American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 45

Unit photography by Gregory E. Peters. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Universal Pictures.

I

n June 2005, a four-man detachment
from Navy SEAL Team 10 was
dropped near a village in a mountainous region of Afghanistan to surveil
and ultimately capture or kill a "high
value" Taliban target. Local goat herders
stumbled onto the soldiers' position
and compromised the mission. The
Americans determined the goat herders
to be civilians and, per the rules of
engagement at the time, released them.
As the team attempted to pull out, the
mountains were soon overrun with
Taliban fighters. Outmanned and
outgunned, the SEALs fought a long,
hard battle, but only one of them,
Marcus Luttrell, survived.
Director Peter Berg optioned the
book Luttrell wrote, Lone Survivor, and
making the feature became his passion
project over the next few years. He
brought on a frequent collaborator, cinematographer Tobias Schliessler, ASC,
with whom he'd also made The
Rundown, Friday Night Lights, Hancock
(AC July '08) and Battleship. AC caught
up with Schliessler while he was in
Miami prepping the pilot for another
Berg project, the sports comedy Ballers.
"Pete said he didn't want the
camera to be obvious in Lone Survivor,"
Schliessler recalls. "He wanted it to
be as smooth as possible and not
stylized - handheld, but smooth
handheld." In the collection of visual
examples Schliessler assembled for the

Opposite: Navy SEALs
Matt "Axe" Axelson (Ben
Foster, left), Danny Dietz
(Emile Hirsch, middle) and
Marcus Luttrell (Mark
Wahlberg) flee from
gunfire in a scene from
Lone Survivor. This page,
top: Dietz races Mike
Murphy (Taylor Kitsch)
during a morning run
around the base. Middle:
Newcomer Shane Patton
(Alexander Ludwig)
dances for his fellow
SEALs as part of his
initiation. Bottom:
Cinematographer Tobias
Schliessler, ASC on
location.

www.theasc.com

March 2014

45



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American Cinematographer - March 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - March 2014

Table of Contents
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 1
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 2
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - Table of Contents
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 4
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 5
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 6
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 7
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 8
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 9
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American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 31
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American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 33
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 34
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 35
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 36
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 37
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 38
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 39
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 40
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 41
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 42
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 43
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 44
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 45
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 46
American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 47
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American Cinematographer - March 2014 - 50
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