American Cinematographer - February 2009 - (Page 53)

it wasn’t a decade ago. The development of these new anamorphic zoom lenses and the G-Series primes has totally revitalized the format, especially for young cinematographers who’d been wary of the system because of the lenses’ limitations or because they’d only shot video in film school. A lot of younger cinematographers are embracing it now. Because of the wider aspect ratio and horizontal stability, I would say anamorphic does not lend itself so freely to a verité style, but that has to be qualified because Lars von Trier and Robby Müller [BVK] shot video with an anamorphic attachment on Breaking the Waves, and that was very documentary in style. But by and large, when you decide to shoot a film in anamorphic, you’re accepting a more controlled frame as part of the aesthetic. One of the great things about anamorphic is that you don’t have to cut as much. When you’re staging actors, you can give them a larger field across the frame to work in. For shots with three or four actors, you don’t have to be as wide to hold them all in the frame; you can do a medium shot. In 1.85:1 or 16x9 video, you might have that wide frame for just a second, but it would be too wide to hold for any length of time, so you’d need to cut in for coverage. For He’s Just Not That Into You, you had to argue the case for anamorphic through several layers of executives at New Line. What argument did you make? Bailey: This movie is an ensemble piece with intercut, paral- lel stories of five women and the men in their lives. We have certain scenes where many of them are in an office or a personal environment together. I felt the wider aspect ratio would allow us to be intimate with them yet keep them together in the same shot in a way that was more accommodating than 1.85:1. One of the things I love about anamorphic in a character-driven film is that you use much longer lenses than you’d use in a spherical format, and that gives you more control of the background. Being able to throw the background out of focus really helps you be present with the actor. With both 1.85:1 and Super 35mm, you sometimes have background in focus way beyond what you want; that’s also one of the great problems with high-definition video, of course. Now, if that’s what you want, Opposite: Anna (Scarlett Johansson) and Conor (Kevin Connolly) share a reflective moment thanks to a mirror strategically positioned at the far-right edge of the anamorphic frame. This page, top: A shot of Mary (Drew Barrymore) illustrates anamorphic’s shallow depth of field. “One of the things I love about anamorphic in a character-driven film is that you use much longer lenses than you’d use in a spherical format, and that gives you more control of the background,” says cinematographer John Bailey, ASC. “Being able to throw the background out of focus really helps you be present with the actor.” Bottom left: Bailey at work. Bottom right, left to right: Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), Beth (Jennifer Aniston) and Janine (Jennifer Connelly) banter during an impromptu meeting. Photos courtesy of New Line Cinema. American Cinematographer 53

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

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.