowadays, with the DI, it’s easy to give an ‘old’ look to a film. The process can be totally controlled, but it can be a little mechanical, and I didn’t want that. We didn’t want a very perfect modern image; we wanted something that evoked the period. On Blood Diamond, I had tried to let things get a little out of control, and Defiance was an opportunity to go further.” For exteriors, Serra decided to use the same technique he had adopted for one of the battle scenes in Blood Diamond. “I used Kodak [Vision 500T] 5279, pushed it 2 stops and left out the 85 filter,” he says. With a laugh, he notes, “5279 is a tough stock! Ten or 15 years ago, we’d use it because it was high-contrast and high-speed, with heavy blacks, but whenever there was a close-up of a woman, we’d change stocks. Pushing 2 stops is edgy, but it becomes radical without the 85. The image is a bit grainy, it’s contrasty, and the interesting thing is that the slope of the film is not perfect — we’re a little off of what’s acceptable. Almost all the exteriors in Defiance were shot that way.” Serra notes that shooting tungsten-balanced 5279 without an 85 filter, in addition to pushing the stock, creates unpredictable “color changes” by varying the red, green and blue curves differently. “The changes are subtle, but they’re there. With film, it’s important to have the three color curves perfectly parallel, and in this picture, they really aren’t. So sometimes you get shadows or 62 January 2009
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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