American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 12

Short Takes
I
Land and Bread Shines on the Festival Circuit By David Heuring Carlos Armella and Isi Sarfati were born within a few months of each other in Mexico City, but they met many years later, when they were both students at the London Film School. Admirers of each other’s work, they became collaborators when Armella asked Sarfati to shoot a short film he had written called Land and Bread (Tierra y pan). The film went on to win the Golden Lion for Best Short at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, and it has since collected a number of prizes, including several for cinematography. The eight-minute film has no dialogue or music, and appears to consist of a very slow zoom out from an extreme close-up of a barking dog to an extremely wide shot; the camera’s position never changes. A mysterious drama involving the dog, a doctor, a bleeding woman and a crying baby plays out before the camera, but most of the action is heard, not seen, as it takes place inside a corrugatedmetal shack. There are seven subtle dissolves throughout the film, and a shocking ending punctuates the tale. “I found the script quite confusing at first,” says Sarfati, “and I didn’t immediately realize the full extent of the artistic and technical challenges it posed. Little by little, I began to see the complications of achieving Carlos’ vision. The film was very clear in his mind, and my job was to understand that and translate it into cinematographic techniques.” There was no time or budget for preproduction testing. However, Sarfati did have photographs of the location — a dry lakebed — and a calculation of the sun’s position and path in relation to the shack, which was built the night before the shoot. The shot begins in full daylight and ends at dusk; natural light was augmented only by two shiny boards. “I knew the story had to be shot correctly exposed and with a natural feel — no overexposed skies or underexposed ground,” says Sarfati. “The cinematography had to be subtle exposure-wise so as not to take your attention away from the story, but aggressive framing-wise in order to create the mood the film required.” He used an Arri 435 Xtreme and an Angenieux Optimo 24290mm zoom lens. (EFD in Mexico City provided all the equipment.) The camera was on a tripod loaded down with sandbags and strapped down to prevent the slightest movement. Sarfati brought a number of zoom controls to the set and quickly realized that none of them was slow enough to cover eight minutes of constant, steady movement. To compensate, script supervisor Leny Iñiguez counted time while Sarfati manually operated the zoom control at varying speeds. “It was moving so slowly that I had to watch the edge of the frame or track a rock to be sure it was moving,” recalls the cinematographer. “We had about 45 seconds for each segment. At the beginning and end of each

Land and Bread’s eight-minute narrative, which plays out as a slow, seemingly continuous pullback move, actually required cinematographer Isi Sarfati to deftly combine a series of zoom shots that he operated manually.

12

June 2010

American Cinematographer

Frame grabs and photo courtesy of the filmmakers.



American Cinematographer - June 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2010

The International Journal of Motion Imaging - June 2010 Vol. 91 No. 6
Features
Slings and Arrows (Robin Hood)
Desert Storm (Prince of Persia)
Very French Revenge (Micmacs)
Painting Towns White (The White Stripes)
Departments
Editor’s Note
President’s Desk
Short Takes: Land and Bread
Production Slate: Winter’s Bone • Harry Brown
Post Focus: Enhancing Frozen
Tricks of the Trade: Using Red’s False Color
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads/Ad Index
ASC Membership Roster
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: John Schwartzman
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - The International Journal of Motion Imaging - June 2010 Vol. 91 No. 6
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 2
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 3
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 4
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 5
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 6
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 7
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 9
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - President’s Desk
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 11
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Short Takes: Land and Bread
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 13
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 14
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 15
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Production Slate: Winter’s Bone • Harry Brown
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 17
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 18
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 19
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 20
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 21
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 22
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 23
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 24
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 25
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 26
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 27
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 28
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 29
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Slings and Arrows (Robin Hood)
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 31
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 32
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 33
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 34
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 35
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 36
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 37
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 38
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 39
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 40
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 41
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Desert Storm (Prince of Persia)
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 43
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 44
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 45
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 46
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 47
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 48
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 49
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 50
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 51
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Very French Revenge (Micmacs)
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 53
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 54
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 55
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 56
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 57
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 58
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 59
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 60
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 61
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 62
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 63
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Painting Towns White (The White Stripes)
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 65
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 66
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 67
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 68
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 69
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 70
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 71
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Post Focus: Enhancing Frozen
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 73
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 74
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 75
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 76
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 77
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Tricks of the Trade: Using Red’s False Color
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 79
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 81
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 82
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 83
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 84
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 85
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 86
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 87
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 88
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 89
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 90
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 91
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 93
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Classified Ads/Ad Index
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 95
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - ASC Membership Roster
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 97
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - 99
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - ASC Close-Up: John Schwartzman
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - June 2010 - Cover4
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