American Cinematographer - February 2008 - (Page 16) Production Slate Glimpsing the Future of Music A young guitarist (Gary Clark Jr.) makes waves in a small Southern town in Honeydripper, shot by Dick Pope, BSC. Electrifying Riffs by Patricia Thomson In the early 1990s, when a reporter asked Dick Pope, BSC whether there were any directors he’d like to work with, he named John Sayles. “So when John asked me to shoot Honeydripper,” says the cinematographer, “it was a bit of a dream come true.” Pope was well aware of Sayles’ reputation for turning out quality independent films on low budgets, and he found the experience of working with the director to be “fast — really fast. We shot Honeydripper in 26 days, whereas two other features I’ve completed since, Mike Leigh’s HappyGo-Lucky and Gurinder Chadha’s Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, were both 46 days.” Honeydripper was a bold under16 February 2008 taking: a period drama with a large cast, multiple locations, extensive music licensing and a $5-million budget. “On an ambition-to-budget ratio, this is one of our most ambitious,” says Sayles. But true to form, it came in on time and on budget. The trick, says Pope, was Sayles’ level of preparation. “John has a game plan and adheres to it. He had really done his homework.” Furthermore, “because he edits his films, he’s got a very clear, precise understanding of exactly what he needs for any given scene.” Sayles’ preparation included picking the right cinematographer. “Dick has worked on low-budget things with Mike Leigh, some of them very fast and furious,” says the director. “Their range is very impressive, from Vera Drake [AC Jan. ’05], shot on Super 16mm, to TopsyTurvy [AC March ’00], where they wanted a lush look with natural lighting. We only had five weeks to shoot, and this was a period movie with a lot of locations, a lot of characters, and a lot of very dark-skinned people in not-sobrightly-lit bars and against white cotton, so there was a high degree of difficulty.” Producer Maggie Renzi adds, “We wanted it to be beautiful and properly lit.” Sayles’ desire for a lush, finegrained look motivated the filmmakers’ decision to shoot on 35mm — the director’s two previous films, Silver City and Casa de los Babys, were shot on 16mm — and Pope shot 3-perf to make it more cost-effective. The final aspect ratio was Super 1.85:1. “That aspect ratio maximizes the picture area, and shooting 3-perf maximizes the time the film is in the camera without reloading,” notes Pope. “A 1,000-foot roll lasts 14 Honeydripper photos by Jim Sheldon, courtesy of Emerging Pictures.
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