#we love anamorphic ratio in this house!!!!!!

[shesnake]

As above sits the stars, And below lies the—

The Acolyte (2024) by Leslye Headland

[flanaganfilm]

Hi Mike! I created an account just to ask you questions. I’m a huge fan, and I’m a dollar baby filmmaker, I got to adapt King’s story Cain Rose Up. So many questions I’d love to ask you about the adaptation process because from what I’ve learned it’s a tough one. But I’ll just ask this.

Have you seen any dollar baby films? And what do you think of the dollar baby program itself?

I have another question… I noticed after Gerald’s Game your work started to have a different look to it. Cinematography wise. Your work previously was always in 2.35:1 with black bars on top and bottom. Haunting of Hill House all the way to The Midnight Club has been full frame. Was this something Michael Fimognari did or was this your input?

Best of luck with your movie! I'm very familiar with the Dollar Baby program, it's a great thing, and I hope you have a great time. As far as aspect ratio, this isn't quite correct. Michael and I make that decision together project to project for any number of reasons. Oculus, Before I Wake and Hush were 2:35:1 to take advantage of the theatrical experience, but Ouija: Origin of Evil was shot anamorphic and then cropped to 1:85. This was a decision unique to that movie because we wanted to emulate the horror films of our youth. We wanted anamorphic optical quality, but a more contained aspect ratio. We had experienced a lot of horror movies on VHS when we grew up, and a lot of those were shot scope and then crammed onto VHS through a hideous process called "Pan & Scan". It created this strange dissonance where we'd see anamorphic optics in a frame that filled our television sets, so we did a variation on that. Ouija: OOE is probably the only project I'd ever consider handling that way, and it was really fun to do.

Gerald's Game is back to 2:35 again because we preferred the look when we considered Jessie's blocking in the movie (sitting up with her arms fully outstretched). It helped her fill the frame while feeling the claustrophobia of the movie. Hill House was not full frame - in fact, it was 2:00:1 and still had subtle letterboxing. We wanted to go scope but Netflix had an internal policy that wouldn't allow original programming to have an aspect ratio wider than 2:00:1, because they were scared of subscribers watching it on their devices and kicking back on any black bars (this was a very stupid decision on the behalf of Netflix, and they've since backtracked on this). That locked us in to 2:00:1 for Hill House, Bly and Midnight Mass, but that was all about Netflix's policies. I would have shot Midnight Mass scope if they'd allowed us to. With Doctor Sleep, we opted to shoot 1:85 because that's what The Shining was, and strange as it sounds, we wanted them to work together as a double feature. Midnight Club actually employs a lot of different aspect ratios. By this time, Netflix had done away with their dumb aspect ratio rule, and we were free. So we opted to shoot 1:85 for the "A Story" of Midnight Club, so the world felt more ordinary and real, and so younger viewers would have their devices' screens filled. But for the "B stories" that the club members tell each other, we use a ton of different ratios. 2:35, 2:00, even 4:3. For The Fall of the House of Usher, we went back to 2:35. It has a very gothic theatrical feeling throughout. So there you have it - every project is different and we have a thoughtful conversation about what the right aspect ratio will be. There's really no overarching rule at all, now that Netflix's policy has changed. FWIW, Hill House wanted very much to be 2:35. They were wrong to jam us on that.

[art-touching]

The Batman's Cinematography

The Batman is one of the best cinematically filmed movies I've seen in recent times. It changed so much of my perspective on how a superhero comic-book movie can be shot. How it doesn't all have to be VFX. Matt Reeves and Greig Fraser made it look as so real, as Matt Reeves keeps saying, he wanted it to be visceral.

1. What i mainly noticed was, The Batman was majorly POV.

We were the characters. We were really there, walking behind Gordon while entering the mayor's house. Not just that but the brilliant car sequence scene. It was more like we were in the middle of it all, experiencing it all, when they chose to place the lens where they did. Matt and Greig intended on doing this. Matt said in a recent interview how Greig made silicon filters, which when exposed to water also got wet, basically how our POV would be if stood in the rain.

2. They used anamorphic lens.

There were several close up shots in the movie, hence they needed a wider view. Anamorphic lenses provide a wider ratio and they distort the edges of the frame. So this distortion of the edges brings center sharpness and thus bringing all our attention to the center. These anamorphic lenses bring out involuntary beautiful lateral flares too. But my favourite characteristic of the these lenses are the 'Bokeh' they produce, which is the out of the focus area in the background. They are far more soft and are ovul in shape, in difference to the circular shape in spherical lenses. As you might notice in the GIF I've attached to this post.

3. I love the sodium vapour.

The orange-yellow of the sodium vapour, the red, cyan and neons really brings out the qaulity of Gotham along with it's own gothic darkness. The contrast created by Greig Fraser is fucking magnificent. Gives Gotham it's own quality, considering it isn't a real city. Truly, the world building of Gotham as this dark gothic isolated crime inducing city makes Gotham a character in itself. There's something about it, you can feel even in the daylight scenes, the darkness to it. Also I love how they made Batman's night vision red.

4. Se7en and The Batman

Besides the storyline, which seems majorly inspired by Se7en, two detectives running around the city solving the clues and murder cases, trying to find the psychopathic serier murderer. It is the rain. Everything was wet. Kudos to the set design. I feel like Matt tried capturing the same aesthetic as Se7en, with the rain, dark gothic environment, close up shots of the clues, and again the sodium vapour.

5. Colour Grading

So something very technical here. A lot of the scenes were digitally developed negatively, and then a process called IP - Interpositive was done to it. In IP, a positive image is developed from a edited camera negative, which gives a orange-based motion picture, and makes it low-contrast which helps to preserve the shadow details. Considering it's DC, and most of the film was shot at night in dark settings, and in shadows, this process was very helpful. And the colours that form again out of the negative images, are distinct and provide a more inmersive visual experience. I really appreciate how they tried no to over-saturate the orange, red and cyan, and desaturate the shadows.

All in all, the anamorphic lenses, colour-grading, aesthetics, camera angles and framing, all these elements worked and matched with each other to give us such a unique film experience. For once, giving gotham its own features and aesthetic, than inspiring gotham from any other city we already know of.

I hope the cinematography of The Batman can change and inspire cinema for years to come and especially comic-book movies, because in the process of making a comic book superhero movie, filmmakers forget it's just another story they wanna tell, and end of the day it's all cinema.

[officialotakudome]

New Post has been published on Otaku Dome | The Latest News In Anime, Manga, Gaming, Tech, and Geek Culture

New Post has been published on https://otakudome.com/spirit-untamed-dated-on-home-media/

Spirit Untamed Dated On Home Media

Universal has dated Spirit Untamed on home media:

Universal City, California, August 10, 2021 – Join pals Lucky, Abigail and Prue in SPIRIT UNTAMED, an epic journey brimming with family, friendship and adventure that you can watch over-and-over. The all-new film is yours to own for the first time on Digital August 17, 2021 and on Blu-ray™ and DVD August 31, 2021 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation. This release is jam-packed with more than an hour of bonus content, including deleted scenes, multiple at-home activities, including how to make your own “campfire” indoors, cast interviews, sing-alongs, and much more!

SPIRIT UNTAMED is a story of adventure, family and friendship. Free-spirited Lucky Prescott moves to Miradero to join her estranged father. She is decidedly unimpressed with the sleepy town until she discovers a unique tie to her late mother who was a fearless horse-riding stunt performer. She quickly forms a bond with a wild mustang named Spirit and makes two new pals who love horses as much as she does. When a heartless wrangler plans to capture Spirit and his herd, Lucky and her friends set off on an epic journey to rescue the horse who has given her an unbreakable connection to her mother’s legacy.

SPIRIT UNTAMED stars Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold),  Marsai Martin (Little), Mckenna Grace (Captain Marvel), Walton Goggins (“Justified”), Andre Braugher (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), Eiza González (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw), with Julianne Moore (Kingsman: The Golden Circle)  and Jake Gyllenhaal (Spider-Man: Far From Home). The adventure is directed by Elaine Bogan (“Trolhunters: Tales of Arcadia”) and co-directed by Ennio Torresan (The Boss Baby). The film is produced by Karen Foster (How to Train Your Dragon) and the film’s score and original song “Fearless” is by composer Amie Doherty (Marooned).

BONUS FEATURES ON BLU-RAYTM, DVD and digital:

DELETED / EXTENDED SCENES

FINDING YOUR SPIRIT: Meet the cast and filmmakers behind SPIRIT UNTAMED and discover how they brought this incredible story to life. Find out how this film fits into the overall Spirit story and learn the secrets behind the animation process.

BEHIND THE VOICES – THE CAST: It’s always fun to see the people behind the voices. In this series of short featurettes, we not only meet the cast but we discover what characteristics they share with their on-screen personas and how they inhabit them.

COWGIRLS RULE: This featurette goes into more detail about the female-focused story and explains why it’s not just a “girls like ponies” movie.

DRAWING SPIRIT – SPIRIT UNTAMED: A unique look and chance to learn from one of the talented artists how they bring the characters, both human and equine, to life.

CREATE YOUR OWN INDOOR ‘CAMPFIRE:’ Using crepe paper and LED lights, build your very own campfire at home!

HOW TO UKELELE: Discover how to create your very own ukulele at home. Then, learn some simple chords so you can impress your friends and family around the campfire.

SNACK TIME – S’MORES: During their adventure, Lucky and her friends enjoy a campfire snack that we all know, and love-s’mores! This tasty “how to” feature will teach viewers to safely make their own traditional toasted treats along with a selection of not so traditional recipes.

ABIGAIL’S HAND SHADOW SECRETS: Ever wish you could tell stories using hand shadows, just like Abigail? Well now you can! With the help of a hand shadow master, a simple lamp and an old sheet, anyone can learn how to create cool creatures with nothing but your two hands.

HOW TO ZOETROPE: Lucky Prescott discovers her mother’s horse-riding talent when she finds a zoetrope at her father’s house. This “how to” video teaches fans of the film how to build their own and bring it to life using the drawings they learn in the “drawing spirit” feature.

SING-ALONGS: Watch these fun lyric videos featuring songs from the film and sing-along around your own ‘campfire’.

FEATURE COMMENTARY: Commentary with director Elaine Bogan, co-director Ennio Torresan, and producer Karen Foster.

SPIRIT UNTAMED will be available on Blu-rayTM, DVD and Digital.

Blu-rayTM unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.

Digital lets fans watch movies anywhere on their favorite devices. Users can buy or rent the film.

MOVIES ANYWHERE is the digital app that simplifies and enhances the digital movie collection and viewing experience by allowing consumers to access their favorite digital movies in one place when purchased or redeemed through participating digital retailers. Consumers can also redeem digital copy codes found in eligible Blu-rayTM and DVD disc packages from participating studios and stream or download them through Movies Anywhere. MOVIES ANYWHERE is only available in the United States. For more information, visit https://moviesanywhere.com.

For artwork, please log onto our website at www.uphepublicity.com. Website: https://www.uphe.com/movies/spirit-untamed-the-movie Trailer: https://uni.pictures/SpiritUntamedTrailer Facebook: @DreamWorksSpirit Instagram: @dreamworksspirit Hashtag: #SpiritUntamed #DreamWorksSpirit

FILMMAKERS: Directed By: Elaine Bogan Co-Director: Ennio Torresan, Jr. Produced By:  Karen Foster, p.g.a. Screenplay By: Aury Wallington and Kristin Hahn Score By: Amie Doherty

TECHNICAL INFORMATION BLU-RAY™: Street Date: August 31, 2021 Selection Number: 1946213879 (US) / 1946214649 (CDN) Layers: BD 50 Aspect Ratio: 16:9 2.39:1 Widescreen Rating: PG for some adventure action Languages/Subtitles: English, French Canadian, Latin American Spanish Sound: English, French Canadian and Latin American Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Run Time: 01:27:33

TECHNICAL INFORMATION DVD: Street Date: August 31, 2021 Selection Number: 1946213878 (US) / 1946214648 (CDN) Layers: DVD 9 Aspect Ratio: 16:9 2.39:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Rating: PG for some adventure action Languages/Subtitles: English, French Canadian, Latin American Spanish Sound: English, French Canadian and Latin American Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Run Time: 01:27:39

ABOUT UNIVERSAL PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE – www.uphe.com) is a unit of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG). UFEG produces, acquires, markets and distributes filmed entertainment worldwide in various media formats for theatrical, home entertainment, television and other distribution platforms, as well as consumer products, interactive gaming and live entertainment. The global division includes Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Brand Development, Fandango, DreamWorks Animation Film and Television.  UFEG is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience.  NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

ABOUT DREAMWORKS ANIMATION: DreamWorks Animation (DWA), a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, within NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, is a global family entertainment company with feature film and television brands. The company’s deep portfolio of intellectual property is supported by a robust, worldwide consumer products practice, which includes licensing, and location-based entertainment venues around the world.  DWA’s feature film heritage includes many of the world’s most beloved characters and franchises, including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Trolls and The Boss Baby, and have amassed more than $15 billion in global box office receipts.  DreamWorks Animation’s television business has quickly become one of the world’s leading producers of high-quality, animated family programming, reaching consumers in more than 190 countries. Creating a diverse array of original content in a variety of formats and delivering deep, fully immersive worlds served up with compelling characters, the prolific studio has garnered 31 Emmy awards since inception in 2013.

[anfuturebusiness-blog]

How to choose your home theater projection screen.

Norman

Which type, size and format is best for you?

We have talked a lot about projectors, but not much about projector screens.

However, this doesn't mean we don't find screens interesting, or consider them less important to the Home theater experience.

Far from it. One practical reason that we don't like to talk about projector screens is: to install and handle such large and cumbersome items can be a nightmare. The other reason is that the screen market is diverse, and associated closely with specific needs and room conditions of each user, so that reviewing individual screens would seem too specific to be worthwhile.

The fact is, though, that if you get the wrong screen, your projector won’t show its advantages, no matter how expensive it might have been.

Which type should I choose?

Start off by looking at the different types of mounting options available. Here are two main approaches: Fixed frame projector screen, which is placed in a rigid frame and attached permanently to the wall, or “roll-away”, which can be rolled up when not in use.

Within the latter category there are also various sub-options we'll consider in a moment. For people lucky enough to have dedicated Home theater rooms, the fixed frame screen will often be the simplest, since the screen doesn't need to be hidden when not in use. What’s more, permanent screens stay more tautly stretched and thus produce more accurate pictures.

Roll-away screens are obviously a great solution for people trying to set up a Home theater in a room that is also used for other activities, such as a living room. Of these screens, the most basic one is called simple screen, which is attached to a roller, ceiling mount or wall mount. The user has to manually pull the screen down when needed.

Also very popular is the motorized projector screen, such as XYSCREEN EC2. It has been equipped with tubular motor, which drives the screen down with a remote controller. Some projectors carry 12V trigger outputs and IR/RF remote control, in fact, so that they can activate motorized projector screens automatically when the projector is switched on.

If a slim roll-away screen housed on your ceiling even makes you feel intrusive, a further portable option is the floor rising projection panel. These come fixed inside carry cases that you stand on the floor, so that the screen pulls out of the top and is held upright by a collapsible support frame.

Sometimes we find the floor rising projector screen may not always stand completely upright or even flat. But there a practical benefit because you can put them in a cupboard when you're not using them. You may take it to anywhere you like.

Rigidity and perfect flatness, which are so crucial to a good picture, are often one of the main reasons some projector screens cost vastly more than others, especially in the roll-away department.

Projection screen formats

Another key decision is which shape and size you should go for. In terms of the fromat, there are three main options: 4:3, 16:9, and 21:9. For Home theater enthusiasts, the old “square” 4:3 screen is almost certainly a nonstarter these days. Which leaves us with 16:9 or 21:9.

If you intend to watch a lot of HD, you will probably be best off with a 16:9 screen that perfectly matches the ratio of HDTV material. If you're a die-hard movie fan, though, you might consider a 21:9/2.35:1 CinemaScope screen. After all, nowadays most big films are shot in 2.35:1, so the majority of Blu-rays are produced with that format.

However, the situation isn't totally cut and dried. Blu-rays don't currently hold “true” 21:9 masters (instead adding black bars within the picture), and projectors don't have true 21:9 pixel ratios. So if you want a full 21:9 experience, you need a projector with a CinemaScope lens attachment – something which can add considerable cost to your projector setup.

If you really want the ultimate CinemaScope clarity, you could consider a curved screen like XYSCREEN CHK80C (below). These give a more immersive effect, focus light at your viewing position and compensate for the lens distortion you get with anamorphic lenses.

Then we shall mention screen material. We can say that selecting screen fabric is the most bewildering yet, potentially, crucial.

The first decision you need to make is quite simple: do you want to mount any speakers behind the screen? If so, you'll need an acoustically transparent, perforated fabric that enables sound to pass through without becoming muffled or blocked. But such fabric may cause problems like reduced brightness and back wall light reflections, as light passes through the acoustic holes.

No pain, no gain

After this basic decision, though, life gets more complicated. For a start, you have to get grips with the concept of gain. Some screens are high Gain, while others are low, with all sorts of ratings in between, and each gain value has its place.

Many white Home Theater screens tend to be low Gain(1.0-1.3). These Gain figures describe the ratio of reflected light of a screen, comparing to the amount of light reflected by an untreated magnesium oxide board. Therefore, a 1.3 gain screen will reflect around 30% more light than our lovely magnesium oxide white board.

The growing interest in black-level boosting screens that use a grey material rather than white is resulting in gain figures below 1.0 appearing, too. The question of whether you should get a high or low-gain screen, again boils down to matters of taste and, more importantly, room setup.

For instance, high-gain screens have reduced viewing angles versus low-gain ones, which could be an issue if viewers will have to sit to the side of the screen. High-gain screens can suffer from hot spots too, which means the centre of the image looks brighter than the rest. And finally, high-gain projection panels can damage colour balance, since they don't reflect red, green and blue equally from all viewing angles.

But before you discount them, if there's often a degree of ambient light in your movie room, the high-gain variety could be essential. In fact, a few have been developed now with extreme gain properties, specifically to try and emulate (for a fraction of the cost) the performance of a massive (80in plus) plasma screen in a normal living room environment.

A particularly outstanding example of this is XTSCREEN Black Crystal (Black Diamond).

Dark rooms might be better with standard-gain screens, though, and possibly even a grey sub-1.0 gain screen. Grey screens were extremely worthwhile a few years ago before projectors started to produce impressive contrasts, but they arguably still have a place even if you've got a good high-contrast projector.

If your viewing room is either decorated in light coloured finishes or else light furnishings, the grey screens could stop light bouncing around a room. That would be useful.

One final consideration is the quality of the screen before buying it. We've heard various cynics suggest that expensive screen materials don't really make a difference. But this is just plain wrong. We've seen that some screens can really produce sharper, more detailed images with HD than others.

Also, some screens can cause a slight Moire effect while others don't. Some screens, as previously discussed, are brighter and more reflective than others, and some are better at reproducing a convincing black colour. Some diffuse light right around your room for wide viewing angles, while others focus it right back at you. Some reproduce colours completely neutrally (and thus accurately), others can introduce an underlying tinge of their own or favour certain tones over others, leading to an unbalanced colour palette.

Now, we’re even starting to see screens appearing that claim to be better for 3D than others. This might seem exaggerated at first glance, but actually stereoscopic pictures need utter clarity for high levels of detail and really accurate colour toning to become convincing, so we can understand some screens working better with the technology than others.

[lancecarr]

DP Mihai Malaimare Jr. on Capturing the Dark Comedy of Jojo Rabbit in Living Color

Jojo Rabbit is director Taika Waititi’s satirical send-up and equally sober analysis of Nazi fanaticism told through the whimsical musings of an aspiring Hitler Youth. With Waititi in the scene-stealing role of Adolf, 10-year-old protagonist Jojo Beltzer’s imaginary friend, the film is loosely based on the young adult novel Caging Skies, about a Jewish girl hidden by a German family during World War II. It features Roman Griffin Davis, in his screen debut, Scarlett Johansson, and an entourage of Nazi nitwits played with darkly comic precision by Sam Rockwell, Stephen Merchant and Rebel Wilson.

Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. was captivated by Waititi’s script, which he read one night while doing reshoots on his last film, The Hate U Give. He was on a Skype call with the director the following day. “For me, the whole thing happened really, really fast,” he says. “I went back home for four days before flying to Prague to start filming.”

We asked Malaimare about shooting in extreme low light with the Alexa SXT, the challenges of working with first-time actors, and what Waititi did to on set to get the best out of his youngest stars.

StudioDaily: What made Prague the ideal location for the film?

Mihai Malaimare Jr: It’s interesting because I’m from Romania, and the architecture is very similar. It felt familiar to me. Lucky for us, the Czech Republic was very careful with the way they let people install air conditioning units and dish antennas, mostly keeping them from public street views. So in these cities there that we filmed [Prague, Ustek, Chcebuz and Zatec], we could shoot pretty much in 360 without having too many elements to remove. When we took the cars and the street signs out, it definitely looked like the photo references of Germany from the 1940s during the war.

What did those references include?

Taika and I spoke quite a lot about the use of color, and the references came from everybody: the art department, production design, costume and makeup. I remember I had quite a shock when I first saw color footage from World War II, because we’re so used to seeing images from the war in black-and-white. All the costume samples and art sketches were full of vibrant color. I talked to Taika about how we could actually use that saturated palette to our advantage, to show Jojo’s world at the beginning of the movie, knowing that we wanted to mute the palette towards the end for the war scenes.

We’re seeing his world through his eyes, too, so at the outset, it’s a kind of personal Disney World of his imagination. 

Pretty much! 

Jojo Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis, right) and his imaginary friend Adolf (director Taika Waititi) in an early scene from the film. Training camp director Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell) looks on. Photo by Kimberley French. © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Tell me more about how and why you shot your widescreen images on the SXT.

We were shooting 1.3x anamorphic for 1.85:1. We did a lot of tests and went all the way from 1.33:1 to 2.40:1. We felt that 2.40 was too overly cinematic for our story, but we still wanted to keep the quality of anamorphic, which creates a certain velvety look in the skin tones and it does amazing things with the backgrounds. There is a way to use 2x anamorphic and cropping for 1.85, but you often lose the most interesting aspect of the lenses that way. We used the Hawk V-lite squeeze anamorphic 1.3x, and they allowed us to [achieve] a real 1:85 anamorphic ratio.

The attic room, where Jojo discovers Elsa hiding, was lit very differently from the other sets. How did that setup evolve?

We had a conversation about the attic room in prep before we built it. It was interesting because we realized that it would be strange for the audience if they didn’t know when it was daytime or nighttime in that space; it can not be pitch black every time. We worked off the idea that building a few vents at the bottom of the roof would allow us to see some daylight filtering in or a beam of sunlight reflected in a subtle way. That still allowed us to keep the space fairly dark but you could see a difference between day and night. For the nighttime, we went with candles and petrol lamps. For those scenes we used a set of spherical lenses called [Vantage One] T1, which allowed us to shoot wide open at T1, so it was more like a Barry Lyndon approach. The lenses are also made in Germany, so it was nice to have that support nearby when we needed it.

What was the trickiest part about working with the child actors? 

The kids were really terrific. Roman is unusual because, even though this is his first film, he grew up in the business [his father is cinematographer Ben Davis]. It was also the film debut of Archie Yates, who plays Jojo’s friend Yorkie. Inevitably, every single first-time actor will look straight into the camera at one point, but we never had this problem with Roman because he grew up around cameras. He was never intimidated by two big lenses pointing at him the whole time. The only challenge was the schedule, due to labor laws, for the young actors. They can only work 8 or 9 hours a day, including break time. This made it tough on the other actors because most of the time when you know you are running out of time, you can just use a photo double and shoot over the shoulder with the other actors. But what that means is probably their closeups will be toward the end of the day and they’ll have to act with somebody that’s not Roman, for example. Once we discovered that, it was our safety net, but definitely not ideal for the adult actors.

Jojo’s mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) is the radiant — and colorful — heart of her son’s world. Photo by Larry Horricks. © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

How did Waititi make his youngest actors feel comfortable on set?

Through a lot of rehearsals, mostly, then just blocking and figuring out how to shoot it. We only storyboarded the war scenes. This allowed all of the actors, but especially the kids, all the freedom in the world during rehearsals to search for the best way to convey the scene. We got so many interesting ideas from them during that process. I think you can see the results in the acting, because there’s nothing worse than telling an actor, “You better hit your mark or else you’re not in the light.” Our approach was to let them explore the scene first, and getting the ideas from them so we can figure out how to shoot the scene. It made everyone more comfortable on set.

What was your favorite place to film?

Definitely Jojo’s house, but particularly the hallway. I loved the way the wood panels would reflect the light and the way everything worked together with the wallpaper and all those practicals. It really felt amazing, no matter where you point the camera. Everything looked great in there.

As you mentioned earlier, the end of the film shifts to a much more muted palette. Did you do that in camera as well as in post? 

It was a little bit of both. We definitely played with the color temp feature on the lights and in camera. We also did some grading for the dailies before finalizing everything in the DI.

Malaimare used a Vantage One T1 lens to capture the low-light scenes featuring Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) and Jojo. Photo by Kimberley French. © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

What did you appreciate most about Taika Waititi’s style as a director?

He had a rule that there were no cell phones allowed on set, and that created a really interesting working environment where everybody’s paying attention and people are talking to each other. Another thing I loved was that we did projected dailies, which very rarely happens these days. We didn’t do it every day, because we did have some very long production days. But on the other hand, if you do it once a week or twice a week and have everyone in the same room, it really pays off. It’s so different when you’re by yourself in a hotel room watching dailies on a small screen. It’s a totally different experience, even when it’s a small screening room. You get to experience the film the way the audience will, and that lets you see and react to things much differently. You can better judge focus and lighting. Pretty much everybody, from the production designer and costume designer to producers, was invited to the screenings, depending on how long of a day it was.

The post DP Mihai Malaimare Jr. on Capturing the Dark Comedy of Jojo Rabbit in Living Color appeared first on Studio Daily.

https://www.studiodaily.com/2019/11/dp-mihai-malaimare-jr-capturing-dark-comedy-jojo-rabbit-living-color/

[creativecityblog-blog]

101 FILMMAKING TERMS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

*Spoilers Alert*

There are thousands of terms that filmmakers use on set every day. Many articles or books that you read use these terms, so we are going to teach you 101 filmmaking terms, that you need to know. You will be able to impress your friends on the set of your short film.

1. Abby Singer The term ‘abby singer’ is used for the second-to-last shot of the day. It was named after the famed American production manager and assistant film director Abby Singer who worked between the 1950s-1980s.

2. Above the Line The term ‘above the line’ refers to that part of the film’s budget that covers the costs of the major creative talent, the stars, the director, the producer(s) and the writer(s), although films with expensive special effects (example: The Avengers) have more ‘above the line’ budget costs for technical aspects.

3. Ad Lib The term ‘ad lib’ refers to the line of dialogue improvised by an actor during a performance. It can be either unscripted or deliberate. A good example of this is in the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), a whole featurette (Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004) was created because the main actors continuously improvised.

4. Ambience The term ‘ambience’ refers to the atmosphere of the place. It is the feeling or the mood of the setting. It makes the scene feel more real to the audience. It can mirror what the character is feeling internally or externally.

5. Ambient Light The term ‘ambient light’ refers to the light that is already in the scene before adding additional (artificial) light. It is often natural light caused by the sun. If you have reflectors you will have the advantage of using the natural light indoors (the light that comes through the window), or outside.

6. Ambiguity The term ‘ambiguity’ refers to an event in a film that is deliberately left unclear. It can leave audiences confused. Sometimes one or more meanings attached to it. Don’t be mistaken by a cliffhanger, because cliffhangers is a pause between two films. Horror movies use cliffhangers to set up the sequel. The 1980 film The Shining is the perfect example, the audience was left not knowing if Jack was a ghost or not.

7. Anamorphic Anamorphic is a cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film. It is also an aspect ratio of 2.40:1. This means that the picture’s width is 2.40 times its height.

8. Antagonist The ‘antagonist’ is the main character who has a conflict with the film’s hero. They usually cause the problem in the story. They can ultimately change the character into the better person at the end. The antagonist isn’t always a person it could also be the protagonist’s fears. Examples of antagonist are the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008), The Ocean in Finding Nemo (2003), and Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011).

9. Anti-climax Anti-climax is a disappointing ending to a story as the suspense is being built up so much and the audience can’t wait for it and then all of a sudden the hero kills the villain in one hit, or the villain spontaneously drops dead, or some other random guy shows up and destroys the villain before the hero does anything. In Monty Python and The Holy Grail, the film builds to a point where the Knights and the French are about to battle. If the Knights can get into the castle, they will get the grail, and their quest is over. But, a policeman comes and arrests King Arthur.

10. Anti-hero An anti-hero is a protagonist who lacks attributes found in a hero character. The audience roots for the anti-hero, even though he or she is the ‘bad guy’. Examples of anti-heroes are Dexter Morgan (Dexter), Walter White (Breaking Bad) and much, much more. Both these characters are breaking the law and hold ‘evil’ characteristics, but audiences still love them.

11. Archetype Archetypes can be characters, objects, and place that are recognised in many cultures. Examples of character archetypes are the hero, the villain, and the outcast. Examples of symbolic archetypes are light and darkness, the crossroad, and colours used in the film.

12. Arret ‘Arret’ is a French word for ‘halt’ or ‘Stop’. It refers to a camera technique of stopping the camera, then removing or inserting an object, then restarting the camera, to have the object magically disappear. It was one of the early techniques in silent films.

13. Aside This term refers to when a character breaks the fourth wall. Two great examples are Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and Deadpool (2016).

14. Asynchronous (sound) This term ‘asynchronous’ refers to an outgoing sound that is mismatched or unsynced with the footage. In professional filmmaking, the camera does not record the audio. When the editor is editing the film they sync up the audio and sometimes it is slightly off.

15. Auteur An auteur is a French word for ‘Author’. In film criticism, used in the terms auteurism or auteur theory. The auteur is the director, auteurs have a distinct style. The auteurs have complete control of the films look and feel, without the film studios changing it. Examples of auteurs are Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, and Christopher Nolan.

16. Chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro is a notable and contrasting lighting technique, it cast deep/dark shadows. This is often achieved by a spotlight, the roots come from German Expressionism. The early films used candle lights to achieve the effect.

17. Continuity The term ‘continuity’ refers to action moving through multiple shots with interruptions. It can refer to an object, an example is an item of clothing, in one shot the character could be wearing a blue shirt and in the next shot, it is red.

18. Cue The term ‘cue’ is a signal or sign for an actor to start performing. It can come from either another performer, from a director or even from within the script. A cue is often at the end of a character’s line that indicates the other performer to start.

19. Dailies The term ‘dailies’ is the rough cut of the film. The rough cut just puts the shots in order to tell the story, there is no visual effects or colour correction. It is for the director or the producers to review the film. It helps determine if the continuity is correct.

20. Dark Horse The term ‘dark horse’ refers to a little-known movie (usually an independent film or a foreign film) that has been nominated for a major award. An example of some dark horses are Amour (2012), Life Is Beautiful (1998) and The Postman (Il Postino) (1995).

21. Decoupage The term ‘decoupage’ is a French word which refers to the design of the film (the arrangement of the shots). It is the editing process the word means ‘to cut up’.

22. Decouement The term ‘decouement’ refers to the final part of the film, it is the resolution. It is the part of the film’s plot is drawn together and the matters are explained or resolved. 

23. Dub The term ‘dub’ refers to the action of putting sound on a film after production. This could be dialogue, sound effects or music. It is commonly used when shooting on location, the wind or other noises that have ruined the audio. It is also referred to adding translating the language to foreign versions of the film.

24. Dystopia The term ‘dystopia’ refers to an imaginary, dehumanised, fearful, bad, oppressive place or landscape, often caused by a major world crisis. It is the opposite of utopia (the ideal place).

25. Ellipsis The term ‘ellipsis’ refers to the shortening of the film’s plot. This can be achieved by the use of transitions (a fade, dissolve, wipe, jump cut, or change of scene), to omit a period of time from the film’s narrative.

26. Epilogue The term ‘epilogue’ refers to the concluding scene in the film in which characters reflect on the preceding events. It is used to bring closure to the work. An example of an Epilogue is in Saving Private Ryan (1998)

27.  Eyeline Match The term ‘eyeline match’ is a cut between two shots which creates the illusion of the character, which is in the looking at an object, which is the second shot.

28. Favour on The term ‘favour on’ refers to focusing on or highlighting a specific object within the scene.

29. Fourth Wall The term ‘fourth wall’ refers to the invisible plane through which the film viewer or audience is thought to look through toward the action. The fourth wall separates the audience from the characters.

30. Gel The term ‘gel’ refers to a transparent, tinted coloured sheet of plastic that you place over the light, which is used as a filter for a movie light to create a coloured glow over a scene.

31. Generation The term ‘generations’ refers to the number of the videotape as been copied; second generations means two steps away from the original media master.

32. Hike The term ‘hike’ is a slang word which means ‘to increase’, ‘to raise’ or ‘to promote’.

33. Hitting a Mark The term ‘hitting a mark’ refers to an actor moving to the correct mark (there is usually a ‘T’ shape on the floor.

34. Hold Over The term ‘hold over’ is used by a director telling an actor that he/she has an extra day.

35. Iconography Iconography is used within film studies to describe the themes and various styles in a film, particularly in within the field of genre. We expect to see certain objects on the screen, for example in horror movies you expect to young girls, haunted houses, and contrasting shadow and light in darkened places.

36. Interlude The term ‘interlude’ refers to a film scene or sequence that is not specifically tied to the plot. An example is  Harpo Marx’s musical interlude performances of his harp in the Marx Brothers films. 37. Juxtaposition The term ‘juxtaposition’ refers to the contiguous positioning of either two images, characters, objects, or two scenes in sequence, in order to compare and contrast them. For example in Edward Scissorhands, Edward’s dark and grotesque mansion and then the pastel colours.

38. Kick Off The term ‘kick off’ refers to the start of the production or principal of photography.

39. Klieglight ‘Klieglight’ is a powerful carbon-arc lamp that produces an intense light. They are also used for promotional purposes at film premieres.

40. Leitmotif The term ‘leitmotif’ refers to an intentionally-repeated, recurring element or theme associated with a particular person, idea, or action. It can be a repeated sound, shot, bit of dialogue, or piece of music. It helps unify a film by reminding the audience of its earlier appearance.

41. Letterboxing Letterboxing is a technique of shrinking the film image just enough so that its entire width appears on the TV screen, with black areas above and below the image.

42. Lines The term ‘lines’ refers to the dialogue that belongs to a single actor/performer. They are found in the script.

43. Lip Sync Lip Sync is an editing technique, which involves synchronisation between the footage of a conversation and the words on the audio that was recorded on an audio recorder.

44. Locked-Down Shot A ‘locked-down shot’ refers to when the camera is in a fixed position and the action is happening off camera.

45. Logline The term ‘Logline’ refers to the introductory summary of the film. It is usually found on the first page of the script. The logline is read by executives, judges, agents, producers and script-readers. The scriptwriter use loglines to sell their script. It is also known as ‘premise’.

46. Magic Hour The term ‘magic hour’ refers the optimum time for filming romantic or magical scenes due to ‘warm’ and ‘soft’ lighting conditions. This occurs for about 30 minutes around the time of sunset and sunrise. It is also known as ‘golden hour’

47. Mainstream The term ‘mainstream’ refers to Hollywood made films. They have major actors, big budgets, and a big hype. Major studios make these films like Universal, Lionsgate, MGM, 20th Century Fox, Roadshow and etc.

48. Mark There are two means of the term ‘mark’, (1) the name of the clapping of the sticks to sync up the sound and the picture. (2) A bit of tape, a stick or chalk on the ground, which allows the actor/performer where to stand.

49. Mask The term ‘mark’ refers to covering up or blocking out a portion of the frame with blackness.

50. Master Shot The term ‘master shot’ refers to a continuous shot or long take that shows the main action or setting of an entire scene.

51. Match Cut The term ‘match cut’ refers to a transitional technique, which involves a cut in between two unrelated shots. They can be linked by physical, visual or metaphorical similarities.

52. Matte Shot The term ‘matte shot’ refers to the process of combining separate shot together (it is usually actors in the foreground and the setting in the background) one to one shot. This is usually achieved by the use of a green screen.

53. Mise en Scène The term ‘mise en scène’ is a French term for ‘staging’ or ‘putting into the scene or shot’. It is all the elements within the frame (objects, lighting, set design, etc.). They are all deliberately placed to project a meaning.

54. Mixing The term ‘mixing’ refers to the electrical combination of different sounds (music, sound effects or dialogue). This is done after production, once all the recording is complete the editor puts them all together.

55. Money Shot The term ‘money shot’ refers to a scene, image, revelation, or climactic moment that gives the audience “their money’s worth,” may have cost the most money to produce and may be the key to the movie’s success

56. Motif The term ‘motif’ refers to a recurring element in a film. It is repeated in a significant way, for example, a symbol, image, object, word, spoken phrase or line that points out the theme of the film.

57. Non-Sync The term ‘non-sync’ refers to a shot without any synchronised sound (the sound must be added later by the editor. On big Hollywood films, the audio and footage a recorded separately.

58. Obligatory Scene The term ‘obligatory scene’ refers to a clichéd or an expected scene for a specific genre. For example, in romantic or dramatic films you expect a love scene, the solving of a crime in a mystery, a rescue in an action film, etc.

59. Off or Offstage The terms ‘off’ and ‘off stage’ refers to action or dialogue that is performed out of the frame or of the stage (out of sight). It is also referred to off-screen.

60. Off Book The term ‘off book’ refers to when an actor/performer has memorised all their lines and no longer needs their script.

61. Omniscient Point of View The term ‘omniscient point of view’ refers to the narrator who knows or sees everything occurring in the story, including the characters thoughts, actions, places, conversations and events.

62. On or On Stage The terms ‘on’ and ‘on stage’ refers to the visible stage or frame (what the audience can see).

63. 180 Degree Rule The ‘180-degree rule’ is a screen direction rule that applies to the camera operator. There is an imaginary line, the action is on one side and the camera must operate their camera on the other side.

64. One-Liner The term ‘one-liner’ is a short, one-line joke, that contains a punchline.

65. One-Reeler The term ‘one-reeler’ refers to a film that is 10 to 20 minutes long. It is also known as a short film.

66. One-Sheet The term ‘one-sheet’ refers to a typical size of a movie poster.

67. Over-Crank(ing) The term ‘over-crank(ing)’ refers to speeding up a camera’s frame rate. It is to shoot at more than the normal 24 fps (frames per second). It can either be shown in slow motion or fast forward.

68. Overexposed The term ‘overexposed’ refers to a film shot that has more light than usual causing a ‘washed out’ look. They can be deliberately used for flashbacks or dreams.

69. Over The Shoulder Shot ‘Over the shoulder shot’ is a camera technique that is commonly used in films. It is often used when two characters are talking. The camera is behind one of the characters and ‘looking over their shoulder’.

70. Overture The term ‘overture’ refers to the pre-credits or opening credits musical selection that sets the mood and theme of the film.

71. Ozoner The term ‘ozoner’ is a slang term for a drive-in movie.

72. Pace The term ‘pace’ refers to the speed/tempo of the dramatic action, which is usually enhanced by the soundtrack and the speed of the dialogue.

73. Package The term ‘package’ refers to the marketing elements of a film project, such as the script, the stars signed to the film, the director, location and etc.

74. Panning Shot Panning shot is a camera technique, it is a horizontal scan, movement, rotation or turning the camera. It is also known as panoramic shot.

75. Pan and Scan The ‘pan and scan’ is a technique that avoids the ‘letterboxing’ of a widescreen film for a full-framed 4×3 home video or tv picture. The picture is mechanically panned to the side (left or right in a ping-pong effect) to show the missing part – hence, the term pan-and-scan.

76. Pipeline The term ‘pipeline’ to movie projects that are under development or production and scheduled for release in the future.

77. Point of View The term ‘point of view’ is a camera technique, it shows the audience the perspective of the character. You often see this camera technique in horror movies, in a chase scene.

78. Protagonist The ‘protagonist’ is the main character of them film. The protagonist is also known as the hero. The film follows the protagonist throughout the film. The protagonist can be an anti-hero like Dexter Morgan (Dexter), Lou Bloom (Nightcrawler), Driver (Drive),  Patrick Bateman (American Psycho) and etc.

79. Pull Back The term ‘pull back’ refers to a camera technique when the camera moves backwards or zooms out from the subject. The opposite of push in.

80. Push In The term ‘push in’ refers to a camera technique when the camera moves toward or zoom into the subject. The opposite of pull back.

81. Rack Focusing The term ‘rack focusing’ refers to a camera technique, the focus changes during one shot. It is also known as selective focusing or pull focus.

82. Red Herring The term ‘red herring’ refers to an instance of foreshadowing that is deliberately placed to make audience suspect an outcome, but the opposite happens. It is often used for humour, irony or other thematic reasons.

83. Redlighted The term ‘redlighted’ refers to a film project that was in production but lost its financial backing. It is also called film in turnaround.

84. Reel The term ‘reel’ refers to a plastic or metal spoon for winding film. The early films were measured in reels (one reel = 10 minutes of running time).

85. Reshoot Contingency The term ‘reshoot contingency’ refers to the funds saved by the producer just in case supplementary shooting are required. This usually happens after test screenings or decisions made by studio executives.

86.  Reverse Motion The term ‘reverse motion’  refers to an editing technique, it is created by running the film backwards. It is also known as reverse action.

87. Revisionistic The term ‘revisionistic’ refers to films that have an apparent genre stereotype and then challenge it. Examples of this are the sword-and-sorcery Dragonslayer (1981, UK), and Costner’s Dances With Wolves (1990).

88. Rough Cut The term ‘rough cut’ refers to an early edited version of the film. It has all the pieces of the film assembled in continuous, sequential order, but without any visual effects.

89.  Scene Stealing The term ‘scene stealing’ refers to a character who draws more attention than the other characters because of their appearance, actions and/or dialogue. A similar term is ‘chewing up the scenery’.

90. Sepia Tone The term ‘sepia tone’ refers a black and white image that has been converted to a sepia tone or a brownish grey to a dark olive brown colour in order to enhance the dramatic effect.

91. Snipe The term ‘snipe’ refers to any piece of projected footage during the film’s presentation that is not a trailer. For example announcements and theatre promos for the concession stand, courtesy requests and prohibitions.

92. Soliloquy The term ‘soliloquy’ refers to a dramatic monologue that is sometimes expressed as ‘thinking aloud’ dialogue of inner reflection. It is delivered by a character to him or herself, or directly to the audience.

93. Stinger The term ‘stinger’ refers to a surprising last minute dialogue or footage that appears after the end or closing credits. The Marvel Cinematic Universe does this all the time.

94. Subjective Point-of-View The term ‘subjective point of view’ refers to a film where the narrator has a limited point-of-view regarding the characters, events, actions, places, thoughts, conversations, etc. The opposite of the omniscient point-of-view

95. Subplot The term ‘subplot’ refers to a secondary plotline, often complementary but independent from the main plot. It involves secondary characters. A great example is Daredevil (2003), Checkout http://whatculture.com for an in-depth explanation of the subplot of Daredevil and nine other prime examples.

96. Three-Shot The term ‘three-shot’ refers to a medium shot that contains three characters in the same frame.

97. Two-Handler The term ‘two-handler’ refers to a film that only has two characters. These are often independent films.

98. Two-Shot The term ‘two-shot’  refers to a medium shot that contains two characters in the same frame. It is often used to provide a contrast between the two characters.

99. Underexposed The term ‘underexposed’ refers to a film shot that has less light than usual, causing unclear image lacking contrast, it gives it an ominous effect.

100. Walk-Through The term ‘walk-through’ refers to the first rehearsal on the set, to figure out lighting, sound, camera positioning, etc. This is done to make sure everything runs smoothly.

101. Wig-Wag The term ‘wig-wag’ refers to a red warning light that is located above each entrance-exit door on a film set and sound stage. It is designed to flash (with a buzzer sound) to indicate when shooting commences or ends.

That is 101 filmmaking terms you need to know. Now you can impress your friends, co-workers and professors/lecturers. I hope you learnt someone thing knew. If you have any questions click here. Thank you for reading this article and have a beautiful day!

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[rkbahuja]

Los Angeles-based internationally acclaimed Cinematographer Martin Preiss is a product of Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague. Preiss  recently made his Bollywood debut with Raabta. While talking to Pandolin, Preiss shares how shooting this foreign language film in a new country has taught him a lot about life, filmmaking and creativity. Here are excerpts from the conversation in which Preiss reveals how he used the most expensive lenses ever in a Bollywood movie.

Martin Preiss – A Selfie with the crowd on set

You are a Czech cinematographer, writer and director. How did a Bollywood film like Raabta happen?

Well, it’s a story. One day, I woke up at 3 a.m. in my Los Angeles apartment because my European phone was ringing. I picked it up and somebody from Prague asked me if I was interested in doing a movie in Hungary. I said I was, but I told them I was in California and it was the middle of the night and if they could call later. When I woke up, I had zillion missed calls from India. So I called back, and was put in touch with Dino (Dinesh Vijan, Director). We set up a Skype call and immediately clicked together. After reading the script, which I personally really liked, I sent him some visual references. After the presentation, I talked to my agent Ann Murtha and a week later was on my way to Hungary to my first location scout. So it happened really fast. There were other really good DPs that Dino was considering, so I must have caught his eye with something. I think the collaboration worked.

How different was it to shoot a Bollywood film as compared to your previous projects?

Not much, telling the story is the same almost everywhere. You need to prepare it as much as you can and be ready to improvise. It took me some time to adjust to the Indian crew style, which is completely different from what I’m used to in US or Europe. But I had a great 1st AC, Bobby Sanivarapu. He’s an excellent professional who helped me a lot in navigating through renting and on set time. Later, in the Indian portion, we had Syed Mohammed Husain and he organized the crew excellently as well. And I would like to mention the Hungarian/Czech crew as well, which basically made it feel as any other European or American production. So there was not much difference. The Flat Packs film production company in Hungary really had top of the game Line Producers, and they all provided excellent service.

Tell me more about the visual treatment of the film, since there are two parts to the story – one set in a period era and the other in contemporary times. Also what color palettes did you choose for the parts?

For me, there are three parts of the story: the Romantic Comedy, the Drama in the past and the Thriller at the end. So I was trying to subtly make progress in order to create more of a dramatic look and keep some colors and artifacts peering through time from the past to present. I call it layering and I believe that the audience can feel these layers unconsciously. The more layers you can fit, the better. We talk here about visual storytelling, which I’m always trying to put into my movies. The visual rhythm, contrast, colors, lines and shapes. I made a graph and a visual treatment of these changes and wrote to Dino saying, “There are some locations, some lighting and some color that will be inspirational, but this will never show how the film will look. I don’t copy – I create truth through my vision, inspiration, and through my whole experience here on earth. I create the picture for the film. It will bubble to the surface through the preparation process from my inside.”

And that’s basically what happened. There is some link when I see some prep pictures and the final frames in the movie. But it always bubbles on set, on location with actors, and with available time and money. Some parts were superbly prepared and the shots are almost the same as on the storyboard. Sometimes we improvised.

During the shoot of Raabta

Bollywood films are a lot about song and dance, which must be a completely different concept for you. What approach did you follow?

That was the difficult part as I don’t do music videos much. But Dino and Homi (Adajania, Co-Producer) were a great help in this as they made the songs into integral parts of the story, so I could relate to them. It was different from what I’ve seen in Bollywood movies, when suddenly the main character travels in one frame from India to Iceland and you don’t understand why they are there, as it doesn’t have any connection with the story. So, songs that illustrate what is happening in a movie is something I could work with. When we shot ‘Sadda Move’ in Amritsar, I must say that Ahmed Khan (Choreographer) saved me. That part of the shoot was really crazy for me, and basically all the credit for what you see goes to him. I merely supervised it. Ahmed Khan is such a great Cinematographer so I didn’t change much, as it was already great. 

Which camera and lens kit did you use and why? Which other key equipment has been used in the film?

We used mainly two Alexas XTs with Hawk V-Lite Anamorphic lenses from Vantage Prague. I must say a big thanks to the producers of Raabta who believed me when I said that we would need those lenses to tell the story correctly and to get this equipment from Europe, as apparently they were the most expensive lenses ever used in a Bollywood movie. We had the full package, not just a few lenses. I chose those great lenses as we agreed to shoot in a classical anamorphic 1:2.35 ratio. The lenses have great color and feel. I tested almost seven sets of different lenses thanks to Vantage’s manager Jindrich Cipera, who provided this ability to choose the right lens for this project.

As it was mainly a romantic story, I wanted smooth skin tones, warmer feel and almost dreamy edges. Anamorphic gives you specific bokeh and beautiful flares. And all these “flaws” make the picture stand out. I’m not a big fan of a “clean” picture. I’m always trying to bend it somehow for the purpose of the story. For the underwater sequences, we used Mini with Zeiss Primes, as that was the only combo we could fit to the housing. Well actually we had two housings, so some shots are made underwater on Hawks as well.

I learned a lot on this shoot. I’m a dive-master and I shot underwater, but this experience pushed the envelope much further for me. It was a challenging four days and I admire the actors, who went from never diving before to doing it so amazingly. We used RED Epic as well for some “C” camera shots and various Drones. We went from big heavy ones to DJI Inspire to my personal DJI Mavic.

How much of VFX assistance was employed in the film? Which parts has VFX largely been used for?

That’s probably a question for my good friend Jaykar Arudra, who is the VFX supervisor. There are a lot blue screen shots, even when we went to shoot the period part in Mauritius. There’s always something you need to avoid. So the use of VFX is necessary. Basically we mostly used it for background swap. We needed big waterfalls, which we couldn’t get to in Mauritius, so that’s one swap. Then an edge of a high cliff forest etc. So the crew built some enormous blue screens (so far the biggest I’ve worked with). But I had a good experience with VFX work so I hope it was easy for Jaykar as well.

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  And what kind of an experience was it to work with Dinesh Vijan as he is a debutant director?

We say we are like brothers. We have similar taste and similar history. It was a great collaboration. He has thousands of ideas and is a very good producer. To be a director and a producer on set is very difficult, as sometimes what you need to do goes against the other’s goals. He was very generous and we had lots of fun on set.

Did you watch any Bollywood films before shooting Raabta. Any movies you saw for reference?

No, I didn’t want to be influenced with the standard style of Bollywood. Basically I want to find my own style after I read a script. I watch so many films in a year— almost one each day so I have a lot of references in my head. I’ve seen all of the 250 top films on IMDB and many more and I recommend every filmmaking student to do that. But as I said above, I don’t copy, at least consciously.

How would you sum up your experience of shooting in India?

It was a growing experience. India is an amazing country with wonderful people and I learned a lot about life, filmmaking, creativity and more. I would not change this experience for anything else. It was a blast. And I became a bit more humble I hope. I also learned to live more in the present day. We Westerners tend to worry about the future and past. I think you (Indians) cope much better with it than we do, so that was excellent. I also found new friends, Homi Adajania is my cup of tea and I enjoyed every second with him on and off set. I would love to do a film with him. I became friends with many great co-workers like our first AD Siddharta Luther, my AC Bobby and the DIT guys Viki Vivek and Tanmay Kant.

With Director Dinesh Vijan

While working on the film, which areas did you feel that Indian films need to focus more on?

There would be plenty. But that is everywhere. It always seems to me, from the little I have seen in Bollywood cinema, that the woman characters and overall story is bit mono-thematic. An orphaned girl, a boy that loves her and a villain with lots of songs. The woman characters look like they are in control of the story, but they are not at all. The man rules. Not many Indian films would pass the Bechdel test. But as I said, I might have seen the 250 top IMDB films, but I’m a complete novice to Indian cinema. I’ve seen some, but not enough to really make an argument point. On the other hand, some business ethics could be straightened and made more transparent and trustworthy

You have received various awards at international film festivals. Raabta happens to be a commercial film but would you also like to explore non-commercial Indian Indie films?

I would love to. I’ve seen some interesting independent films from India. The official Oscar nomination for 2016 Visaranai was a film I saw here in Los Angeles and I liked it a lot. It was well-built and the characters were interesting. I would be interested in a strong drama script.

Telling the story is same almost everywhere - Martin Preiss Los Angeles-based internationally acclaimed Cinematographer Martin Preiss is a product of Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague.