American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 30
Top: Blackmagic
Pocket Cinema
Cameras were
used to
capture shots
amid action
sequences.
Bottom:
Cinematographer
Chris LaVasseur
contemplates
a shot.
company] Muse stressed that they didn't
want Tut to look like Game of Thrones,"
LaVasseur continues. "They didn't want a
dark, desaturated, gloomy look. They
wanted a bright, colorful look, especially in
the costumes [designed] by Carlo Poggioli."
Given the remoteness of the location
and the enormity of certain exteriors, the
cinematographer explains, "when we did
the big wide shots, we'd let [the lighting]
go, and used available light. [For closer
shots] it would be difficult to use a flyswatter overhead, so when I could, I would send
a 20-by-20 [with] a double net and a Light
Grid up on large stands - the net takes the
intensity and the Grid softens the light. You
pick and choose your battles. Obviously, the
end goal is to ensure that the actors look
good!"
LaVasseur and Von Ancken made an
early decision to use a rougher, less-polished
style in the desert, to contrast the chaos of
the outside world with the more controlled
30
August 2015
environment of the palace, which was built
in Dino De Laurentiis' CLA Studios. "When
we shot in the desert, it's a bit rough, and
most of the time we went handheld," says
LaVasseur.
"I tried to make the palace scenes
slicker," he continues. "Everything's stable. I
mostly used real flame when I was [shooting close-ups], and I'm a sucker for big light
sources. I like book lights. Typically, I'll
bounce a 2K Zip light into a 12-by Ultrabounce, softened with a 12-by Light Grid in
front of it, right out of frame. I'll use that
light as a wrap and let the other side fall off
on the dark side. I don't use that much fill."
Inside the palace, LaVasseur used ¼ CTO
gel to match tungsten lighting to practical
flame and, he says, "when we timed it, I
took the orange out just a little bit." For
outside the palace, Lee 117 - a greenishblue gel - was applied to "moonlight"
sources in order to contrast with the firelight.
American Cinematographer
LaVasseur's lighting package was
split into provisions for either day or night
shooting. "For the night package, we had
six Maxi-Brutes, six Mini-Brutes, four 10Ks,
four 5Ks, and an assortment of 2Ks, 1Ks
and Inkies," the cinematographer details.
For large-scale day exteriors, though,
LaVasseur says he "had to fight for two
Arrimaxes if I wanted to fill in the actors in
order to compete with the intensity of the
Moroccan sun." For one courtyard scene,
he "blasted them right in [the actors'] faces
through Light Grid. I don't like doing that; I
didn't want to make [the cast] uncomfortable, but I wanted to see their eyes."
At press time, Tut's final grade was
about to commence with colorist Scott
Klein at Technicolor in Los Angeles, where
the trailer had been finished on Quantel's
Pablo system. LaVasseur was scheduled to
have a mere four days to supervise each
two-hour episode. "I'll set up day exteriors,
night exteriors - very broad strokes," he
says. "Then they'll do a match, and I'll take
a look at it."
Upcoming work for LaVasseur
includes the series Unforgettable, a crime
drama for A&E about a woman with a
photographic memory. "[I've done] shows
like Nurse Jackie and Hostages, so when the
opportunity to photograph Tut arose, it was
the perfect chance to shoot something
different on a much grander scale. It was a
very special project for me. If we did this in
America, it would have been 30 extras, but
it was like a DeMille movie - we had a
thousand extras, it wasn't greenscreen,
everything was real. Even on the back lots
at the studios, there were people walking
around with camels. It was like I was transported back to 1950." The viewing audience, of course, will be transported back
rather further than that.
TECHNICAL SPECS
1.78:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa Plus, Blackmagic Design Pocket
Cinema Camera
Panavision Primo, Angenieux Optimo,
Panasonic Lumix G X Vario
●
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - August 2015
Contents
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 1
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 2
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - Contents
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 4
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 5
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 6
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 7
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 8
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 9
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 10
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 11
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 12
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 13
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 14
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 15
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 16
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 17
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 18
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 19
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 20
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 21
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 22
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 23
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 24
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 25
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 26
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 27
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 28
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 29
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 30
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 31
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 32
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 33
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 34
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 35
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 36
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 37
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 38
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 39
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 40
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 41
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 42
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 43
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American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 45
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 46
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 47
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 48
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 49
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 50
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 51
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American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 53
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 54
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - 55
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American Cinematographer - August 2015 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - August 2015 - Cover4
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