American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 80g

track along the edge of the pool, and just went for it. I'd look
for places to lose an actor out of shot, and then when we went
again on a longer lens, I'd look for a way to pick them up again
that would work for Joe's cut. It feels like coverage, but no one
ever does the same thing twice!"
Choosing to shoot on ﬁlm for Digging for Fire was twofold
for Richardson. Partly, it's aesthetic. "I don't want to say
'tactile' because that makes it sound like all you care about is
grain," he explains, "but there is a certain visual integrity to
a ﬁlm-derived image that is still lacking for me in most of the
digitally-derived imagery that we see."
The other aspect that Richardson is drawn to is the energy
in the way a ﬁlm shoot operates. "Because there aren't large
monitors all around, everyone's focus remains on the set, in
the moment, and on the performance. And for me, I'm working
from the image in my mind to improve a shot because you're
not getting that instant feedback (that you get with digital)."
Given that they wanted a sense of solidity and conﬁdence
for the visuals in this movie, shooting on ﬁlm wasn't

"Because there aren't
large monitors all around,
everyone's focus remains on
the set, in the moment, and
on the performance."

really a question. From the early days of pre-production,
Swanberg and Richardson knew they were going to have
to ﬁgure out how to make it work on what was a very small
budget. Between ﬁlm stocks, processing at FotoKem, and
the digital intermediate in Chicago with Nolo Digital Film,
Richardson feels they were able to pull off something that
looks tremendously high budget and high value with minimal
equipment.

version of night than is typical for an independent movie. "To
be honest, we were aiming in the direction of Jurassic Park!"
he notes. He used tungsten units bounced into muslins and
beadboard and created edges with Lee Soft Silver and a little
blue, while pairing the ARRICAM Lite camera with a small
set of Master Primes supplied by ARRI/CSC. "With that
wonderful 500 ﬁlm stock," he adds, "you can work at very low
light levels, and still hold rich, detailed shadows."

Shot in large part at night, another of Richardson's
challenges was lighting a large area with relatively little
equipment, while still aiming for a more stylized, heightened

Photos: Left page: A scene from Digging for Fire. This page: Jake Johnson relaxing in Digging
for Fire. Photos by Ben Richardson/Courtesy of The Orchard.

American Cinematographer - June 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2015

Contents
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 1
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 2
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - Contents
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 4
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 5
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 6
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 7
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 8
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 9
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 10
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 11
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 12
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 13
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 14
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 15
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American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 17
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 18
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 19
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 20
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 21
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 22
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 23
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 24
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 25
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 26
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 27
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 28
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 29
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 30
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 31
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 32
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 33
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 34
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 35
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 36
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 37
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 38
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 39
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 40
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 41
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 42
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 43
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 44
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 45
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 46
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 47
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 48
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 49
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 50
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 51
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 52
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 53
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 54
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 55
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 56
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 57
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 58
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 59
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 60
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 61
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 62
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 63
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 64
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 65
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 66
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 67
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 68
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American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 70
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 71
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 72
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 73
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 74
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 75
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 76
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 77
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 78
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 79
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 80
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 80a
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 80b
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 80c
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 80d
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 80e
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 80f
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 80g
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 80h
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 81
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 82
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 83
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 84
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - 85
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American Cinematographer - June 2015 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - June 2015 - Cover4
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