American Cinematographer - February 2013 - 56

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Crumbling Pillars

A carriage ride that begins in the evening and lasts through the next morning marks a pivotal moment
in Christopher and Valentine’s relationship. In the top photo, the actors prepare to shoot the beginning
of the scene in a studio in Brussels.

with the majority of the shoot taking
place at locations in England and
Belgium. Neither Eley nor his gaffer,
Paul Murphy, had worked with the
Alexa before, and with about 150
different sets to squeeze into a tight
schedule, they had very few pre-light
days. “Our producer, Selwyn Roberts,
gave us four full days of camera tests at
the start of prep,” Murphy recalls. “On
a stage, we played with smoke effects,
56

February 2013

practical bulbs and various types of
candles supplemented with minimal
lighting, exploring what the Alexa
could do. It was double the time we
might normally have [to test], which
was really beneficial; we knew the
extremities we could go to before we
went out to shoot properly.”
Eley decided to hand over
camera-operating duties to Ian Adrian
so he could give his full attention to
American Cinematographer

the lighting and spend time at the
monitor with White. “It was an interesting experience to be at the monitor
through the shoot and see something
that pretty much represented the final
image,” says Eley. “Prior to shooting, I
worked with our colorist, Peter
Bernaers, to establish about six different look-up tables, which I had on an
SD card. I ended up using just two,
and, like all LUTs, they were just a
working model, but it was good for us
to see them on the monitor and have
something to stay true to.”
“It is extraordinary to see that
level of precision in what you’re
getting, and I completely loved it,”
says White. “The images had so much
more latitude than I expected. I had
been nervous about whether it would
hold the skies, which were very important to me. Having the monitor
certainly eased communication,
although we couldn’t spend a huge
amount of time looking at it — we
had to shoot five hours in 15 weeks at
multiple locations!”
For the early section of the story,
portraying the dying days of the
Edwardian era, the filmmakers agreed
on a saturated look inspired by PreRaphaelite art. White recalls, “I talked
with our production designer, Martin
Childs, about achieving a general feeling of richness for this privileged
world, with crystal and gilt and a
jewel-like palette of blues and greens.
Later, we see things blown apart by
the war, and those jewel colors give
way to the mud of the trenches.”
Color was important throughout the narrative, which spans a
decade. It was central to a pivotal
scene, frequently revisited through
flashbacks, in which Christopher and
Valentine realize they are in love
during an all-night journey down
country lanes by horse and cart.
Starting in total darkness, the scene
progresses to pre-dawn and dawn,
with the characters increasingly
engulfed by a silvery mist that rises
until they can barely see each other.
“That scene was a huge opportunity to

American Cinematographer - February 2013

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