American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 36

◗

Cosmic Avengers
Right: The
Guardians claim
their reward
from Ayesha
(Elizabeth
Debicki) for
defeating the
Abolisk beast
and saving the
Sovereign
planet. Below:
Two Red
Weapon 8K VV
cameras -
mounted to
Stabileye
miniature heads
attached to a
U-shaped bar -
were employed
for the throneroom scene.

in late summer of 2015, and they hashed
out their approach while consuming
many bowls of Cream of Wheat.
Neither looked to the first movie as a
template. "I loved how different Vol.1
was and thought everybody did a great
job," Braham says on the phone from his
farm in Devon, England, where he
grows commercial hemp. "For me,
what's important is interpreting the
director and his personality. This is
James' movie, and it's coming from his
heart. The style of Vol. 2 was a response
to his script, and to him in the present,
rather than looking back."
Gunn wanted the sequel to be
36

June 2017

bolder, more colorful and more
controlled. "We'd choose just a few
colors for every location, and the colors
would change drastically from location
to location, so that the colors themselves
would tell a story," he says. "I wanted the
look to be much more Fifties and Sixties
pulp science fiction - a retro-yetmodern, surreal pulp sci-fi dream world,
influenced also by 1980's Flash Gordon
and Wong Kar-wai/Christopher Doyle
[HKSC] films."
Braham found himself motivated
by the script's honesty. "Though set in a
fantastical world, the story is still truthful about human behavior, so that also
American Cinematographer

has to be the case with the photography,"
he says. "The audience has to believe the
world you're showing, and part of that
comes from showing them the reasons
for things. You want to show what a light
source is supposed to be, and then they
can suspend their disbelief."
Braham also got a conversation
going early on with production designer
Scott Chambliss. "A core group of us
went to Atlanta to look at the studiospace options and work out the principle
that, despite three or four days on location, it would be a fantasy world shot on
a soundstage," the cinematographer
recalls.
Like the first movie, the sequel
pops with colorful worlds and characters.
The standard release is in the 2.39:1
aspect ratio, while Imax theaters will
feature 40 minutes of 1.9:1 scenes spread
throughout; audiences can also opt for a
post-converted 3D version. Gunn
posted on Facebook that "Imax is the
optimal way to view a Guardians movie.
I oversee the 3D, crafting every shot. We
plan our aspect ratios during the script
stage, and every single shot is tailored for
3D."
While rich images are a major
part of the creative appeal, Braham
believes there's far more to the franchise.
"It's bursting with humanity and
humor," he says. "It's in the writing, but



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2017

Contents
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - Intro
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 1
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 2
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - Contents
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 4
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 5
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 6
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 7
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 8
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 9
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 10
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 11
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 12
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 13
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 14
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 15
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 16
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 17
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 18
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 19
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 20
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 21
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 22
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 23
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 24
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 25
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 26
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 27
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 28
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 29
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 30
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 31
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 32
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 33
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 33A
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 33B
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 34
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 35
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 36
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 37
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 38
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 39
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 40
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 41
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 42
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 43
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American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 45
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 46
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 47
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 48
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 49
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 50
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 51
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American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 53
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 54
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 55
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 56
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 57
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 58
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 59
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 60
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 61
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 62
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 63
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American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 65
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American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 67
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American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 72
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 73
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American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 83
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 84
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - 85
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American Cinematographer - June 2017 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - June 2017 - Cover4
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