American Cinematographer - December 2007 - (Page 28)

Right: A meditative moment from a French documentary about the war that peesents another perspective in the film. Below: Director Brian De Palma (left) and Cliff plan out a shot. had no cuts, Cliff used a Sony HDR-HC7, a MiniDV consumer camera with a “night shot” setting and a built-in infrared light. “I tried experimenting with a night-vision lens on the F900R, but it was too cumbersome to mimic what’s supposed to be a tiny camera on Salazar’s helmet,” says the cinematographer. “It was strange and somewhat amusing to go into a shopping mall in Amman to buy a $1,000 camcorder to shoot the dramatic centerpiece of a Brian De Palma film!” He used a DV Rig Pro to lend the camera stability. Cliff made use of some unusual sources to maintain a sense of authenticity. For a scene depicting the death of a U.S. soldier on an insurgent group’s Web site, he used mercury-vapor construction lights borrowed from the art department. “They have a greenbluish tint that’s quite unpleasant to the eye,” he says. “The scene was also fairly underexposed, which gives it a bit of dirty noise. Let’s face it, these guys don’t use Kino Flos and HMIs when they make their videos.” He strove for a minimalist approach whenever possi- ble. “It was particularly interesting lighting the night exteriors for night vision, because you have no idea how much light it requires. One exterior is just an 18K scrimmed down as much as possible about 50 feet away on top of a building. It ended up being more than enough for the whole block.” Another scene, in which a young boy plants a bomb at night, was lit with a single 5K and ambient light from the sky. Redacted was shot on location in Jordan over 18 days. According to De Palma, “the most expensive thing on the movie [which was budgeted at $5 million] was flying people to Jordan — we ran out of actors.” The production discovered, however, that there was no shortage of Iraqi refugees to serve as extras. Second-unit director Eric Schwab scouted for local talent while filming the French documentary footage and was able to find many extras whose experiences paralleled those in the film. “There are close to a million Iraqi refugees in Jordan, and the sad thing about it is that everybody has a tragic story to tell,” says De Palma. “They’d play the scenes and start to cry, and it was very upsetting for the actors, because they knew they were dealing with people who’d actually experienced the things they were portraying.” Cliff and De Palma agree that the eventual transfer to 35mm that was necessary for exhibition compromised their intentions for Redacted. “As a lover of film, I never thought I’d say this, but Redacted is made to be seen with digital projection,” says Cliff. “It’s a much more direct and unmediated experience that way. Film adds a layer that is magic in most cases, but in this case our struggle was to make that layer as invisible as possible so that challenging images would hit you more directly.” I 28 December 2007

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American Cinematgrapher - December 2007 Contents Editor's Note DVD Playback Production Slate Irretrievable Deeds Blood on the Streets Fantastic Voyage Promise Fulfilled Short Takes Post Focus Tomorrow's Technology New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index 2007 AC Index ASC Membership Roster Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up

American Cinematographer - December 2007

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