American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 67

Such lengths were rarely necessary as - with the exception of Kino
Flo Celebs, sunlight and existing location practicals - Guleserian shot the
film largely with LED units that
allowed him to dial in color and output.
Principal photography was split
evenly between four weeks in Japan and
four weeks in Singapore. For the
Japanese portion of the shoot, the locations were largely practical, a decision
dictated by both financial prudence
and co-production designer Tino
Schaedler's affection for the work of
Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The
Ando-designed spaces - including the
Awaji Yumebutai complex near Osaka
and the Sayamaike Historical Museum,
the combination of which provided the
setting for the Den - feature a mixture
of antiseptic, monochromatic concrete
embedded within lush natural
surroundings that embody the
Collective's repressive serenity. "It wasn't
a very high-budget movie, so we needed
to find practical locations that would
work - which isn't easy for a futuristic
love story," Guleserian says.
Singapore provided both practical
locations and soundstages, and forced
Guleserian to venture off the beaten
path when he encountered a lack of
access to traditional filmmaking tools.
"The lighting tools [we were familiar
with] in the States weren't necessarily
available in Singapore," he notes; the
production ended up using such fixtures
as custom-made interconnecting RGB
LED pixel-bar wall washers, and 24volt, bi-color, high-grade LED tape that
was "converted to be DMX-able."
Using the unfamiliar lighting
tools necessitated a few days of testing,
during which Guleserian and gaffer
Andy Cole brought various units from
local vendors into a soundstage. They
tested each light to ensure it wouldn't
flicker on camera, could achieve the
required color spectrum, and would play
nicely with the DMX board. "A lot of
these things didn't even have brand
names that I was familiar with," recalls
Guleserian.
Silas' apartment location was

Silas and Nia find one another in the crowd during a nighttime entertainment presentation.

created in Singapore by combining the
exterior of the ultramodern Reflections
residential complex - designed by
Polish-American architect Daniel
Libeskind - with a soundstage set for
the interiors. A visit to that set during
preproduction nudged Guleserian
toward the movie's 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
"Originally we thought about shooting
'Scope, and Drake and I even talked
about how all the environments we were
scouting would actually be really cool in
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4:3," the cinematographer explains. "But
when we saw the apartment sets, they
were almost constructed in [the dimensions of ] 1.85:1. Also, as we were scouting, I was shooting stills on a little Sony
a6000 in 16:9, and I just started to get
married to the idea of a similar aspect
ratio for the movie."
Silas' spartan living space features
a bed, wardrobe closet and dining
counter that retract into the walls when
not in use. A large window offers a view
August 2016

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