American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 71
Richardson put all of his lights into service for
a scene in which Jenny, Kelly and Carson talk
over drinks in the tiki room.
philosophically," the director adds. "You
want all of your emphasis and focus on
one main point of view. I edit my own
movies, and as an editor I've always
appreciated the challenge and creative
thinking that comes out of marrying
different takes. There's a really different
vibe to cutting between multiple
cameras on the same take [as opposed
to] trying to match two different takes
and make them seamless. Also, from a
photographic standpoint, Ben can really
get everything he wants from that one
camera rather than compromising the
lighting in order to accommodate and
shoot around a second camera."
Complementing the pared down,
single-camera approach within real
locations, Richardson kept his lighting
package to a minimum. "We mostly
used small units like covered wagons,
China balls, and small HMIs bounced
off 273 Soft Silver to simulate outdoor
ambience [filtering in through
windows]," Richardson reveals. "The
rest was a lot of practical sources,
switching out bulbs for higher wattages
[up to 150 watts], low-intensity
bounced fill, and letting practicals play
hot and bright." He feels this lighting
style "helps give the movie a more
observational feel."
One of Richardson's largest
setups for Happy Christmas was a scene
in which Jenny, Kelly and Carson (Lena
Dunham) chat over drinks in the basement, which is styled like a tiki room,
replete with wet bar. "A few days prior,
we'd had a beautiful, soft cool push of
natural light through the windows," the
www.theasc.com
cinematographer recalls. "But on the
shoot day, it was heavily overcast and
grey, so we had to have every lamp in
play. [Gaffer] Christian Hins placed a
1.2K HMI Par outside the main
window, through a 6-by-6 Grid Cloth
to soften it up. Inside, we switched out
some of the practicals, which we supplemented with a tungsten bulb in a skirted
China ball positioned down the corridor. Then we had a covered wagon
gelled with Full CTB tucked just below
the window frame to create a little
supplement to the natural bounce.
"We ran one take on the 25mm
lens and then swung to the 50mm as a
roving single, following the three
women talking," Richardson continues.
"We ran two mags on that conversation,
and as the scene developed, I knew Joe
could edit the scene with the rhythm
[the actors] got into. It's a fun process as
an operator as well as a cinematographer, knowing I can stay responsive and
August 2014
71
http://www.theasc.com
American Cinematographer - August 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - August 2014
Contents
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 1
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 2
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - Contents
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 4
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 5
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 6
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 7
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 8
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 9
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 10
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 11
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 12
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 13
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 14
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 15
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 16
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 17
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 18
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 19
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 20
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 21
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 22
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 23
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 24
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 25
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 26
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 27
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 28
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 29
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 30
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 31
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 32
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 33
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 34
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 35
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 36
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 37
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 38
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 39
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 40
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 41
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 42
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 43
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 44
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 45
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 46
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 47
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 48
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 49
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 50
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 51
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 52
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 53
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 54
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 55
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 56
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 57
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 58
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 59
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 60
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 61
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 62
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 63
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 64
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 65
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 66
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 67
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 68
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 69
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 70
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 71
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 72
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 73
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 74
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 75
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 76
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 77
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 78
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 79
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 80
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 81
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 82
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 83
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 84
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 85
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 86
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 87
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - 88
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - August 2014 - Cover4
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