American Cinematographer - May 2008 - (Page 47)

Left: Speed spins out at Thunderhead, one of the film’s psychedelic racetracks. Below: A special rig simulates the movement of the Mach 5’s cockpit. shot with more traditional optical qualities with regard to depth of field, and in other sequences we went to the other extreme, putting the background element so out of focus it almost became abstract.” As their work evolved, the filmmakers began using photo anime to create an unrealistic-looking anime-style perspective as well. Tattersall explains, “We started experimenting with the idea of mismatching our foreground, midground and background lens sizes and focus planes. For example, we might use a medium-wide lens for the foreground and a super-long lens for the background. We called this ‘faux lensing,’ where we were literally inventing optical properties that aren’t physically possible.” The team also experimented with altering other physical optical characteristics, including the bokeh, or the way that out-of-focus areas are rendered within the image; this corresponds to the shape of the iris. For instance, when Speed falls in love with Trixie, the effects crew transformed the “faux lens” iris shape into a heart, creating heartshaped out-of-focus highlights in the background. “We experimented with the out-of-focus-areas idea during our previz, and it was advanced much further by Daren Poe of Digital Domain and Jake Morrison, who spearheaded the inhouse team that handled 300-400 photo anime shots,” says Gaeta. The extensive compositing Speed Racer required translated into a lot of time in front of greenscreens, and one tool Tattersall employed for such work was a special greenscreen box: a rigid 6'square, 10"-deep rig fronted with chromakey green material and backlit with tungsten Kino Flo tubes. Each side featured a large handle, enabling grips to carry the box behind an actor and immediately turn any medium or close shot into a greenscreen setup. “If the shot was any wider than a cowboy, we’d either move to a greenscreen stage or walk outside, where we had green already set up, but the greenscreen box made it very easy to reshoot a moment for a composite element without having to carefully light a greenscreen or move the actors from the set,” says Tattersall. Two units, often three, were running throughout the lean 60-day shoot, which took place entirely onstage at Studio Babelsberg in Berlin. “The production company struck a deal that gave them incredible tax incentives if we completed work by a certain date, so our schedule was fairly tight,” says Tattersall. “We were definitely shooting fast!” The second unit, led by director James McTeigue and cinematogra- American Cinematographer 47

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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