American Cinematographer - April 2008 - 20

Above: Alex’s skateboard becomes a key piece of evidence in the murder investigation. Below: An early beach sequence in the film serves as a good example of the long, unbroken takes that director Gus Van Sant has favored in his recent films. Although cinematographers Christopher Doyle, HKSC and Rain Kathy Li employed a Steadicam for many of these shots, they sometimes mounted the camera on a special rig they dubbed the “Steady Chang.” and a few other crewmembers shot Alex’s diary materials and a few scenes in which Doyle appears as Alex’s uncle, Tommy. “That set an informal tone,” recalls Doyle. “We just tried to ‘learn’ the kids and create the space we wanted them to find. We lit very little and just happened to have a camera around. We just put the camera on the ground and shot whatever; the actors would come in and out of the frame or not.” The cinematographers tried to resist the temptation to look through the viewfinder. “That seemed a reasonable compromise!” laughs Doyle. “Ultimately, we drifted towards a space some might call ‘anti-aesthetic’ and others might call ‘Zen.’ “With Gus, the attitude is, ‘Shoot what we see and don’t change a thing,’” he continues, while admitting that he adjusted a table or two on the sly. “For me, it was a matter of watching to find the space to engage. Technically, it had to be as simple as possible. We mostly used available light, and we exposed and processed the stock [Fuji Eterna 400T 8583] in a consistent way [pulled 1 stop]. I like to think the film made itself.” The film’s “Zen” aesthetic is punctuated by long traveling shots. In one instance, the camera traces Alex’s POV as he hikes through the tall grass to an oceanside bench; in another, it follows him through a shopping mall and then leads him up an escalator in a single take. “It’s about exploring along with the character,” says Li. The cinematographers employed a Steadicam for many such shots, but they also sometimes mounted their Moviecam Compact (and the Cooke S4 32mm lens on which they shot most of the picture) on what they call the “Steady Chang.” Doyle explains, “Chang is the name of the best Thai beer, and it translates into ‘elephant.’ An elliptical metaphor!” Li describes the padded device as similar to a Cinesaddle or PortaBrace; it ties tightly around the chest and the operator can rest his elbows on it. “With it, your whole body supports the camera’s weight,” she notes. “It’s great for women cinematographers and for improvised scenes; it’s steady but allows the flexibility to move with the actors and hold the shot as long as the performance lasts.” Key grip Bruce Lawson rigged another apparatus to accommodate one of Doyle’s “mad ideas”: the camera’s slow creep down a long classroom table as a police detective interviews Alex about the accident. For the shot, the Moviecam was attached via bungee cords to a U-frame that straddled the table. “I was able to ever so slowly push right down the center of the table for the full two minutes of the interrogation, ending at the policeman’s POV of the bynow-concerned boy,” says Doyle. When Alex leaves the interview, he starts down the school’s hallway, picking up speed as he closes in on the slowly backpedaling Steadicam. As Nevins accelerated, Li and Doyle 20 April 2008

American Cinematographer - April 2008

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