American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 20
Justine and her sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), share a rare moment of levity before Earth’s impending doom sends Claire spiraling into despair.
“Justine,” named after Dunst’s troubled character, depicts her disastrous wedding reception at sister Claire’s palatial estate; “Claire” charts the emotional disintegration of Gainsbourg’s character in the face of Melancholia’s approach, even as Justine reaches a state of repose. As in Antichrist, preceding the body of the film is an “overture,” in which the themes and motifs running through the movie are prefigured in a series of static and highly stylized images — for example, Justine attempting to trudge forward in her
20 December 2011
wedding dress with her ankles restrained by yarn, or floating Ophelia-like down a stream while holding her bouquet. Most of these striking compositions were created on the grounds at Sweden’s Tjölohom Castle, where all of the movie’s location work was shot. Aurally underscoring this sequence is the overture to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. (In a statement accompanying the movie’s production notes, von Trier says, “With a state of mind as my starting point, I desired to dive headlong into the abyss of German
American Cinematographer
Romanticism. Wagner in spades.”) This 10-minute segment was shot with the Phantom HD Gold camera at 1,000 fps, yielding a series of painstakingly slowed-down microseconds of movement. “Lars likes the quality that creates,” says Claro, who notes that this overture was precisely imagined by the director and storyboarded accordingly. The layering of shots was a complex process in both production and post. “In some of the landscapes, you have the sky from one direction and the golf course from three different views,” says Claro, who collaborated closely with visual-effects supervisor Peter Hjorth. “The idea is very much like a painter creating an image from his head that’s composed of a lot of different images. For double shadows [from the sun and Melancholia], we would shoot one plate in the morning and one in the afternoon and combine the two shots.” One shot of the castle with Justine, Claire, and Claire’s little boy frontally lit by the sun, the moon and Melancholia represented layer upon layer of addition and subtraction. Claro recalls, “We had to clean some stuff out so you could see the [castle] more clearly, because there were trees in the way. It was a huge job to simplify it like a painter would.” (Visual effects were created
American Cinematographer - December 2011
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2011
American Cinematographer - December 2011
Contents
Editor’s Note
President's Desk
Short Takes: OK Go’s “Muppet Show Theme Song”
Production Slate: Melancholia • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Stepping into the Shadows
Through a Child’s Eyes
Silent Splendor
It’s Time to Raise the Curtain
Filmmakers’ Forum: David Stump, ASC
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
2011 AC Index
In Memoriam: Andrew Laszlo, ASC
ASC Membership Roster
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Luciano Tovoli, ASC, AIC
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - American Cinematographer - December 2011
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 1
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 2
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Contents
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 4
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 5
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 6
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 7
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 9
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - President's Desk
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 11
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Short Takes: OK Go’s “Muppet Show Theme Song”
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 13
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 14
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 15
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 16
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 17
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Production Slate: Melancholia • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 19
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 20
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 21
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 22
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 23
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 24
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 25
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 26
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 27
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 28
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American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 31
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 32
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 33
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 34
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 35
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Stepping into the Shadows
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 37
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 38
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 39
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 40
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 41
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 42
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American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 49
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 50
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 51
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 52
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 53
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Through a Child’s Eyes
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 55
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 56
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 57
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 58
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 59
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American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 63
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American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 65
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 66
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 67
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Silent Splendor
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 69
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 70
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 71
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 72
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American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 75
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 76
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 77
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - It’s Time to Raise the Curtain
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 79
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 80
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 81
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American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 93
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Filmmakers’ Forum: David Stump, ASC
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 95
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 96
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 97
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 98
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 99
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 101
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 102
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 103
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Classified Ads
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 2011 AC Index
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 108
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American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 113
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - In Memoriam: Andrew Laszlo, ASC
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 115
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - ASC Membership Roster
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 117
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - 119
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - ASC Close-Up: Luciano Tovoli, ASC, AIC
American Cinematographer - December 2011 - Cover3
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