American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 93

Where the light works?
Fontaine: Yes. You don't talk
about it, but actors like Natalie understand completely, intuitively. It's a
mutual entente that is pretty surprising.
What was your lighting
approach for the White House scenes?
Fontaine: I try to create lighting
in which the characters feel right, or
where it makes sense for them to move
in. If you put Jackie's story in context,
she lives through an incredibly violent
event - the assassination - and two
hours later she's on the plane with someone taking the place of her husband.
What does she hold on to? At what
moment does she feel safe? I told myself
that the White House should resemble a
cocoon, a place where there is still
gentleness. That's why the White House
shots have abstracted exteriors.
Windows with white light.
Fontaine: Voila - a closed world
that is gentle and warm and protects her,
with an extremely soft light and pastel
colors. I took the softest light and tried
to make it even softer. I wanted to create
a shadowless light, and I succeeded -
but it's curious.
How did you create this shadowless light?
Fontaine: I worked with production designer Jean Rabasse, and we got
the idea to use the ceilings as light
sources, creating a huge light box.
What happens when the ceiling
is in shot?
Fontaine: We tried to make it so
that it's not noticeable, so you won't say,
'The light is coming from the ceiling.'
For example, the light is masked by
chandeliers during the concert. And you
shouldn't notice it, either, when the ceiling light is off.
You don't notice it at all. What's
the ceiling made of?
Fontaine: We used a very thick
cotton material. We lost at least 2 stops
going through it.
What fixtures did you use above
the cotton?
Fontaine: Depending on the
room, I used space lights; Par 64s, which
allowed me to create subtle spots of

Jacqueline Kennedy approaches her husband's casket.

light; and a large number of [DMG
Lumière] SL1 hybrid LED panels. All
the units were controlled on a dimmer
board via DMX, including the practicals. That implies a lengthy prelight, but
a very fast shoot.
What units did you have behind
the White House windows?
Fontaine: For the concert in the
East Room, I had two 10Ks per
window, coming through Full Grid
Cloth. That was a night interior; I used
more 10Ks for the day interiors.
Did you use an eyelight?
Fontaine: I had a little homemade unit I made with LEDs covered
by Full Grid Cloth on the camera. It
allowed me to change the color and
intensity easily. It's handy when you're
shooting 360 degrees in a room.
Is there anything you would like
to add?
Fontaine: I'd like to thank my
crew, and in particular my first AC,
Fabienne Octobre; my AC in the U.S.,
Eric Swanek; my longtime gaffer, Xavier
Cholet; my key grip and dolly grip,
Antonin Gendre; and my colorist, the
great Isabelle Julien. I also want to thank
my brilliant director, Pablo Larraín.
Director Pablo Larraín
Larraín is an up-and-coming
www.theasc.com

director from Chile, whose credits
include No (AC, April '13) and Neruda.
Jackie is his first English-language
feature.
American
Cinematographer:
Jackie is an original mixture of known
historical facts and a fictional interpretation of Jacqueline Kennedy's most
private moments.
Larraín: We've re-created historical shots because that's part of the
collective memory. We wanted to use
that and trigger the memories people
have of those images. If you use the real
facts and respect them, then you get to
be free when you have to work in those
unknown parts, trying to understand
Jackie's sensibility with emotional storytelling. And you get to portray something that feels believable.
Shooting with wide-angle lenses
at short distances gives the film part of
its intimacy. Tell us about your lens
choices.
Larraín: Most of the time we
used the 14mm and the 18mm. We
couldn't be too close with the 14 as it
would create some distortion, but the 18
was perfect - and we could be very,
very close.
The 18mm helps to define the
movie and its space.
➣
January 2017

93


http://www.theasc.com

American Cinematographer - January 2017

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

Contents
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 1
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 2
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - Contents
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 4
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 5
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 6
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 7
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American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 48
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 48a
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 48b
American Cinematographer - January 2017 - 49
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