American Cinematographer - November 2008 - (Page 58)

Thunder Down Under the immediate aftermath is a main sequence in Australia. The surprise attack occurred early on a February morning in 1942; more than a hundred Japanese bombers and fighters descended on the city, which had a wartime population of only 2,000, and dropped more bombs than the Japanese had dropped on Pearl Harbor two months earlier. The Queensland town of Bowen, on the east coast of Australia, stood in for Darwin during the filming of this sequence. “We built a backlot of about four main streets that included Chinatown stores and dwellings, a pub, a cattle yard, and the beginning of the wharf with a bluescreen edge,” says Walker. The filmmakers were fortunate with the location’s weather. “We wanted an overcast feel for these scenes,” she continues. “Shaun had the 60-by-40 scrim standing by to create shade, but it remained overcast and raining for three weeks. The day after we wrapped there, the rain stopped, and out came the sun! “Much of the post-bombing sequence was set at night,” she continues. “Because Darwin’s power had been cut by the attack, all the light was motivated by firelight.” To replicate this, Conway set up rows of Dinos gelled with Full CTO and run through a dimmer board. “My board operator, Peter Whitby, worked out a fantastically subtle fire effect,” he explains. “It isn’t necessarily realistic, but it looks great onscreen. For the wider shots, we bounced Dinos onto the actors, and to give close-ups a soft, lovely glow, we had the same sequence running through Tetris lights and ‘Lois lights,’ a larger version of the Tetris that was 8by-4 feet and held eight 1K bulbs.” Walker adds, “There was also a lot of real fire from flame bars throughout these scenes. I shot at T2.8½ without building up the lighting levels to get color in the fire; after testing, I knew I could do that in the DI. We always included a little bit of white light in the frame to avoid oversaturation.” Luhrmann’s penchant for stag- Above: Luhrmann watches Kidman run through a scene with Brandon Walters, who portrays one of Sarah’s allies. Right: Fires rage following the Japanese bombing of Darwin. 100K SoftSun through 20'x20' scrims outside the windows. To light close-ups, Conway built what he dubbed “Tetris lights,” 4' square aluminum frames covered in gridcloth and Ultrabounce; these measured about 16" deep and could be stacked atop and next to one another. Each box contained six 230-watt Osram Halo Lux bulbs and was covered in gridcloth. “They are easy to move quickly, and you can make very subtle changes to the output level,” says the gaffer. “We also made up egg crates and barn doors to help control the direction.” On one occasion, when Lady Ashley carries a lantern through the homestead set, a crewmember carried a Tetris to 58 November 2008 boost the lantern’s light; Walker later shaped the lantern’s falloff in the digital intermediate (DI), carried out at EFilm Australia. Like the scene at Stokes Hill Wharf, the Faraway Downs stockyard integrated studio and location footage. One scene begins with location work: the camera looks out the back door of the homestead as the sun drops in the sky, and then a “mob” of brumbies (wild horses) is led into the stockyard. The stockyard was reconstructed on Stage 7 at Fox. (Other stage work included two water tanks on Stage 2, an “exterior” boab-tree set on Stage 3, and several small sets on Stage 4.) The bombing of Darwin and

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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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