American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 51

and 35mm negatives. The Super 16 footage was scanned at 2K, and the “unsqueeze” was done digitally. Schaefer found Buf’s willingness to work with the unusual format was refreshing. “In the past, I’ve encountered resistance from visual-effects companies about shooting Super 16 anamorphic,” he says. “In some instances, I wasn’t able to shoot anamorphic because they said they didn’t have the time or money to achieve the desired quality, because each lens would have to be tracked separately, making it a much more difficult process. With the advent of auto-tracking, I believe that has changed. Still, there were some concerns about shooting Super 16 — some [effects facilities] said it would be too grainy, and that there would be weave. Fortunately, Buf said, ‘No problem,’ and we forged straight ahead.” Once the digital grade was completed, FotoKem took care of the grain management, but Schaefer notes

that this work was not extensive. “In general, we felt the grain was right where it should be on much of the film. The producers agreed from the beginning to use Estar-based Kodak [Vision3 2254] intermediate film, which can be used to make close to 2,000 direct prints. That eliminates three generations in the post path, which is where most of the grain gets introduced.” Schaefer has given a lot of thought to the way grain impacts an audience. “If there’s no grain or no noise in the image, I think it can feel too real to people, and that takes away some of the magic of being in a cinema,” he observes. “On the other hand, if you have a whole lot of grain bobbling all over the place, it can feel like bad latenight TV or extreme documentary stuff shot undercover. For this film, we wanted just enough grain to have a cinematic quality, and to provoke a kind of nostalgia in the viewer. We wanted the image to have a touch of the dirt that

Childers was in. Grain creates a visceral response; it’s difficult to say exactly how it works or what it does. Making those aesthetic choices is what makes the cinematographer’s job so interesting.” ●

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American Cinematographer - October 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 2011