American Cinematographer - May 2018 - 28

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Don't Speak

Above: Christensen, Krasinski and crew
consider a setup with Blunt in the
basement of the family's farmhouse.
Left: Regan steps quietly.

film and released in 2.39:1. Anamorphic
lenses captured the scale and beauty of
daytime exteriors for the film - which
was shot almost entirely on practical
locations in New York State's bucolic
Dutchess County - as well as larger
interior spaces, such as the barn that
serves as the family's living quarters.
Spherical lenses were employed primarily for night exteriors, as well as some
28

May 2018

night interiors "when we needed the
physical closeness," Christensen says.
"Anamorphic became our kind of
ordinary, everyday look for scenes of the
family eating meals and [going about
their daily tasks]," she continues. "We
used the 65mm C Series lens [with 15inch minimum focus] a lot when we
needed to get close on anamorphic." But
there was another look that was reserved
for Regan in certain instances when "we
needed to move into Regan's mind and
'hear' her own silence." To set her apart at
these moments, Christensen - who
operated A camera and handled the
special shots of the girl - switched to a
spherical 55mm lens and moved in tight
on her. "We shot handheld for other
scenes, but we wanted a specific handheld closeness for Regan, as if we are
going inside her head." First AC Stanley
Fernandez Jr. reports that this lens was a
55mm Super Speed (T1.1) with a close
focus of 2'. "It's a Panavision lens housing
with Zeiss glass in it," he says.
According to Krasinski, Regan's
POV plays an important role in the story.
To further convey her sense of separation, the audio track changes. "Sound
American Cinematographer

doesn't go out completely," the director
says, "but we bring the audience into her
head so you are hearing the world that
she hears." Diopters came into play for
insert shots of her hearing aid.
Krasinski, who spoke to AC by
phone from Austin, where the film had
premiered the previous evening, credits
Christensen not only with the idea of
shooting on film, but also for suggesting
the mix of spherical and anamorphic
lenses. "Charlotte and I talked about [the
format] at great length," he remarks.
"She asked me what I wanted most out
of the film, and I said, 'to have a timeless
quality, a sort of nostalgic quality that
will take audiences back to a [particular
kind of film].'" His cinematic references
were indicative of the kind of movie he
had in mind.
A key reference was Jaws (AC
March '75). Christensen explains, "In
part, it was the way the story was built -
not showing the giant shark until the
end of the movie. You only see flashes of
him earlier. But it was also Jaws' mix and
balance between the real world and a
very genre movie. The Swedish film Let
the Right One In (AC Dec. '08) was
another reference - again, you set up a
realistic, truthful environment but within
that you have a vampire movie."
Other cinematic references were
No Country for Old Men (AC Oct. '07)
and There Will Be Blood (AC Jan. '08).
Krasinski remarks, "The storytelling
narrative I wanted had a kind of Western
quality to it. It had to do with the
outdoors and wide shots, which play so
well in both of those pictures. It was
Charlotte who pointed out that most of
the films I was talking about had been
shot on film."
Christensen thought the medium
was a good fit for A Quiet Place, giving it
the old-fashioned cinematic look
Krasinski envisioned - but it was a big
decision because the story called for a
fair number of visual effects. "We asked
Industrial Light & Magic visual-effects
supervisor Scott Farrar [ASC] whether
he anticipated any problems, and he said
'no,'" Christensen notes. "I learned so
much from Scott about shooting crea-



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2018

Contents
American Cinematographer - May 2018 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - May 2018 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - May 2018 - 1
American Cinematographer - May 2018 - 2
American Cinematographer - May 2018 - Contents
American Cinematographer - May 2018 - 4
American Cinematographer - May 2018 - 5
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