American Cinematographer - May 2008 - (Page 33)

film?” muses Libatique. “You have to make it a little more sophisticated, but you still have to honor the comic. It’s a tough game.” In shaping the movie’s style, Favreau reteamed with production designer J. Michael Riva, one of his collaborators on Zathura (2005). Libatique describes Riva as “a fireball of experience. Iron Man was a very demanding job for Mike, but he’s been through it all before — the man was on Lethal Weapon!” The overall look Favreau had in mind was “very clean,” he adds. “Apart from that, I had a broad plan to [visually] separate the pre-transformation and post-transformation Tony Starks and play on the idea of a man becoming something else.” Most of Libatique’s prep time was devoted to previsualizing the picture’s visual-effects sequences. Speaking to the sheer scale of the production, he offers, “With films like this, I don’t know if there is a time when you’re completely prepped before you start shooting. You have to have two minds working at the same time, the preparation side and the execution side. That’s where it’s invaluable to have keys that really care.” Libatique employed two of his regular keys, gaffer Michael Bauman and key grip Tana Dubbe. Dubbe is particularly enthusiastic about one of the film’s early sequences, in which Stark presents his high-tech weapons systems to a gathering of military brass. The sequence was shot in Lone Pine, California. “If you ask any grip, you’ll hear that was our favorite portion,” says Dubbe. “The sequence involved a lot of day exteriors, and that’s when the cable and the lights sort of take second place and it’s all about gripping.” Large units, such as Arrimax 18K Pars with spot reflectors, were on hand for the exteriors, but they Opposite: Weapons manufacturer Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) turns his technology into a one-man war on crime in Iron Man. This page, top: Stark (right) and his confidant, Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard), hope that luck will be a lady as director Jon Favreau (center) keeps a watchful eye. This sequence was filmed in one day of location work at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Below: Director of photography Matthew Libatique, ASC keeps his cool under the glare of Iron Man’s foe, Iron Monger. Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures. American Cinematographer 33

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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