American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 72

AMC_0114_p064_p075_c_feature 11/24/13 11:37 AM Page 72

A Curious Camera

This page: A few of the location stills Hardy took with his Fujifilm X100 while scouting with Fiennes and
production designer Maria Djurkovic (who serve as the stand-ins). "They're really just immediate
reactions to the locations on my part, a way of finding a physical proximity within the spaces, a sort of
study of how we could potentially block scenes," says Hardy. Opposite page: Some of Fiennes' drawings,
which he combined with Hardy's stills and assorted period references on the "mood board" referenced
by the team throughout the shoot.

72

January 2014

American Cinematographer

explains. White cites the lighting of an
intimate conversation between Nelly
and her mother on a settee as a typical
day-interior approach: "We set up a
Quarter Wendy and a Quarter Dino
outside an 8-by-4-foot window, blacked
the top half out, and added four layers of
Light Grid and one layer of unbleached
muslin, each separated by several inches
to knock it back. Apart from the ferocious heat and dramatic lack of stop, the
light looked beautiful suspended in air."
Fiennes wanted the camerawork
to strike a balance between a neutral
stance that would allow such intimate
scenes to play out, and a more participatory approach that would convey the
excitement or uncertainty of a given
moment. "With the exception of a few
shots, Ralph and I made those decisions
by feeling it as we went," says Hardy.
"We knew from the very beginning that
there would be a rhythm we would
follow in the narrative, and at times that
rhythm would need to be staccato,
which would lead us to go to the hand,
and at times it would need to be a very
calm note, which would lead us to a very
wide shot that didn't cut."
"I was very keen to let the camera
observe in a relatively still way; many
scenes are two people in a room, talking,
and I wanted the interior life of the
characters to speak," says Fiennes. "But
I certainly identified quite early on that
some sequences had to have a slightly
feverish quality."
As an example of the latter,
Fiennes points to the scene in which
Nelly meets Dickens for the first time.
Set to play a small role in one of his
stage productions, she arrives at the
theater for the rehearsal, and the camera
follows her into the building and then
swirls around her as Dickens makes the
necessary introductions. The scene
begins with two long Steadicam moves
(operated by Roger Tooley) that were
cut to play as one, and then, as Dickens
begins directing the troupe, static shots
are intercut with handheld shots on the
stage. "I wanted that sense of something
being slightly on edge - you're present
in the moment as it unfolds in front of

Photos by Rob Hardy.

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American Cinematographer - January 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - January 2014

Table of Contents
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 1
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 2
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - Table of Contents
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 4
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 5
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 6
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 7
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 8
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 9
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 10
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 11
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 12
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 13
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 14
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 15
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 16
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 17
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 18
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 19
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 20
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 21
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 22
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 23
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 24
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 25
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 26
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 27
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 28
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 29
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 30
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 31
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 32
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 33
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 34
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 35
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 36
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 37
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 38
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 39
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 40
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 41
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 42
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 43
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 44
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 45
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 46
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 47
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 48
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 49
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 50
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 51
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 52
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 53
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 54
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 55
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 56
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 57
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 58
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 59
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 60
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 61
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 62
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 63
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 64
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 65
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 66
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 67
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 68
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 69
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 70
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 71
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 72
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 73
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 74
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 75
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 76
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 77
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 78
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 79
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 80
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 81
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 82
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 83
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 84
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 85
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 86
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American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 88
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 89
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 90
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 91
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 92
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 93
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 94
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 95
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 96
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - Cover4
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