American Cinematographer - December 2013 - 14

Short Takes

Bland Assassin
By Iain Blair

When director Daniel Jewel came up with the idea for the
13-minute short film Drone, a dialogue-free movie that presents
an unsettling look at the daily life of a military drone operator
(played by Ewen Bremner), he wanted to pay tribute to the silent
films he has long admired. He reports that such classics as Chaplin's City Lights, D.W Griffith's Intolerance and Abel Gance's
Napoleon had "a big impact" on him while he was growing up in
England.
He teamed with cinematographer James Watson, a
frequent collaborator, to make the short. "Over the last few years,
James and I have worked together on a variety of commercial
projects as well as a documentary short [The Gardening Club], so
we've built up a great working relationship and shorthand," says
Jewel. "James has a great ability to discern the essence of a
project and find the best way to tell that story visually. He's also
very meticulous in his preparation and working methods, whereas
I can be quite run-and-gun; I think the creative tension that comes
from these different ways of working translates well to the
screen."
Drone was shot in three days, and the primary location was
an office complex just outside London. This served as the drone
operators' anonymous-looking workplace. Surrounded by trees,
the location "offered a great balance in that it feels like a modern
office park, while all around it is nature," says Jewel. "Also, the
site had a real feeling of isolation, as if it could be a secret government building."
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December 2013

Watson shot Drone for a final aspect ratio of 2.40:1 using
an Arri Alexa Plus and Cooke S4 prime lenses provided by On
Sight in London. He captured in ProRes 4:4:4:4 to SxS cards. "We
had a choice between S4s or Zeiss Ultra Primes, and I had heard
and read great things about the Cookes and was really open to
using them - I don't have a favorite glass yet," says the cinematographer. "They proved to be great lenses, and I'm very
happy with the results they gave us." As for the Alexa, he adds,
"it's simply the best digital camera. That, together with its easeof-use and workflow, made it a no-brainer."
Because the movie has no dialogue, the filmmakers placed
particular emphasis on camera placement and moves. "Everything centered around Ewen at his desk, so I had to work out how
we could shoot that in an interesting way without being repetitive, and also without just using every angle possible," says
Watson. "Daniel and I liked the idea of starting wide and then
getting tighter as the drone operation reaches its finale. [Production designer] Kristian Milsted sent me his Google Sketchup
designs of the set, and I used the camera-view tool in [that
program] to make a storyboard. That was a great tool for prep; I
could put the camera anywhere in the set to see what worked,
and I could play with camera moves and framing."
One of the notable moves Watson devised using Sketchup
is a slow push in when the drone operator first sits down at his
desk, waiting for his mission to start. "It's a 20-foot dolly move
that goes through the other empty cubicles and finishes on Ewen
at his desk," says Jewel. "It isolates him from the room and the
rest of the world, which I think emphasizes his lonely, removed
occupation."
➣

American Cinematographer

Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Third Man Films.

A military
drone operator
(Ewen
Bremner)
heads to his
office in this
frame from the
short film
Drone.

American Cinematographer - December 2013

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