American Cinematographer - December 2017 - 30

Top: The production cast Malibu Creek State Park in California to stand in for rural China. Above: The
children present their captured sparrow to a village cadre (Zhan Wang).

a drought, and the once-green foliage at
the state park actually looked like parched
wheat fields in-camera," Chan says. "The
acres of dead and dying light-yellow foliage
gave me this nice, soft, even, warm fill as
the harsh sun pounded over the land,
almost wherever we went."
For budgetary reasons, Chan elected
to shoot with Red's Scarlet Mysterium-X
camera. "A corny joke we had during
production was that it would only be
appropriate to shoot a film about communist China with a Red camera," Chan recalls
in jest. The cinematographer paired the
camera with a set of classic Canon K-35
lenses from Alternative Rentals. "Using
these vintage lenses helped 'cut the sting'
[of the sharp digital image]. And knowing
30

December 2017

we were going to shoot on location, at the
mercy of the sun, I placed a light grade of
Tiffen Black Pro-Mist over the K-35s - oneeighth or one-fourth depending on the
focal length - that helped give a little
bloom and aided in rolling off any harsh
highlights," Chan says.
Empty Skies was recorded at 4K as
Redcode Raw files on RedMag SSDs in the
2.39:1 aspect ratio, which offered a
panoramic view of the landscape. "The
aspect ratio was a quick decision, as it felt
right for the film and helped establish the
environment," says Chan. "A parched, rural
China was integral to the story [and] the
widescreen ratio forced us to keep the landscape in the frame, even in our close-ups."
The filmmakers had to be meticuAmerican Cinematographer

lous about setting up and following a strict
schedule for their child actors, and scenes
were blocked out in advance in order to fit
within the four-day shooting schedule. "We
staggered the call times of the two children
and shot mostly in the morning or late
afternoon, while the sun was low, adding a
bit of bounce and fill with unbleached
muslin that matched the color of our dry
foliage," the cinematographer explains.
"Lighting the children wasn't too difficult,
as we blocked them according to the sun's
position. The girl's face was a bit darker
than the boy's, so we did have to give her a
little love with our muslin in her close-ups to
even out the levels between their singles."
Shooting in available light also
required careful planning. "For certain
scenes we only had an hour window when
the sun would hit the angle we needed,"
says Chan. "As a native New Yorker, I'm not
a big fan of the L.A. sun; I prefer overcast
skies for photography any day. But one
advantage the L.A. weather has is that it's
usually pretty consistent. My worst fear was
partial clouds, but the forecast told us we'd
have clear skies through the week. I knew
beforehand where the sun was going to hit
and the exact times. The locations themselves helped establish the palette, the lighting and the look of the entire film."
Chan shot many of the scenes with
an 85mm prime and panned the camera
with the action - choices that made shooting efficient while also serving an aesthetic
purpose. "I felt like it would work well for

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2017