American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 14

Short Takes

I

Monstrous Deeds
By Matt Mulcahey

In Greek mythology, the Chimera was a fire-breathing, manyheaded creature that roamed the countryside of Lycia. In the short
film Chimeras, the monster metaphorically takes human form as a
trio of desperate men converges in the desert to make a transgressive deal. "I wanted to have the faces of the actors be partially in light
and partially in the darkness," says cinematographer Carlo Rinaldi,
AIC. "I wanted to make them [resemble] this beast, the Chimera."
Shot in the Mojave Desert over eight days in June 2014,
Chimeras tells the based-in-fact tale of a father (Kevin J. O'Connor)
who travels to a remote motel to sell his infant son to two men (Chris
Coy and Michael Ironside). Director and co-writer Gianluca Minucci
never reveals the motivations for the transaction. "I fell in love with
the script and its atmosphere," says Rinaldi, who splits his time working in Los Angeles and Rome. "It's a noir story crossed with a Western. It made me think of the Coen Brothers' Fargo or the tension of
Paul Thomas Anderson's storytelling."
Rinaldi found inspiration in the cinematography of Gordon
Willis, ASC; Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC; and Joaquin Baca-Asay.
"Gordon Willis was my reference in terms of contrast ratio and the
use of deep shadows," says Rinaldi. "I looked to Joaquin Baca-Asay
for this idea of lighting interior days to almost look like interior
nights. And Roger Deakins for me is a benchmark of elegance and
creativity."
Minucci initially envisioned shooting Chimeras in 35mm with
anamorphic lenses. However, the budget couldn't accommodate
anamorphic glass, and shooting 35mm would have required
performing post in Los Angeles rather than at Rinaldi's preferred
destination, inHouse Post in Rome. With anamorphic lenses off the
table, Rinaldi tested a vintage set of spherical Kowas, but was unsat14

October 2015

isfied with the distortion of the wide-angle lenses and the color
differences within the set. Rufus Burnham, president and CEO of
L.A.'s The Camera House, then played matchmaker between Rinaldi
and a set of Leica Summicron-C T2.0 lenses. "Rufus suggested the
Leicas, and I literally fell in love," Rinaldi says. "They have a unique
bokeh for a spherical set, they are lightweight and compact, and
they perfectly married with our CinemaScope aspect ratio."
In choosing a digital camera, Rinaldi's main concern was finding a sensor that could handle the wide dynamic range necessary for
Chimeras. "We had interior days with big windows that I didn't
want to blow out, so I needed a camera that could easily handle
overexposure," he says. "On the other hand, I had exterior night
scenes in the desert, so I needed a camera that I could push to 1,600
ASA. The Arri Alexa Classic was the perfect choice."
Chimeras opens with a 90-second push-in amid a suburban
dining room. The camera creeps toward a baby basket while the
child's parents frantically cross in and out of frame. The parents
remain largely in darkness, without the reassurance of fill light, while
a hot toplight beams down upon the basket. "That first image is
very important because it has to catch the audience right away,
especially in a short film," says Rinaldi. "Gianluca and I wanted to
immediately give a sense of mystery and anxiety, and we used the
toplight on the baby's crib to underline that the baby's character is
pure."
To convey that purity, Rinaldi left the Joker-Bug 200 HMI used
for the toplight free of gel, while placing ΒΌ CTO on the 4K HMI
backlight positioned outside the glass sliding door. The backlight
was pushed through a 4'x4' frame of Lee 251 Quarter White Diffusion.
The bulk of Chimeras unfolds at a motel located in the sandy
wasteland of the Mojave Desert. Those scenes were filmed at the
Four Aces - a movie set comprising a motel, diner and gas station

American Cinematographer

All images courtesy of Gregory J. Rossi.

A father (Kevin
J. O'Connor)
travels to a
remote hotel in
the desert to
meet with two
potential babybuyers in the
short film
Chimeras.



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 2015

Contents
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - Intro
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 1
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 2
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - Contents
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 4
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 5
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 6
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 7
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 8
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 9
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 10
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 11
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 12
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 13
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 14
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 15
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 16
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 17
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 18
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 19
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 20
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 21
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 22
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 23
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 24
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 25
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 26
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 27
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 28
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 29
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 30
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 31
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 32
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 33
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American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 37
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 38
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American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 50
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 50a
American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 50b
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American Cinematographer - October 2015 - 53
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