American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 50
Taking onWater
In All Is Lost, shot by Frank DeMarco
and Peter Zuccarini, a lone sailor
battles the elements after his boat is
damaged far from port.
By Jay Holben
*|*
D
irector/writer J.C. Chandor's screenplay for All Is Lost
wasn't really a screenplay at all, at least not in traditional
Hollywood terms. A mere 32 pages, it was more of a
detailed treatment. The slenderness of the blueprint
wasn't due to lack of planning or foresight, nor was it because
the film was wholly improvised. In fact, every shot in the film
was meticulously storyboarded. But there are only three
moments of dialogue in the feature's 106-minute running
50
November 2013
time, and only one character - identified in the credits as
"Our Man" (Robert Redford) - in the entire film. All Is Lost
is an exercise in pure cinematic storytelling, using only the
actor's performance, the camerawork and the juxtapositioning
of shots to tell an invigorating tale.
Our Man is a veteran sailor making a solo journey of
indeterminate origin and destination in the Indian Ocean. We
don't know how long he has been at sea, but we do witness
several days of his life that are fraught with one life-threatening challenge after another. The film opens with the hollow
sound of ocean waves slapping against a large, metal object;
there is no motion, no boat slicing through the water, no sailcloth or rigging fluttering in the wind. Our Man awakens to
this tinny rhythm and rises to find the cabin of his boat taking
on water, and he soon discovers that a large shipping container
adrift on the ocean has punched a 2'x2' hole in the side of his
40' sailboat, the Virginia Jean.
All Is Lost found Chandor reteaming with cinematographer Frank DeMarco, a collaborator on Margin Call (AC
American Cinematographer
American Cinematographer - November 2013
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - November 2013
Contents
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 1
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 2
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 3
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 4
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - Contents
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 6
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 7
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 8
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 9
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American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 11
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American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 37
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 38
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American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 40
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American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 43
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American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 45
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American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 48
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 49
American Cinematographer - November 2013 - 50
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