American Cinematographer - April 2008 - (Page 26)

Right: The movie’s isolated Texas location was inspired by other classic films shot in the state, including Days of Heaven, The Last Picture Show and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Below: The killer takes aim at his next victim. for studio, Steadicam, slow-motion, and speed-ramping work all with one camera,” he explains. For select sequences, he hand-cranked a Panavised Arri 2-C equipped with CSeries anamorphic lenses. He notes that he and Levine wanted to use lens flares as a storytelling device. “[Former Panavision lens designer] Dan Sasaki put together a great series of older Super Speed primes and a Cooke zoom that gave us sharp, warm flares when we hit them with the sun and kept their contrast without fogging. When we couldn’t get the sun into the lens directly, we set a mirror to flare the lens. “The combination of the handcrank and the oval starburst flares from those lenses made for some really aggressive shots,” the cinematographer continues. “We were interested in making violent shots by breaking down the image as much as possible, and the lens choices were a big part of that approach.” Genet left the lenses clean aside from ND filters, polarizers and occasional color-correcting gels. “This is definitely not a diffusion kind of film,” he says, “and through testing, we found we could achieve what we wanted with lens choice instead of filtration.” Contrast was another device the filmmakers used to help build tension as the story progressed, and they manipulated it in the final color correction. “We wanted the audience to feel the images literally falling apart as the situation becomes more and more grim for the characters,” says Genet. Genet shot the entire picture on Kodak Vision2 500T 5218. “Because the Panavision cameras use rear filters, I could use heavy NDs and color correction without having to add glass in front of the lens, which was great,” he notes. “Once you get the feeling of 5218, especially at night, you can pretty much put your meter away. If you can see it with your eyes, it’s there.” He praises dailies color timer Marc Weilage at Technicolor/Complete Post in Los Angeles for his contributions to the project. “Marc gave us consistently great-looking [DVCam] dailies, which was crucial because of all the night scenes and the aggressive approach we were after. Because we were in Texas, all of our communication [with the lab] was by phone, so it was great to have someone like Marc in my corner.” Being in Texas created other practical concerns, not least of which was dealing with the volatile climate throughout the 24-day schedule. “The biggest challenge, aside from the usual budget and time challenges, was the changeable Texas weather,” says Genet. “I sometimes thought Mother Nature 26 April 2008

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American Cinematographer - April 2008 Contents Editor's Note Global Village: The Counterfeiters Short Takes: Milia Production Slate: Paranoid Park Production Slate: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Card Sharks Temple of Doom 3-D Cinematography Sundance 2008: Mining for Movies Post Focus: Digital Film Tree Gets into Peyote Post Focus: FotoKem’s 3-D Workflow Post Focus: Technicolor Digs in at Pinewood Filmmakers’ Forum: Steven Fierberg, ASC on Searchers 2.0 New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Rodney Taylor

American Cinematographer - April 2008

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