American Cinematographer - April 2015 - I7

"Something that film will always have in its favor is the fact
that it helps audiences suspend their disbelief much faster
than a look we subconsciously relate to modern technology."
something that imposed an
overly modern or sharp look.
She used COOKE S4 glass,
augmented by a couple of
SK4s at wider focal lengths.
The approach to color was
extremely detailed. "Contrary
to most Indian fi lms, we
avoided garish primary colors
and indulged more in the
tertiaries," she says. "In the
village, you cannot fi nd any
hint of blue, other than the
open blue skies. The mother
plays a very important role in
the fi lm, and we assigned a
specifi c shade of magenta to
her character that is always
present in some way. When
the boy leaves the village,
he takes his brother's scarf
with him, which also has the
mother's color. In the city we
made sure to eliminate most
warm colors reminding us of
the village, especially yellows
and reds. These colors only
resurface with Radika, the girl
our protagonist falls in love
with."
She adds, "All of our
day exteriors look rich and
wonderful; we had plenty
of sky detail, and in all the
scenes inside the dim village
huts, we were still able to
capture the rich world going
on outside through the open,
glassless windows and door
frames.
Umrika won the Audience
Award at the 2015 Sundance
Film Festival in the World
Cinema - Dramatic category,
and was also nominated for
the Grand Jury Prize. Nair and
Korner agree that shooting on
fi lm was the right choice.
"Every single department
answered with glee when
told," she says. "Actors are
always happier, because
they know that fi lm is more
fl attering when it comes
to skin. ADs are happy
because they have observed
that everyone is more
concentrated and focused
on a fi lm set. Directors
learn to cut between takes
again, which makes the
editorial department happy.
All departments have this
precious time between takes
to make quick adjustments.
Colorists are much happier
with fi lm, because they have
so much more to work with,
not only in terms of latitude,
but also in terms of color
information."
Korner notes that the fi lm
workfl ow wasn't always easy
in some of the more remote
locations, "but everyone who
looks at the fi nal result agrees
that it was certainly worth
the extra effort. I am a strong
believer that any system is
only as good as its fi nal result.
I think it's wonderful to have
luxuries like instantaneous
dailies, but if that means that
the movie we are all working
so hard on won't look as good
in the end, I prefer waiting two
days!"
Color grading was done
by Stefan King on a DaVinci
Resolve at Ambient Recording
in Berlin.
"Something that fi lm will
always have in its favor is the
fact that it helps audiences
suspend their disbelief
much faster than a look
we subconsciously relate
to modern technology,"
concludes Korner. "Film is still
the more cinematic medium,
and Umrika is an inherently
cinematic story."
Photos: Top, left and right pages: Scenes
from Umrika (photos by Petra Korner). Left
page inset: Petra Korner, director Prashant
Nair, and 1st
and Raj on location. (Photos courtesy of
Petra Korner)
AC Aakash Raj. Bottom: Korner
American Cinematographer - April 2015

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