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I learnt through shooting documentaries and from watching films. I would suggest watching the masters of camera blocking: Melville, Tarkovsky, Bresson, Goddard, Huston, Wilder, Kirosawa ….. Study a film, a good example would be Army of Shadows, and try to understand why Melville moves the camera in one scene and shoots with a locked off camera for another. When and why he crosses the line. Why he uses a long series of seemingly simple shots to build up an event or simply cuts from one event to another with no connecting tissue. Why he holds a shot for an extended length of time or uses a rapid montage – etc.
I will always get a visual in my head when I read a script, just as if I were reading a novel or a history book. The trick is not to lock onto one perspective and to understand where the director is coming form before you settle on anything. That said, there are a number of images that came to my mind at first reading of a script that appear in films I have worked on. The look of that scene in Jarhead being an example. But every image is the result of a long process of discussion and collaboration. Even an image ‘found on the day’ can only be ‘found’ when everyone is in sync as to what the aim of the story, the scene or the shot is.
I have never been attracted to a film because of its visual opportunities. I love stories rather than pictures for their own sake.
Yes, when dealing with front light it is crucial top consider what fall-off you are looking for. Do you want the background to fall into shadow or for teh shot to be evenly lit from front to back?
That was a location that had to be lit as we shot all the scenes in one day. Naturally, the daylight would not have been sufficient for nor would it have been reliable. I remember we used a line of 12K HMIs on one side but I’m not sure what the overhead source was. I suspect we used a lighting balloon. I have rarely used balloons but I think I did in this church as there was no possibility of rigging inside or accessing the roof.
This scene in Sicario was shot on location and I wanted to maintain the sense of the outside, if leaving it intensely bright. The Sapper Morton farm interior was a stage set and I had a wire mesh added to the windows so that they maintained some texture rather than being white squares. In both cases the main source of the light was coming from outside and was artificial. The sunlight was a PAR lamp bounced off a mirror.
Exactly!
The shots in Rev Road were always worked out between Sam and I after a blocking rehearsal. Always after Sam had finished his morning rehearsal.
The line cross made sense for the composition but the reflection shot of Leo led to the character’s eye lines being ‘correct’.
As I remember it, we lit the set and little changed shot to shot. As you say, sometimes expediency is the best policy.
Yes, that was definitely true. The whole history was so traumatic and I understood that there were bodies hung from that same overpass.
Interesting, the discrepancy between the wide and the mid shot. I remember this as a very difficult second floor location and that we rigged large reflectors outside the windows on scissors lifts or cranes – I can’t remember which. I was trying to minimize the risk of sunlight hitting the windows, or the natural daylight changing during our shoot, so that is why I went for bounce sources. I remember I used no additional lighting inside the room so the variation between the two shots is because I must have asked Leo to stand a little further away from the mirror.
I love that we crossed the line between the shots. Another thing I remember doing quite consciously.
Thanks for the compliment. Siccario was one of the most collaborative experiences I’ve had on a film, BR2049 being another.
Denis and I spent many days working through the entire script and the sequence is one of the few we storyboarded in detail. As a group we scouted the Bridge of the Americas, between El Paso and Juarez, and the build was based on that location as well as the action as scripted. As it was impossible to shoot on the real location, Patrice came up with the idea of a minimal build in a parking lot outside of Albuquerque. The film did not have a huge budget so not only the build had to be minimal but the effects work as well, hence the fence alongside the traffic lanes. This allowed most of teh shots to be made without any VFX and, apart from the blue screen at the end of the roadway, we did not have to do much to facilitate what effects work there was. I think Patrice came up with a brilliant solution, one that was driven by the script and Denis’ focus on the story and not dramatic visuals for their own sake.
And the military hardware. Again, we had only a limited budget and no way to obtain the kind of helicopters that were needed for the scene. Though I feel it often drives the visuals of a film, to a film’s detriment, where it is used sparingly VFX effects can expand a story. Also, instead of spending the budget for the sake of shooting something for real using simple VFX work can allow money to go where it is really needed – in our case traveling to Mexico city to shoot the convoy entering what was supposedly Juarez.
I don’t remember using anything other than a blue gel on the Tweenies but there were some regular cool tubes in the mix. Together the effect would have been a little cyan in places.
That is a good breakdown of optical effects – I still think the train is slowing down as it gets closer to the station.
I like that the Gossen shows you the range of your exposure in a simple analogue readout. I have a digital Gossen but can’t get used to it.
BTW. Yes I was pulling stop on many occasions during shooting 1917. On many, many occasions.
Primarily, naturalism. I wanted the feel of the darkness of the spaces without losing the characters. The film is about the characters above all. My lens choices were in the 28 to 40mm range. I don’t remember anything above a 50mm. Maybe a 65mm. But I can’t picture the exact shot you are asking about.
There is always a place where you want your mid exposure to fall. Here it would be the sink counter top. Another example would be a wall which you want to read as a stop under. While I have to admit it is easier to shoot a scene like this with a calibrated monitor to refer to, the viewing conditions when you look at the monitor can be deceptive. That is why a meter is always a good tool.
