American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 37
presented in the film is often suffused with a low-contrast softness. “That’s a combination of stock, lenses and lighting,” says Fraser. “Where possible, I always used soft lighting. Cinematographers sometimes use hard backlight to give the appearance of sharpness, but I tried to avoid that. We were going with soft lenses and soft lighting, and often with soft faces. Creaminess is what Andrew and I wanted, not milkiness, which is different. Creaminess is something you feel you can enter into, like a bath; you want to be absorbed and encompassed by it. These were our lofty expectations. It wasn’t always completely obtainable, but we did our best.” Desaturation was another key to the look, and one of the filmmakers’ criteria for locations was that they not be too colorful. In prep, Fraser tested flashing 5219 (because 5230 was not yet available) with a Panaflasher to reduce contrast, but he finally opted to obtain some of that feeling in the digital grade, which the filmmakers conducted with colorists Olivier Fontenay and Mitch Paulson at EFilm in Hollywood. “Throughout the DI, we were always trying to pull down the highlights, pull up the mids and have everything kind of meet in the middle,” Dominik recalls. Fraser’s approach to a location is to start with the existing lighting. “I won’t say we shot with natural light because we controlled everything,” says the cinematographer. “The Kodak 5230 helped us blend [our lighting] in with the locations. We tried to just augment what was there with approximately the same color, and to end up with something beautiful.” To get more perspective on his technical approach to the picture, Fraser suggested we speak to two of his collaborators, gaffer Jay Kemp and key grip Kurt Kornemann, who also worked with him on Let Me In (AC Oct. ’10). Kemp notes that Fraser’s approach to lighting locations in Killing Them Softly involved matching the spectrum of urban lighting and
Top: Cinematographer Greig Fraser and director Andrew Dominik prep a scene with Ben Mendelsohn (seated), who portrays Frankie’s partner-in-crime Russell. Middle: A frame grab from the scene wherein Russell’s luck runs out. Bottom: Fraser discusses a setup with Steadicam operator A.J. Johnson and 1st AC Eric Swanek (left) as 1st AD Scott Robertson (far right) and other crew stand by. Fraser and Johnson shared A-camera-operating duties on the picture.
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October 2012
37
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American Cinematographer - October 2012
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 2012
American Cinematographer - October 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note
President’s Desk
Short Takes: ASC Andrew Laszlo Heritage Awards
Production Slate: Chasing Ice • Arbitrage
Dead Man’s Hand
A Very Tough Beat
Payback Time
Hitchcock Blonde
Post Focus: Blinding
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Robert Primes
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - American Cinematographer - October 2012
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 1
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 2
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Contents
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 4
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 5
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 6
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 7
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 9
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - President’s Desk
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 11
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Short Takes: ASC Andrew Laszlo Heritage Awards
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 13
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 14
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 15
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 16
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 17
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 18
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 19
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Production Slate: Chasing Ice • Arbitrage
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 21
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 22
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 23
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 24
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 25
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 26
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 27
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 28
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 29
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 30
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 31
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 32
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 33
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Dead Man’s Hand
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 35
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 36
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 37
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 38
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 39
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 40
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 41
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 42
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 43
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 44
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 45
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 46
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 47
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 48
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 49
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - A Very Tough Beat
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 51
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 52
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 53
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 54
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 55
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 56
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 57
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 58
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 59
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 60
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 61
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 62
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 63
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Payback Time
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 65
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 66
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 67
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 68
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 69
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 70
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 71
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 72
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 73
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 74
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 75
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Hitchcock Blonde
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 77
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 78
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 79
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 80
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 81
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 82
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 83
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 84
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 85
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Post Focus: Blinding
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 87
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 88
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 89
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 91
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 92
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 93
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Classified Ads
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 97
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - 99
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - ASC Close-Up: Robert Primes
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - October 2012 - Cover4
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