American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 63

Photos by Reed Harkness, Scott Spiker and Tristan Oliver. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Laika, Inc., and Focus Features.

few months later, while in Los Angeles to grade the picture at Technicolor Hollywood, he had time to discuss the project in detail. American Cinematographer: On our set visit, Sam and Chris talked about their desire to avoid a visual style that simply ‘presented the animation’ and instead give this movie a liveaction sensibility. Tristan Oliver: That was a big attraction for me. We were always given a fair amount of free reign at Aardman to make things look the way we wanted, but there was always the caveat that you had to see the animation, and that tends to flatten things off because you have to put in more light. We wanted the environments in ParaNorman to look as they would in the real world. For example, day exteriors look lit by a single sun source, and some interiors look lit only with existing light, with some of the frame very dark and some of it overexposed. Most of our visual references were live-action movies, including Atonement [AC Dec. ’07], Pulp Fiction, and the martial-arts movies Hero [AC Sept. ’03], Crouching Tiger [Hidden Dragon; AC Jan. ’01] and House of Flying Daggers [AC Dec. ’04]. For me, another reference was Road to Perdition [AC Aug. ’02], which I absolutely love as a

Opposite page: Norman prepares for the daily torment of walking past the other kids to enter school. This page, top: A statue commemorating the Witch of Blithe Hollow towers over Norman and Neal. Bottom: After taking shelter from a pack of zombies, Norman tries to return a wayward ear to its undead owner without attracting attention.

movie, and which is spectacular in the way it braves that dark/light juxtaposition. Several shots use shallow focus to isolate Norman in the frame. That’s unconventional in photographing animation, isn’t it? Oliver: Yes. The temptation with animation is typically to try and keep everything in sharp focus, so I’d never been able to work with very shallow depth-of-field and with longer focalwww.theasc.com

length lenses, and I really wanted to do that. Our inspiration for that was the camerawork in George Washington [2000], which we liked for the intimacy the filmmakers achieved with the kids, and the way they used tilt-shift lenses to isolate them in the frame. But I was adamant that we had to keep it very limited as a look because every TV show and every commercial seems to be shot like that now, with extremely shallow depth-of-field banded up the middle of
September 2012 63


http://www.theasc.com

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
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 52
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 53
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 54
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
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 69
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 70
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 71
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 72
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
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 96
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 97
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 98
American Cinematographer - September 2012 - 99
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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