American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 35

Photos by Zade Rosenthal, SMPSP, courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

or Star Trek Into Darkness, director
J.J. Abrams and cinematographer
Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC initially
planned to shoot digitally in 3-D,
but in the end, their shared affection for
the anamorphic format and their desire
to maintain visual consistency with
2009’s Star Trek (AC June ’09) led them
to choose film instead. Mindel likens
their decision to a confrontation
between the Enterprise crew and an
intergalactic threat, recalling that it
sparked “an epic battle.”
“I was never too keen to shoot in
3-D,” says Abrams, “but the studio
[Paramount] wanted to do it that way.”
However, some stereoscopic-conversion
tests conducted on clips from 2009’s
Trek convinced him that it was possible
to shoot in 2-D and create high-quality
3-D in post, and Mindel lobbied hard
to emphasize the anamorphic visual
style and the lens flares that distinguished the look of the first movie. The
cinematographer recalls, “All along, I
was suggesting to J.J. that we shoot 3-D
only at certain points in the film, and
then create the rest of the 3-D in post.
That would allow us to use all the
anamorphic lenses we love and be less
constrained during production. A
conversation sprang from that, and
when we were able to look at all the
options and tests, we decided not to
shoot in native stereo.”
Abrams also became interested in
adding large-format material to the mix.
“Once J.J. decided he might want to do
that, I contacted Wally Pfister [ASC] to
discuss his experiences shooting Imax
[on The Dark Knight and The Dark
Knight Rises] for Christopher Nolan,”
says Mindel. “Then, Pfister and Nolan
started lobbying J.J. to shoot film, which
gave me some allies. In the end, J.J.
agreed we should use anamorphic
combined with Imax. So, we set off
down a road that involved 15-perf and
8-perf 65mm and anamorphic 35mm,
which allowed us to create a gorgeous
movie.” (Some inserts and aerial plates
were captured digitally with Red Digital
Cinema cameras.)

Opposite: Capt.
James T. Kirk (Chris
Pine) faces off
against John
Harrison (Benedict
Cumberbatch) in a
scene from Star Trek
Into Darkness, shot
by Dan Mindel, ASC,
BSC and directed by
J.J. Abrams. Above:
Nyota Uhura (Zoe
Saldana) helps Spock
(Zachary Quinto)
adjust his heat suit.
Left: Mindel
considers a shot.

The basic breakdown involved
shooting 35mm for all interior scenes
and 65mm for exteriors. Abrams
mandated long sequences in each
format because he didn’t want the transitions to be distracting. “As the information changes, the mind goes with it
if [the approach] is consistent,” he
observes. “I think most people won’t be
aware of the format changes.”
According to A-camera 1st AC
Serge Nofield, one of the challenges of
moving between the two formats was
working in the different aspect ratios.
“In an effort to bridge that difference,
we didn’t use the entire [1.43:1] Imax
negative — we masked it to achieve a
ratio of 1.66:1,” he says. “When viewed
in an Imax theater, the movie will shift
from 2.40:1 to 1.66:1.”
When Mindel spoke to AC, he
was shooting another blockbuster
sequel on film, the latest Spider-Man,
www.theasc.com

but he recognizes that film acquisition
may not be an option on such productions for much longer. Still, he is
convinced that anamorphic film images
suit the Star Trek franchise best. “The
shape of the Enterprise is perfectly
captured in the anamorphic frame, and
so is the geography of the ship’s bridge,”
he states. “For this film, we did a bit of
a makeover on the ship [by making it
bigger], but we’ve kept the essential
symmetry and feeling of it.”
Abrams is equally pleased that he
was able to shoot Into Darkness on film
and convert to 3-D. “I think film has
the greatest look and the greatest resolution,” he says. “The studio wanted a
3-D movie, and [shooting film] became
an easier decision once we realized we
could deliver that with a quality conversion. We were lucky to work with stereographer Corey Turner, who did
incredible work that adds to the thrillJune 2013

http://www.theasc.com

American Cinematographer - June 2013

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