American Cinematographer - June 2008 - (Page 20)

Joined by assistant directors Xiayang Chang (with hand raised), Dmitri Liu (below Chang) and Tatyana Chistova (right) and an unidentified crewmember, Trofimov finds a camera-friendly peak. camera then pulls back farther and farther until a whole village lies below. Tracking right, the camera sweeps across the village before slowly moving in; it approaches a cage with a man inside, then goes through the bars of the cage to a tight shot of Temudgin, covered in mud, staring out of the cage. Trofimov explains that the shot comprises five parts and was previsualized in 3-D by Argunov. First, the camera, mounted on the Flight Head and hanging from a 60' Cascade crane, pulls back from the butcher to reveal a wide view of the city. The second part of the shot is CG. In the third part, the camera moves across the city and approaches the cage. Finally, in a CG move, the camera moves through the bars and up to Temdugin’s eyes. The village set was built atop a canyon along the shore of a lake in China. Trofimov wanted to film the opening at magic hour, and two days were allotted to get the shot. The crew rehearsed carefully, knowing they would have only 20 minutes to get the shot. “We were very lucky,” notes Trofimov. A good portion of Mongol takes place at night, when light is motivated only by the moon and various kinds of firelight. “For normal night scenes, such as when the men are sitting around a campfire drinking and singing, we gelled tungsten lights with Lee Golden Amber and had Plus Greens on HMIs for moonlight. We used Flame Red for [firelight in] more threatening scenes, such as when the Merkits attack the camp of Temudgin’s mother. When Borte shows up in Tankut City to rescue her imprisoned husband, we used pink gels instead of 20 orange ones.” The cinematographer notes that much of the film’s look was achieved in the digital intermediate (DI), and he lauds the work of Optical Art colorist Ronney Afortu. “The first section of the film is quite colorful — we made the skies blue and the children’s faces pink,” notes Trofimov. “With the death of Esugei, the look suddenly becomes washed-out. When Temudgin is taken captive by Targutai, the look becomes even more desaturated, almost brown. When Temudgin is reunited with Borte as an adult, color re-enters the picture. Then, when the wars begin, the look becomes desaturated again.” One of the production’s more unusual problems was that cast and crew members hailed from a dozen countries — 40 translators were required on set. Trofimov recalls, “The three leads were Japanese, Chinese and Mongolian; the special-effects team was Korean; the stuntmen were Kazakhs; and the extras were Mongolians and Uyghur.” The cinematographer was able to bring his focus pullers and dolly grip from Russia, but his regular gaffer had visa problems and didn’t arrive until the final two weeks of the shoot. Until then, Trofimov worked with a Chinese gaffer. Throughout the shoot, the filmmakers didn’t have many opportunities to see the fruits of their labor. It took three weeks to get dailies because the negative had to travel to Beijing, then to Hamburg, Germany, to be processed. And when the dailies did finally arrive, he says, “we rarely had time to watch ¢ them!” http://www.theasc.com http://www.theasc.com

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

American Cinematographer - June 2008 Contents Editor's Note Short Takes: "100 Days, " Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings Production Slate: Mongol Production Slate: Greensburg Vintage Indy A Prince in Peril Women's World 90 Years of Precision Post Focus: A 3-D Imax Work Flow for Wild Ocean Post Focus: 3cP Incorporates ASC CDL on State of Play Filmmakers' Forum: John Baily, ASC New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index ASC Membership Roster In Memoriam: Gayne Rescher, ASC Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Rob McLachlan

American Cinematographer - June 2008

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