American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 77

AMC_0114_p076_p085_d_feature 11/24/13 11:41 AM Page 77

Unit photography by Sam Zhu and Merrick Morton, SMPSP. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Warner Bros.

Opposite: The
recently divorced
Theodore (Joaquin
Phoenix) struggles
with loneliness in his
futuristic
surroundings.
Cinematographer
Hoyt van Hoytema,
FSF, NSC made the
most of Los Angeles'
ambient night
lighting in the
practical location. This
page, top: Theodore
downloads his new
operating system,
Samantha. Middle:
Theodore enjoys a
walk-and-talk with
Samantha, to whom
he connects via
earpiece. Bottom:
Roiling with
emotions, Theodore
checks his smart
phone for messages
from his "OS" lover.

there was a lot of poetry between the
lines. Spike didn't want anything
dystopian, and he wanted a future that
felt a little more tactile than it does in
most films. With that in mind, he and
[production designer] K.K. Barrett
showed me a lot of reference photography that they loved. The main reference was a book of photos called
Illuminance by Rinko Kawauchi, a
Japanese photographer. The photos are
dreamy studies of what appears to be
very trivial. They're square photos with
a kind of muted palette, and they are
extremely sharp and crisp, yet romantic
and poetic. They radiate fascination
with specific details.
Jonze: As soon as I saw that
book, it became a kind of touchstone
for this movie. The photos are colorful,
but very clean. They aren't garishly
colored - there are lots of whites with
strong pinks or pale blues. I thought
the use of color was very romantic, and
that became very important to us
palette-wise.
Why did you decide to shoot
digitally, and what made you choose
the Arri Alexa?
Van Hoytema: Spike wanted
the look to be pristine and clean. I had
used digital on some commercials, but
I had always shot features on film, and
the idea that cleanliness and lack of
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January 2014

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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
American Cinematographer - January 2014 - 87
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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