American Cinematographer - July 2018 - 26

Arri SkyPanel
units pushed
ambient "daylight"
through the
location's windows
for day-interior
scenes.

CTO in various densities. He felt this
approach offered a cleaner, more natural
feel than putting warm gels on HMIs.
Schneider's contrast arc started with
higher contrast ratios, often silhouetting
Papa against entrances, windows, or the
practical at his bedside. This initial segment
is also dimmer than what succeeds it. As the
robot enters Papa's life, Schneider reduced
the contrast by amplifying the ambience,
resulting in an overall brightening of the
image. Papa eventually reaches what
Schneider describes as its "natural, low-con
peak" in the scene where the robot boy
gives his new shoes a test run in the living
room. Schneider used two SkyPanel 360s
26

July 2018

pushed through Magic Cloth for a "quick,
clean, soft light," he says, and dialed in
adjustments between setups. "When the
robot boy leaves home, the contrast comes
back in but the brightness stays."
The Signature Primes were beneficial
to this contrast arc in an unexpected way.
"They aren't contrasty lenses, but they can
sustain high-contrast situations," Schneider
says. "I don't know how Arri did that." The
cinematographer eschewed diffusion, as he
felt no need to tamper with the Signature
Primes' inherent attributes. To stay within a
"present-feeling range that felt close to the
actor and the story," Schneider says, he
favored the 35mm and 47mm focal
American Cinematographer

lengths. Schneider notes that he aimed not
only for naturalism, but a look that was
created on-set, in camera, and not in the
grade. "I tried to keep things as simple as
possible on set, almost like shooting on a
film stock, setting your printer lights, and
going with it," he says.
As there wasn't time to color correct
on set, Schneider used the Arri Classic 709
LUT and operated from a SmallHD 702
OLED - a combination he felt provided a
reliable representation of what was being
captured in camera. Using Blackmagic
Design DaVinci Resolve and a Barco 4K
projector, Schneider and colorist Aaron Peak
of Neon Diesel Finishing in Los Angeles kept
the grade minimal and honored what was
photographed on set.
To maintain this simplicity and naturalism in the context of Papa's three visual
arcs, Schneider needed large-scale tools.
Although the production was shot entirely
on location - at the director's home -
natural light was never employed; large
fixtures, usually staged outside, simulated
sun-, moon- and ambient skylight throughout. "Because every scene had a place in
this arc, we really had to control every shot
in a way that we couldn't with natural
light," the cinematographer says. "I've
done a lot of documentary and lifestyle
commercial work, and I love working with
natural light, but it wasn't right for this
story. It had to work with this emotional
curve in order to support a lot of information in a very small amount of time." ●
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2018
