American Cinematographer - May 2017 - 32

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Not Quite Human
With her brain as
the only remnant
of her human
existence, the
Major is haunted
by memories of
her previous life.
The character, Hall
notes, "exists
between two
worlds. She's part
machine and part
human. The
narrative is driven
by her seeking
her place within
that."

vertical city. In testing, it felt like we
were getting a more impactful image in
1.85. It felt very strong and lent itself to
what I wanted to achieve compositionally. Ultimately, on this production it
made the difference between an affordable format and an unaffordable format."
"Across two units we had five
Alexa 65s [fitted with modified
Panavision Sphero 65 lenses], and two
[Codex] Vault 65s for downloading,"
notes digital-imaging technician
Michael Urban. "We also had two Alexa
Minis shooting ArriRaw Open Gate,
which were used as crash cameras or for
tight spaces that were too small for the
Alexa 65. The Minis used the modified
Panavision Sphero 65s as well. We also
had a [Vision Research] Phantom Flex
32

May 2017

4K, which used Leica Summilux-C
[lenses] for the 1.4 T-stop."
The main-unit operators were
Peter McCaffrey on A camera and
Patrick Loungway on B. (Loungway
also served as 2nd-unit director of
photography.) For second unit,
Cameron McLean and Richard Bluck
served as A- and B-camera operators,
respectively.
The large format and rich image
were in tune with the filmmakers' plan
for longer, more classical shots. "The
danger with a very sharp image is that
you begin to see things you might not
want to see," Hall notes. "That's where
the right lensing helps."
Hall and ASC associate Dan
Sasaki - Panavision's vice president of
American Cinematographer

optical engineering and lens strategy -
developed the set of modified Panavision
Sphero 65s, which delivered a classic,
slightly softer look, with T-stops of
mostly T2 and under. Hall owns a set of
restored vintage Cooke Speed Panchros,
the characteristics of which he liked for
this project, but those lenses can't cover
the larger image diagonal of the 65
sensor. Sasaki therefore translated some
of their traits to the Spheros. The cinematographer was looking for a certain
patina and texture reminiscent of watercolor painting.
"In the anime, there's a certain
painterly quality, as well as a subtle
bloom or halation around highlights,"
Hall says. "The compositions are so
beautiful, and they tend to flatten the
perspective, but they often employ a
wide-angle lens, thus creating layers of
depth in the background. I needed very
high-speed and high-performance
lenses because we planned to shoot in
Hong Kong and maximize on the
potential of available lighting. The
correct perspective - flatter and wideangle, with a wide field of view but without distortion - was important. Color
consistency across the range was also
critical to me, and this is something that
is difficult to achieve with vintage glass.
"Selecting the Alexa 65 wasn't just
about resolution, color and speed - it

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2017