American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 68

Utopian Dreams
Eric Gautier, AFC seeks an early1970s look for the French drama
Something in the Air.
By Benjamin B
•|•

S

omething in the Air follows Gilles (Clément Métayer), a
French high-school student, as he and his friends explore
ideas about art, revolution and love in the aftermath of the
May 1968 uprising in France. The group’s radical theories
lead them to participate in violent demonstrations, but they
also party and romance one another as their sentimental and
political journeys take them to Provence, Tuscany and
London. Gilles is torn between two lovers, a political organizer and an artistic hippie, and he is eventually drawn away
from revolution and toward filmmaking.
The film marks the fifth feature collaboration between

68

June 2013

director Olivier Assayas and cinematographer Eric Gautier,
AFC. AC recently caught up with Gautier in New York,
where he was shooting a television pilot for director Alfonso
Cuarón.
American Cinematographer: What inspired the look
of the film?
Eric Gautier, AFC: The story’s time frame is 1971-’72.
We didn’t have a big budget, we didn’t have enough to do a
completely faithful reconstitution of the period, so it was
important to get an image texture that would evoke the period
and put us in the present of that period. I was inspired by
American movies of the 1970s, where you really felt the film
stock. Flashing [the negative] was used a lot by Vilmos
Zsigmond [ASC] and others, yielding images that are a little
veiled, not too contrasty and pretty desaturated. I tried to
create that look, which is the opposite of today’s very sharp,
very contrasty digital images. Three years ago, I shot Ang
Lee’s Taking Woodstock, which took place in the same period,
but Ang and I wanted very saturated colors, something pretty
flashy, as if it were left over from the 1960s.
We shot Something in the Air in 3-perf Super 1.85 with

American Cinematographer



American Cinematographer - June 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2013

American Cinematographer - June 2013
Contents
Editor’s Note
President’s Desk
Short Takes: “The Volt Plasma Challenge”
Production Slate: Frances Ha • Spring Breakers
Boldly Captured
Living Large
A Killer with 2 Faces
Utopian Dreams
Filmmakers’ Forum: Edgar Burcksen, ACE
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
ASC Membership Roster
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Shelly Johnson
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - American Cinematographer - June 2013
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Contents
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 2
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 3
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 4
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 5
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 6
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 7
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 8
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 9
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 11
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - President’s Desk
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 13
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Short Takes: “The Volt Plasma Challenge”
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 15
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 16
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 17
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 18
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 19
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Production Slate: Frances Ha • Spring Breakers
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 21
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 22
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 23
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 24
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 25
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 26
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 27
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 28
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 29
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 30
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 31
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 32
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 33
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Boldly Captured
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 35
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 36
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 37
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 38
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 39
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 40
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 41
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 42
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 43
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 44
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 45
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 46
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 47
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Living Large
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 49
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 50
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 51
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 52
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 53
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 54
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 55
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 56
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 57
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 58
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 59
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - A Killer with 2 Faces
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 61
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 62
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 63
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 64
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I1
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I2
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I3
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I4
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I5
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I6
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I7
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I8
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I9
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I10
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I11
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - I12
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 65
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 66
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 67
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Utopian Dreams
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 69
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 70
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 71
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 72
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 73
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 74
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 75
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 76
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 77
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 78
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 79
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 80
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 81
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Filmmakers’ Forum: Edgar Burcksen, ACE
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 83
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 84
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 85
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 87
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 88
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 89
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 90
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 91
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 92
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American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 97
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 98
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 99
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Classified Ads
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 103
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - ASC Membership Roster
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 105
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - 107
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - ASC Close-Up: Shelly Johnson
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - June 2013 - Cover4
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