American Cinematographer - July 2018 - 31

phase, from slightly to extremely
detuned. By the time we had detuned
the 45mm T2.3, which we used a lot, we
were all the way at phase two and level
four or five. The focus would roll in and
out on a very extreme curve; you could
have subjects in focus 8 feet away and 2
feet away at the same time, and have all
this interesting visual distortion in
between them."
In addition to the Prime DNA
lenses, the cinematographer adds, "We
also shot here and there with Camtec
Falcon Full Frame lenses [on the Alexa
65], and with [Arri/Zeiss] Super Speeds
for shots on the Alexa Mini."
Arri Rental U.K. provided the
camera package and lighting equipment
for the production, which was based at
Pinewood Studios outside of London.
Young's crew - some of whom are
veterans of other recent Star Wars
movies - included A-camera 1st AC
Jake Marcuson, chief lighting technician
Perry Evans, key grip Gary Hymns and
2nd-unit
cinematographer
Tim
Wooster. "My best friend, Jeff Kim, was
our splinter-unit director of photography," Young adds. "We would have
fallen flat without him. He saved us on
many levels."
***
Principal photography for Solo
commenced in January 2017 and lasted
until mid-October. The unusually long
duration was the result of "creative
differences" - per an official Lucasfilm
announcement - that led to the departure of Lord and Miller in mid-June.
On June 22, it was announced that
veteran director Ron Howard would be
taking over the directorial reins.
Howard has a storied history with
Lucasfilm as both an actor - alongside
Harrison Ford - in George Lucas'
early feature American Graffiti, and as a
director on the Lucas-produced Willow
(AC July '88). "It was fascinating to see
George and [visual consultant] Haskell
Wexler, ASC working with this ambitious, challenging aesthetic on American
Graffiti," Howard remembers. "I

Top, from left: Val (Thandie Newton), Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and Han plot to steal a
shipment of coaxium from an Imperial conveyex cargo train. Above: Han and Chewbacca
(Joonas Suotamo) work together to separate the targeted car from the rest of the train.

thought their attention to detail elevated
what you would traditionally expect
from a rock-and-roll car movie. Later,
on Willow, it was like getting a doctorate
in visual effects from [co-visual-effects
supervisor] Dennis Muren, ASC and
his team.
"I always had a great connection
with George, but I never anticipated
being a part of the Star Wars family,"
Howard adds. "Then one day I found
myself presented with this opportunity
to come in and be a part of a story I
instantly believed in.
"Coming into the project at the
point I did, even though there was a
great deal of work ahead of us, I thought
it was important that the department
heads and artists who had already
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committed so much of their lives and
knew the story so well should continue
on," the director continues. "I had some
long conversations with Bradford, and
they were easy from the first moment
because they were so creative and
constructive. Bradford's a great man,
and I've admired his work, although I'd
never met him before. I just liked his
spirit and approach to work, and the
aesthetic that already had been established."
That aesthetic was in part realized
with an overall production LUT that
Young developed with dailies colorist
Darren Rae and DI colorist Joe Gawler.
"For the testing phase, I was in the
dailies theater every day with Darren,"
remembers Young. "The beautiful thing
July 2018

31
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2018
