American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 12

Short Takes

Guests arrive for a birthday party that proves to have a sinister twist in 8, an award-winning Spanish short shot by Ignacio Aguilar and directed by Raúl Cerezo.

I

Shooting 8 By Ignacio Aguilar

The fantasy/horror short 8 is about a boy (played by Sergio Castellanos) whose extended family comes to his home to give him a special present on his eighth birthday. In order to get the present, the boy has to fulfill his family’s rather creepy wishes, which leads to an unexpected climax. When writer/director Raúl Cerezo first approached me about the project, he said he envisioned it with little or no dialogue, and he wanted to create the impression of a classic Walt Disney short, or a feature such as Fantasia, by using images and music to tell the story. To find our visual style and help put ourselves in the proper mood to create a fantasy/horror movie, we looked at films like Rosemary’s Baby (shot by William A. Fraker, ASC, to whom our short is dedicated), The Shining (shot by John Alcott, BSC), Halloween (1978, shot by Dean Cundey, ASC) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (shot by Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC). We also found inspiration in the wide-angle anamorphic compositions of The Andromeda Strain (shot by Richard H. Kline, ASC), the underexposed interiors of The Godfather Part II (shot by Gordon Willis, ASC) and the low-key naturalism of Being There (shot by Caleb Deschanel, ASC). Given our admiration for these 1970s classics, my initial thought was to shoot on film, but unfortunately, we couldn’t afford the cost of shooting 35mm. After considering Super 16mm, Raúl opted instead to shoot digitally with the Red One camera (with its original Mysterium sensor, as the MX wasn’t yet available). We knew we wanted to shoot in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio, and as we began to
12 September 2012

research lenses, we considered shooting anamorphic with a set of Zeiss Ultrascope lenses. Because the short takes place at night, though, we knew we wouldn’t be able to light to the deeper stops the Ultrascopes demanded, so we chose instead to use a set of Zeiss Standard Primes (16, 24, 32, 50 and 85mm, all T2.1) for all of our interior work, and Zeiss Superspeeds (18, 25, 35, 50 and 85mm, all T1.3) for exteriors. We recorded our .r3d 4K raw files to both Red’s hard-disk drives and cards, depending on the situation. Raúl worked closely with storyboard artist Alain Martínez to carefully plan each of 8’s 90-plus camera setups, including the angles and movements. Our idea was to use wide-angle lenses with classical compositions that included a number of elements in each frame, and to move the camera, when possible, on a dolly. In our meetings with costume designer Esther Sánchez and production designer Beatriz Moreno Almendros, Raúl and I asked them for pastel tones, without any saturated colors. I also asked the production designer for as many practical light sources as she could provide. I was after a low-key approach, with lots of underexposure in each frame, but I always wanted to maintain an overexposed edge to avoid mushy images and retain some contrast. To put light closer to the actors when it was needed, I selected tungsten-balanced Kino Flos for their compact size and inherent softness. In order to get the right atmosphere for our interiors, we decided to smoke all of the sets. Additionally, I wanted to use some mild diffusion filters to create halos around light sources and soften the image a bit more; I ended up using Black Pro-Mists, primarily ¼ density for interior work and 1⁄8 for exteriors (plus ½ for a couple of shots). Despite shooting digitally, we wanted 8 to look as though we

American Cinematographer

Photos by Javier González Manso. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of the filmmakers.



American Cinematographer - September 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - September 2012

American Cinematographer - September 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note
President’s Desk
Short Takes: 8
Production Slate: Side by Side • World Without End
Natural Bourne Killer
Around the World in 65mm
Hair-Raising Heroics
Optimizing Digital-Camera Workflows
Post Focus: Eldorado
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
ASC Membership Roster
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: John Newby
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - American Cinematographer - September 2012
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 1
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 2
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Contents
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 4
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 5
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 6
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 7
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 9
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - President’s Desk
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 11
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Short Takes: 8
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 13
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 14
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 15
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 16
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 17
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Production Slate: Side by Side • World Without End
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 19
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 20
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 21
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 22
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 23
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 24
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 25
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 26
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 27
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 28
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 29
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 30
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 31
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Natural Bourne Killer
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 33
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 34
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 35
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 36
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 37
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 38
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 39
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 40
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 41
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 42
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 43
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 44
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 45
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Around the World in 65mm
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 47
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48A
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48B
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48C
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48D
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48E
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48F
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48G
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48H
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48I
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48J
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48K
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 48L
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 49
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 50
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 51
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American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 55
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 56
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 57
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 58
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 59
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 60
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 61
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Hair-Raising Heroics
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 63
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 64
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 65
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 66
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 67
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 68
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American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 73
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 74
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 75
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 76
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 77
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Optimizing Digital-Camera Workflows
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 79
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 80
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 81
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 82
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 83
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 84
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 85
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 86
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 87
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Post Focus: Eldorado
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 89
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 90
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 91
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 92
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 93
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 95
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American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 100
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 101
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 102
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 103
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 106
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 107
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - ASC Membership Roster
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 109
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 111
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - ASC Close-Up: John Newby
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - Cover4
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