Page 27 - Fujifilm Exposure_33 Magnificent 7_ok

THE DP VIEW
MILTON KAM
Simon Rumley met cinematographer Milton Kam, who also works with the New York Film School, in New York after he had been recommended through Merchant Ivory Productions for whom he had done some promo work. They worked together on Rumley’s short, The Handyman, a short shot in Woodstock, Vermont, starring Greta Scacchi and Bill Sage, before starting on their latest film.
S imon sent me a list of films he liked for “the look” of the film,
which goes from Merchant Ivory and degenerates into the nightmare feel of George
Romero’s Living Dead movies. We chose Fuji not only because it is good value for money but also because it has consistent colours and its very subtle palette. This is the first feature film I’ve used this stock on and it is definitely softer and less saturated.
During the tests in 16mm and 35mm I managed to get several com- pletely different looks out of the same stock, which was great. The film is shot in Super 16 and the grain held up really well. The Eterna 500 is a tung- sten-based film and it gives the film a slightly cooler look.
The story is shot in stages - the present and the past. The present is slightly cold and 80 per cent of the past is in flashback, which is neutral moving into a warmer look, represent- ing happier times. The stock carried more latitude than I expected and it was brilliant going into darkness. I did- n’t want to go too far into over-expos- ing it but I did over-expose a little to give myself leeway.
We asked Panavision for two cam- eras so we could leapfrog around this huge building without too much has- sle, getting it on just one take. Some of the performances are very delicate so no retakes were needed which was great as we wanted to have a natura- listic point of view. ■
Fujifilm Motion Picture • The Magazine • Exposure • 25