American Cinematographer - February 2009 - (Page 12)

darker, more intense look, and I tend to paint out of the black, not the white,” he adds. “I like to start with all the lights off and start lighting a step at a time, and this project lent itself to that approach. We started with a dark stage and no light, then slowly illuminated what we wanted to see. “We wanted the lighting to have two distinct looks, one natural and one theatrical. For the natural look, we used very simple paper China balls around the camera to give Britney the minimum amount of fill and put a bit of glow in her face. The other look was for the reverse, which we lit to look like there’s a strong light coming from a follow spot, from the audience area or from the other side of the stage. When Britney’s dancing on the burlesque stage, one strong follow spot creates a pure silhouette.” Lighting the reverse shots with strong spotlights had an added benefit: “On a big stage or in a big space, it helps you create a fake 3-D feel with a little bit of smoke and backlight. It instantly creates the sensation of a theatrical performance.” For most of the shoot, both Arri 435s were handheld. “That helped make everything feel a little more organic,” says Kloss. “Our idea was to give it a strong basic look with strong contrast and then shoot for coverage. I Top: Spears and her background dancers stay in step. Middle: The ringleader cracks her whip. Bottom: The star primps for her performance in the mirror of a makeup table. Right: Cinematographer Thomas Kloss (holding monitor) shows Spears some footage on set. China balls were used to cast a soft glow on the singer’s face for close-ups in the makeup-table sequence. tried to light in a way that we could constantly keep moving without stopping between each setup to relight, so we decided on a general 45-degree backlight with soft fill light; that way, we had most of the situations pre-lit with dimmers. We adjusted up or down a bit while Britney was getting ready or changing wardrobe. Then, as soon as she showed up on set, we were ready to get maximum coverage. On a music video, it’s important to get enough angles to avoid repeating shots, because people always want to see new angles and images.” “Circus” was shot on Kodak Vision3 500T 5219, which Kloss rated at ISO 320. “It was perfect for what we wanted,” he says. “There’s so much latitude and contrast control with that negative if you really expose it well. A project like this lets you really use that latitude and maximize the palette from the absolute jet black on the edges of the frame all the way to the blown-out whites of the highlights.” “Circus” was not without challenges — including working with elephants and a wall of fire that could only stay lit for 15-20 seconds at a time — but Kloss says his longtime partnership with Lawrence kept things on schedule. “We shot two 12-hour days and got everything we needed. That’s one of the advantages of working with a director who has the experience to know what coverage he needs.” Although Kloss has shot features, including Fear and Showtime, he notes that short-form projects have distinct advantages. “On a movie, you usually establish a look and just continue it for months. Videos and commercials keep you fresh.” I 12 February 2009

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 2009

American Cinematographer - February 2009 Contents Editor's Note Short Takes: Circus Production Slate: The International Reverte 2 Worlds in 3 Dimensions Dead Reckoning Embracing Anamorphic Citizen of the World Post Focus: Restoring Manhatta New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Peter Suschitzky

American Cinematographer - February 2009

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