American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 56
◗
Divine Purpose
most of the picture. "Lukasz replaced
me perfectly," notes Lenczewski. "He is
a talented, sensitive guy."
Inspired by his family's old photo
albums, Pawlikowski wanted to frame
Ida in 1.33:1, which led him to choose
an Arri Alexa with a 4:3 sensor. (The
monochrome Alexa had not yet been
introduced, so the picture was shot in
color and desaturated in post.) The
filmmakers used Arri/Zeiss Ultra
Prime lenses and captured in ArriRaw
to a Codex recorder. The equipment
was provided by Panavision Poland.
Zal says the main challenge with
the Alexa was to find the right density
for darkness to be "just on the edge" of
visibility "and achieve the proper effect
on set." He adds, "The Alexa performs
great at its maximum latitude and with
high underexposure, when the picture is
almost about to break. It looks less digital that way."
Pawlikowski recounts that he set
out to make an "anti-film," without
using camera moves or conventional
cinematic techniques. "At the root of
Ida was a desire to make a film with
nothing but the essentials," he says.
"Maybe it's my midlife crisis, but I feel
I've been seeing too many similar films
that have little to say, and that use the
same old bag of tricks, where cameramen are hired because of a style they
used on a previous film. There are very
few films where the form has something to do with the content, possibly
because there is often little content."
Ida's form was designed to be as
unadorned as possible. Almost all the
shots are locked off, so the few shots
that feature moves have that much
more impact. There is no traditional
coverage. Zal describes the approach as
creating scenes with "posters" - wide,
static frames that enclose the characters
and convey the story and mood. Some
scenes unfold in single long takes,
whereas others are broken down into
two or three austere shots. When
Wanda tells Ida she is Jewish, there are
just three shots: a lengthy wide shot, a
shot of Ida, and a close-up of a family
photo.
Ida and her aunt,
Wanda (Agata
Kulesza), pause
on their journey
for a moment of
prayer. Part of
the filmmakers'
strategy was to
frame the
characters with
wide, static
compositions
that would
convey the story
and mood.
56
May 2014
American Cinematographer
American Cinematographer - May 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2014
Contents
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 1
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 2
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - Contents
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 4
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 5
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 6
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 7
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 8
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 9
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American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 12
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American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 14
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American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 17
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 18
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American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 20
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 21
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American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 23
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American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 39
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 40
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American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 43
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American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 55
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 56
American Cinematographer - May 2014 - 57
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