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I have used long lenses and also a zoom on a few occasions. I am not a fan of keeping a zoom on the camera as a standard lens but I wouldn’t say I am not a fan of long lenses. i don’t see how that follows. It makes sense why Conrad used long lenses for ‘Without Limits’. If a project came along that felt like a ‘long lens’ film and that was the effect the director was after, then I don’t see why I would say no.
I rarely soften the sun with diffusion. The problem with doing that, unless you have a large crane and lots of time and money, is the source then becomes close to the subject and ‘wraps’ around too much. I will very occasionally use a net to take down the strength of the sun for a close shot.
As for bounce sources, I would rarely put something in direct opposition to the backlight. Here I might use a small bounce card, maybe a silver reflector, to light from below a subject. But I also might use an array of large unbleached muslin. So many variations and so many different situations. There is no one way to do anything when it comes to lighting.I have used a Lumix. Why not? I don’t believe the ‘brilliance’ of your camera is as important as what you point it at. I like my Leica because it is a very simple camera with manual sttings and a prime lens. The lenses are great and the camera’s resolution is wonderful but that’s not the most important thing.
The practicals have regular tungsten bulbs. There is additional lighting here. I was creating cove bounce sources to the edge of frame for both camera angles. I was using LED Fillex lamps with the Fresnel lens attached for my light source. Usually i would have used more traditional tungsten lamps in this situation but, for cost reasons, I was carrying few lamps in my floor package.
I do use my camera to take reference images on set but that is all. Far too busy to think of anything else!
It isn’t that the director is not concentrating on the story, well it wasn’t in the case in point, just that in discussions we had agreed on a set of ‘rules’ and we each kept each other on track. That kind of back and forth exchange of ideas is when I am most happy on a film.
Yes, I was looking to direct a couple of projects but some years ago now. The problem is I love being on a set and working with a great team, so when offers came up that I couldn’t turn down I didn’t.
They had just been very close! Now, Ellis is feeling confident and satisfied while Hillary is a little confused, probably a little angry and also sad.
Firstly, we imagined shooting under a clear blue shy when we were prepping ‘Sicario’. The kind of cloud formations we had were unexpected, even for tht time of year in New Mexico.
The pacing of the sequence in Mexico is down to a combination of our storyboarding, what we ‘discovered’ on the day, and the editing of Joe Walker. We had to be quite prepared for the shoot in Mexico City as, for financial reasons, production only allowed us a very limited time in the city. We also had to be very very specific in what we asked the authorities for permission to do, what roads we need to have closed etc.. so the sequence was very well thought out in advance. The section at the border crossing point was also worked out in detail in advance as, again, shooting time was very limited. We scene storyboarded this section in great detail and the set was created, in a parking lot outside Albuquerque, with these specific visuals in mind.
I don’t like to do an overall color correction in the DI. I had a series of Maxi Brutes with yellow gel on them but the much larger array of Spacelites were clean. To gel thos lamps would have been expensive so I had the orange filter made specifically so that I would achieve the color combination I was after in camera.
Who is to say that an idea is better or worse? My ideas might be as bad as anyone else’s! A different idea may cause some change in the plan for the day but that all comes with the territory. It would be stultifying if we worked as if we were robots.
In my opinion being a cinematographer requires a high level of fitness. Age probably is a consideration when a producer and/or a director is hiring but, as I only learn of the offers that come to me, I have no idea if I miss out on a job because of my age.
