American Cinematographer - June 2014 - 37
on set nervous and anxious, I would
just relax as soon as I saw him. He
never lets the pressure get to him, and
he's always looking for a solution that's
better than the one we had coming in
on the day.
"I was struggling with finding
the right approach to shooting this
picture," continues the director. "As a
kid, I always imagined directing a film
in the style of someone like Steven
Spielberg - locked-off shots and
precise dolly moves. But I shot
Monsters entirely handheld in a documentary style simply because the
budget mandated it, and although it
was not how I ever imagined making a
film, I found I really liked it. So, as we
developed Godzilla, I had this conflict.
By the time Seamus came onboard, we
had done quite a bit of previsualization
[at The Third Floor] on a number of
visual-effects sequences, and it was all
done in a more considered visual style
- little push-ins and swooping crane
shots. My dilemma was, do I stay with
this controlled, stable-camera look, or
do I go handheld and more chaotic?
Seamus simply said, 'Do both. That's
the whole point. Everything is about
contrast. You need to be controlled [in
order] to then become chaotic and
seem more realistic.' It was a simple
Top: Godzilla makes a nighttime appearance in San Francisco's Chinatown, a setting partially
re-created on location in Vancouver. While the marauding saurian is established to be 350' tall, the
filmmakers played with his size to create the best look for specific shots.
solution, but his confidence gave me
the freedom to make that choice."
McGarvey recalls, "There were
times when chaos reigned and we went
handheld, but there were times when it
could seem forced. Gareth is so gentle
with the actors and gets such strong
performances that sometimes just
holding on them with a longer lens
www.theasc.com
and a slow dolly move fit the performance much better than a more kinetic
approach.
"These kinds of visual-effects
films can sometimes become a scattergun of imagery simply created for its
own sake, without real context or
meaning in connection with the characters or the drama," continues the
June 2014
37
http://www.theasc.com
American Cinematographer - June 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2014
Contents
1
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - 1
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - 1
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - 2
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - Contents
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - 4
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - 5
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - 6
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - 7
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American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S1
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S2
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S3
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S4
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S5
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S6
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S7
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S8
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S9
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S10
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S11
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - S12
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American Cinematographer - June 2014 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - June 2014 - Cover4
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