American Cinematographer - May 2008 - (Page 12)

Witnessing the bloody handiwork of the heartless Gov. Odious, the Black Bandit and his fellow heroes vow to defeat their foe. then back to India. I eventually lost count, but I know I had two birthdays on set!” One of Watkinson’s first takes was the second half of an effects shot, a circular track around Alexander as he stands by his horse, surveying the red dunes of Sossusvlei in the Namibian desert. “We completed the shot a year later, when Alexander dismounts the horse in the Roman Villa Adriana,” he notes with a laugh. “[Visual-effects artist] Tom Sparks stitched together the two elements in London.” The crew had to pay three visits to the Fatehpur Sikri mosque’s Gate of Magnificence, which in the film serves as the ascent to a king’s palace. “Our Akela crane turned up a day early, and the guys set it up before I arrived on set,” recalls Watkinson. “We knocked off one big crane shot and were then promptly thrown off the location.” He stole close-ups and shot a fight sequence at locations with similar stonework before returning to the mosque almost five months later to complete the scene. Watkinson shot the film’s adventure sequences on Kodak Vision2 50D 5201 and 250D 5205 using three Arri cameras, a 535B, a 435ES and a 35-3. The hospital scenes, shot in a derelict infirmary in Cape Town, South Africa, were filmed with two, sometimes three, Moviecam Compacts loaded with Vision2 500T 5218 (for interiors) and 100T 5212 (for exteriors). “The fantasy is epic and theatrical, full of color, but we wanted the hospital to feel real in order to draw the viewer in,” he explains. All lenses were Zeiss Ultra Primes. (The final aspect ratio was Super 1.85:1.) The crew spent almost three weeks shooting scenes set in Roy’s semi-private ward. “We set ourselves an imaginary sun path that went north to south and diffused the actual sunlight, what little could get through, with a 40-by-20 frame of Full Grid,” says Watkinson. 4K, 6K and 12K HMI Pars were aimed through the hospital windows. “Key lights were softened with a Chimera and a 4-by of 129 [diffusion]. The Pars supplied hard elements; 12 May 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2008

American Cinematographer - May 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Global Village: The Fall Short Takes: ASC Laszlo Kovacs Short Takes: Heritage Award Winners Production Slate: Anamorph Production Slate: Fugitive Pieces Heavy-Metal Hero A Need for Speed Kink and the City Beautiful Minds A Hollywood Homecoming Post Focus: Paramount Restores The Godfather Filmmakers’ Forum: Levie Isaacks, ASC Teaches Marines to Shoot Movies New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Antonio Calvache

American Cinematographer - May 2008

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