American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 64
Love
and Dystopia
Cinematographer John Guleserian
crafts a subtle cinematic landscape
for director Drake Doremus'
sci-fi romance Equals.
By Matt Mulcahey
*|*
T
he first sparks of attraction between two people can be
stoked by the slightest of nonverbal cues - sometimes
just a glance. But in the future posited by the sci-fi
feature Equals, human emotions have been all but eradicated for society's greater good. Thus, the task of expressing
the burgeoning yearnings of graphic designer Silas (Nicholas
Hoult) and his colleague Nia (Kristen Stewart) fell to cinematographer John Guleserian, with subtle shifts in focus,
color and camera movement replacing furtive looks and secret
smiles.
64
August 2016
Equals marks the fifth feature collaboration between
Guleserian and director Drake Doremus, who were once
classmates at AFI. Each of their projects has featured romance
as a thematic core, though their newest production ventures
into unfamiliar terrain for Doremus, who is not particularly a
fan of sci-fi but was drawn to the genre's potential for
metaphor. "To be totally honest, the genre at times comes
across to me as being very cold, and that's why I wanted to
make a film that was ultimately very warm," the director says.
"To me the allegory is that technology pushes us further away
from each other. This is a film about two people who find love
and have to fight to remember how and why they feel that
way. I think that relates to today's age of dating and how many
choices there constantly are."
Exploring a new genre didn't mean abandoning
Doremus and Guleserian's penchant for low contrast and
slight desaturation. As Equals colorist Aaron Peak notes, that
aesthetic plays perfectly for a movie that expresses its characters' emotions through subtle visual fluctuations. "Once you're
in that low-contrast world and there's no black and no white,
you become hyper-aware of those changes," says Peak.
Changes for Silas begin early in the movie when he
develops a mysterious ailment known as "switched-on
American Cinematographer
American Cinematographer - August 2016
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - August 2016
Contents
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - Intro
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 1
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 2
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - Contents
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 4
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 5
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 6
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 7
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 8
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 9
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 10
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 11
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 12
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 14
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 17
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 18
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 19
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 20
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 21
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 37
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 38
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 40
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 41
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 42
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 45
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 47
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 48
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 49
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 50
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 51
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 53
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 54
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 55
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 56
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 58
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 60
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 62
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 63
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 64
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 65
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 66
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - 67
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American Cinematographer - August 2016 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - August 2016 - Cover4
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