American Cinematographer - April 2008 - (Page 44)

Temple of Doom was on a tripod with a sandbag replacing the head. For me, the temptation when using a [remote] head, whether fluid or geared, is always to compose a tableau, and that wasn’t the right aesthetic for this film. I wanted to bring something a little bit annoying into the energy of the camerawork; the edges of the frame are always moving a bit to create tension. “We had two wonderful operators, David Williamson and Jörg Widmer,” continues the cinematographer. “David is one of the best I have ever worked with — very intuitive — and he brought great art to the film. Jörg, who did such great work on The New World [AC Jan. ’06], was just as fantastic.” He also singles out key grip David Nichols for special praise: “David was very supportive, is very quick and efficient at his job, and always contributes great ideas. I’m very careful about the crew I select, and I honestly think this crew is the best I’ve ever worked with.” “How involved one becomes as a camera operator on a film has a lot to do with the people one is working with,” says Williamson, “and Darius gave me an enormous amount of creative freedom to work with Carter Smith. Out of that came an intense ability to contribute to the movie in ways that an operator cannot often do. The only time I didn’t enjoy working on The Ruins was the day we wrapped and all went home.” Khondji shot The Ruins in his preferred format, anamorphic 2.40:1. The camera kit comprised two Panaflex Millennium XLs and a Lightweight for Steadicam use, and he used Panavision’s C-Series, E-Series and Super High Speed (T1.4) lenses. “Anamorphic’s shallower depth of field provided impressionistic backgrounds — elements such as the jungle and the vines looked very ominous without having to focus on them all the time,” notes Khondji. “Most importantly, the look of anamorphic is a versatile means of realizing both epic, large-scale images and moments Large units were used to simulate moonlight for night exteriors. Exterior sets for the temple were built at separate locations. “Given the scale of actual Mayan pyramids, which can be up to 150 feet high, the logistics of building and shooting on a set that size were daunting, so we built it in two halves,” explains production designer Grant Major. “The bottom of the pyramid was constructed in Mount Tambourine; that set had the ring of salted earth that backed up to a rainforest. The top of the pyramid was constructed in the Numinbah Valley; the setpiece was about 30 feet above the ground to get a good horizon line. We built the front in order to have an approach and were able to shoot 360 degrees from the top with a fantastic backdrop all around.” Major based the design of the pyramid on the Mayan ruins on the Yucatán Peninsula and then littered the site with the remnants of previous archaeological expeditions that had met with gruesome fates. “The platform at the top of the hill is a harsh environment that features the detritus and rubbish of prior expeditions dating back to the 1930s,” he notes. Khondji says that in creating a visual philosophy for The Ruins, “Carter and I watched many, many horror and cult films. There were a lot of B films — even Z films! “In Cancún, everything is lit in a very flattering and attractive manner,” he continues. “We staged scenes in backlight from the sun, and I was very careful to have mixed directions of light so the cast would all look fantastic. Once they leave the safety of the resort, we adopted a rawer look to [suggest] their increasing vulnerability. By the time they’re on the pyramid, the sunlight becomes quite aggressive, almost assailing their senses. A large number of scenes on the pyramid location were shot frontlit, with the sun behind our backs. The low-angle winter sun in Australia helped, giving nice skin tones and texture and revealing the faces in an interesting way.” With the sun as the key, large 20'x40' butterflies were used as bounce for fill. The rough-hewn feel was furthered by handheld operation of the cameras, two of which ran simultaneously on almost every setup. “From the very beginning, I told our operators most of the film would be shot this way,” says Khondji. “When the camera was not on a shoulder, it 44 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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