American Cinematographer - February 2021 - 34

CHILLING FUTURE

Tech Specs:

2.11:1
Digital Capture
Cameras: Arri Alexa 65, Alexa Mini LF
Lenses: Arri Prime DNA, DNA LF

" Between Martin and the visual-effects
team, " Clooney says, " we made an elegant
and beautiful film. "
gobo. We also made 20' 'bogeys' on wheels with Grid Cloth and SkyPanels and used them to create edge light and/or fill depending where the
actors were placed along the hull. "

A believable on-stage Arctic sky was created by surrounding the
set with an enormous rear-projection screen.

Big Changes
The crew shifted to La Palma, Spain, which is part of the Canary Islands,
for flashbacks in Lofthouse's life and the surface of K-23. " We changed
the colors and rebuilt the vegetation, but we still needed the topography
to make it work, " says Clooney. " La Palma had all that as well as a nicer
climate than England in February. We needed it to be warm and beautiful. [Real] locations make all the difference in the world. "
The restrictions mandated by the Covid-19 pandemic meant the
filmmakers had to complete postproduction in quarantine conditions.
Clooney and Ruhe worked remotely with editor Stephen Mirrione. " I
was supposed to remain involved in reviewing visual effects throughout post, but the situation prevented much of that, " Ruhe says. Through
Zoom and Streambox, he adds, " I was able to look at visual effects in
London a few times and stay in the loop. "
Due to travel restrictions, the final color grade was also completed
remotely. " I was at Company 3 in London, and [ASC associate] Stefan
Sonnenfeld was at Company 3 in Los Angeles, " the cinematographer
says. " George reviewed shots in L.A. as well. We'd talk and work our way
through. It was not ideal, but amazingly, it all worked out. "
Regardless of unexpected circumstances, Clooney speaks highly of
the collaboration. The final look was " everything I could have hoped
for and more, " he says. " Between Martin and the visual-effects team, we
made an elegant and beautiful film. A lot of this movie has no dialogue
at all, so the cinematography, score and visual effects have to walk us
home. I'm thrilled with the final product. "
Looking Forward
" I love this film because it gets the right emotions across, " Ruhe says.
" It's a pity more people won't be able to see it on a big screen because it
looks fantastic, and seeing it that way is so much more immersive. "
He adds, " I believe we'll all go back to shooting movies on location
once the health situation improves. I learn so much from every international crew I get to work with. It's a tremendous gift, and I hope we'll get
back to a place where we can work normally again. "
With its themes of human endurance and global catastrophe, the
added dimension of premiering The Midnight Sky on Netflix instead of in
theaters, due to a worldwide pandemic, was not lost on Clooney. " When
I was growing up, we lived under the constant threat of a nuclear exchange between the Soviet Union and the United States, " he says. " We've
long had the understanding that if we ignore science or we ignore doctors, terrible things can happen. We live on a fragile planet, and we need
to do a better job of taking care of it. "

34 / FEBRUARY 2021

American Cinematographer - February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 2021