American Cinematographer - November 2008 - (Page 46)

The Making of a President Right: Stone does his best impression of a waiter while sharing a moment with Brolin and Noah Wyle (portraying Bush’s friend Don Evans) on location in a diner. Below: Crew members “shape the light” as Brolin, portraying Bush during his days as an owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, readies his next pitch. Scenes from this period, in which Bush begins to regain his footing in life, were given a brighter, more high-key look. influence, and even challenges his father (James Cromwell) to fight mano a mano. The exasperated senior Bush pulls strings to bail his son out of trouble and find him jobs but is otherwise an absentee father. During this period, young Bush starts working in the oil business in Texas, meets his future wife, Laura (Elizabeth Banks), and runs unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives. The transition to “Success through Christianity” is Bush’s 40th birthday. Hung over after the celebration, he sets off for a run and suf- fers a physical and mental collapse. Recognizing he’s on a road to nowhere, he turns to God. He also finds direction in his professional life, helping his father get elected president of the United States in 1988, fronting a group that takes over the Texas Rangers baseball team, and, to the surprise of his family, getting elected governor of Texas. “The Presidency” skips to 2002, showing how Bush deals with the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Scenes take place in the White House and the Oval Office Situation Room, as well as at the family homes in Crawford, Texas, and Kennebunkport, Maine. This section ends in 2004 with Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Stone planned to cut back and forth among time periods, so he wanted each to have a distinct palette and look. During prep, Papamichael broke down the themes and visual elements on a color-coded chart, which was then elaborated on by production designer Derek Hill and costume designer Michael Dennison. “That chart became our bible,” says Papamichael. Bush’s early years are characterized by vibrant, saturated colors, and the cinematography reflects the character’s rebellious nature and raw energy through “more violent handheld camerawork and the occasional use of a 45-degree or 90degree shutter,” says the cinematographer. Stone explains, “On the tests, I liked the 90-degree strobe on dialogue sometimes. It gave it an edge, which was well-suited to Bush’s youthful years.” Papamichael also used Mitchell B diffusion on the lens for this phase of the story. When Bush comes into his own with the Texas Rangers, Laura and God, “it’s the brighter period of his life,” says Papamichael, and the palette corresponds to that. “He’s getting more confident, and it’s a stage where things go his way, so the lighting is a little more high-key and the camera is a little calmer. We still have a lot of handheld, but the shutter is not so extreme; we use the 45or 90-degree shutter only when he encounters his dad and is still looking for approval.” For these scenes, Papamichael switched to Tiffen White Pro-Mist filters. “Overall, it’s a little less contrasty, and we wanted the whites to bloom a bit,” he notes. “The Presidency” features a muted, monochromatic palette, 46 November 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - November 2008

American Cinematographer - November 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Letters Short Takes Production Slate Forging a Bond The Making of a President Thunder Down Under Habitat for Inhumanity Saluting Television’s Top Talents Post Focus New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up

American Cinematographer - November 2008

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