American Cinematographer - June 2011 - 25

the roof of a nearby building were aimed straight down to provide some bounce fill. Allotted 1½ nights to complete the scene, the filmmakers used five cameras. “Ernest storyboarded the entire sequence, and we used that as our model for [the A] camera,” recalls Bernstein. “The other four cameras — the second Alexa, two Sony [PMW] EX3s and a Canon [EOS] 5D — were catch-as-catch-can. The Sony and Canon cameras aren’t as good as the Alexa in low light, but we used them to get little inserts and cutaways. We did a lot of shutter changes to make things look jerkier and more dramatic. Some of it was done with a 90-degree shutter, some at 120.” All but the A camera were mounted onto a little electric pursuit car that tracked next to the vehicles at 35 mph. Each camera had its own operator and focus puller on board. It wasn’t the most comfortable arrangement, but it worked. “We were undercranking, shooting at 12 fps and even 6 fps,” recalls Bernstein. “If the car was going 20 mph at 6 fps, it would appear to be going 60.”

Another striking sequence shows Abby sneaking into a high-tech security office and using a giant Plexiglas computer monitor to access classified information. “Those monitors are actually in development — they’re called gestural interface monitors,” says Bernstein. “In post, the visual-effects team added whatever was supposed to be on the screen. “I had to make this small conference room with low ceilings look visually interesting,” he continues. “Rather than lighting from above or using standard lamps, I decided to dress the lights into the set. We took long fluorescent tubes, put little boxes around the ends to make them look more like a design choice, and placed them around the bottom of the set so that the light was hitting the walls. The light really does look like part of the architecture.” Next, Bernstein’s crew hid LED ribbon lights around the table where Abby was sitting, lighting her from below. A particularly small LED ribbon hit the monitor’s Plexiglas frame. Inkies were hidden behind the table to further treat the walls. The location

featured a translucent screen on one wall, and Bernstein was able to put lights behind it. “Steve and I have a lot of fun working together,” says Dickerson. “We laugh and kid each other a lot. What we most have in common is a love of cinema; we’re always referencing other films, art, photography and even music when working out ideas.” “We definitely have a shorthand,” says Bernstein. “Ernest would say, ‘What I’m going for here is …’ and he’d mention a movie. The only film we looked at on this particular project was Gaspar Noé’sEnter the Void [AC Oct. ’10].” With a laugh, he notes, “It has nothing to do with our film, but we found it inspirational in terms of the risks Noé took.”

TECHNICAL SPECS
1.78:1 Digital Capture Arri Alexa, Sony PMW-EX3, Canon EOS 5D Arri Master Prime, Angenieux Optimo ●

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American Cinematographer - June 2011

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