American Cinematographer - January 2016 - 64c

FILM
CAPTURES
THE SPIRIT
IN

BOY

The short film Boy follows the ghost of a boy who is killed in a bicycle
accident, and then follows a classmate home after school. The film,
which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), was
written, produced and directed by Connor Jessup. Best known as an
actor for his roles in Falling Skies, American Crime and Closet Monster, the
film is Jessup's second turn at the helm.
"I kind of fell backward into acting before I knew what it was," notes
Jessup. "I have come to love it on its own terms, but as soon as I was
old enough to be taken even mildly seriously, I knew I had to start
making (movies)."
For Boy, Jessup enlisted cinematographer Bobby Shore, CSC - an
American Film Institute graduate and Montreal native. He and Jessup
had worked together on director Stephen Dunn's Closet Monster, a
coming-of-age drama that won the 2015 Best Canadian Feature at
TIFF. Shore was so adamant about shooting certain segments of
that feature on film that he bought his own stock and borrowed an
ARRIFLEX 435.
Given the supernatural elements of Boy, the two filmmakers
wanted a natural palate, subdued and restrained.
"We spoke a lot about the films of Hirokazu Koreeda and Edward
Yang," explained Shore. "Connor has an almost encyclopedic
knowledge of Asian cinema. I had tested (KODAK) VISION3 500T
(Color Negative Film 5219) and tended toward the additional texture
I got with the 5219 when it's underexposed by two or three stops. The
image becomes slightly lifted and almost creamy, but with a lot of
texture as the inherently tighter grain structure of the VISION3 stock
starts to degrade a bit."
They used a set of Ultra Speeds and a Panaflex Millennium XL from
Panavision Toronto. They shot entirely on (KODAK VISION3) 5219 with
an ND 6 filter in front of the camera the whole time, but metered as if
Shore was rating the film at 500. "It was a bit nerve-wracking sometimes
when the light levels were already so low that they'd barely register on
the meter," he said. "But understanding the latitude of the stock with
prior testing, I knew it would result in the looks we were going for."
Both Jessup and Shore lauded the workflow on set, where spending
time to rehearse, finesse, refine, and discuss shots even before rolling
was par for the course. "Film's a living medium," offered Jessup. "You
can feel film going through the camera. It's something with texture and
breath that has a heartbeat to it."
KODAK INCAMERA

"You can feel film going through
the camera. It's something with
texture and breath that has a
heartbeat to it."
"It felt like true filmmaking again, where we trusted and respected
the process," added Shore. "Because a lot of the scenes play out
as static singles or with just a few shots, we really took the time to
scrutinize every frame and make sure it was exactly to taste."
Jessup adds that he feels there's a difference in the richness in film
compared to digital that is key to storytelling. "I was kind of raised a
purist. All the movies that I love and I grew up on, that have changed
me and are a part of me, were shot on film."

Photos: Top and Bottom: Kyle Hentschel as Daniel in Boy.
Center: Director Connor Jessup, left, checks a shot. Photos by
Calvin Thomas
American Cinematographer - January 2016

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