American Cinematographer - July 2008 - (Page 40)

Batman Looms Larger Right: In a frame from the film, Batman speeds through the city on his Batpod, which is armed with grappling hooks, cannons and machine guns. An updated version of the classic Batcycle, the Batpod was conceptualized by production designer Nathan Crowley and built by special-effects supervisor Chris Corbould. Bottom left: As on Batman Begins, the filmmakers captured highintensity chase footage using an Ultimate Arm-Lev Head combination mounted on a Mercedes SUV. Technician George Peters built a bigger, stronger Lev Head to accommodate the extra weight of the Imax cameras. Bottom right: Batman spins out during a street skirmish with the Joker and his minions. about the best way to shoot several pages of dialogue involving Gordon, Batman and Dent, Nolan and Pfister decided to do the scene in a single circular Steadicam move, maximizing the Chicago skyline in the background. “In the story, these three men form a triumvirate, and it was very important to bind them together and show them in this massive environment,” says Nolan. “The question was how to light the faces while seeing 360 degrees,” says Geryak. “We thought it would be great to do a nice soft toplight and then come in with an eyelight, but there wasn’t anywhere to tether a balloon up there. We were shooting anamorphic, so we did have some headroom above the frame. Key grip Mike Lewis suggested rigging a truss coming over the top of a stairwell door. We knew it would take about 90 minutes to set up, but we also knew that once it was finished, we could burn through the pages very quickly. Chris is really smart about making those time investments up front, and he agreed to it. Mike used some very clever counterbalancing on a rig that shot out over the edge a good 15 or 20 feet. We built an 8-by-8 softbox housing four Kino Flo fixtures shooting through Light Grid and skirted around the sides.” “I’m pleased to note that we used the exact Steadicam master, the first take of that scene, in the edit,” says Nolan. “I try to be very realistic about which coverage we’re going to use, and I try not to put people through that process if the results aren’t going to be in the movie. If I hadn’t worked with Wally and Cory for years before, I’m not sure I would have been prepared to make the leap of faith and say, ‘Okay, we won’t film for an hour and a half, but then we’ll have a very versatile setup.’ But I knew from experience that they could deliver. Similarly, they knew I wasn’t just changing the shot on a whim. In preserving that creative 40 July 2008

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

American Cinematographer - July 2008 Contents Editor's Note Global Village: Torn from the Flag Short Takes: On a Tuesday Production Slate: Before the Rains WALL-E Batman Looms Larger A Not-So-Super Hero Spy vs. Spy Laugh Factory Post Focus: CineSynce Streamlines Dark Knight Effects New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index In Memoriam: Burton "Bud" Stone, Honorary ASC Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Bill Taylor

American Cinematographer - July 2008

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