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JOHN PARDUE
“MOST OF THE INTERIORS ARE LIT WITH SOFT LIGHT, AND THE QUALITY OF THIS FILM STOCK WORKED REALLY WELL WITH THAT.”
➤ Mostoftheinteriorsarelitwithsoft light, and the quality of this film stock worked really well with that.”
Keen to do as much as possible in camera, Pardue and his team – also comprising focus puller Jake Marcuson, clapper loader Clare Connor and grip Philip Coleman – managed to convey a sense of period with the de-saturated, low contrast ETERNA stock and some careful lighting choices. Above all, they achieved this on a limited budget, after winningtheargumenttoshootonfilm rather than a digital medium.
“Our challenge was to choose a shooting format that exposed natural lighting scenarios very well,” Pardue adds, “and 35mm is always going to win on that because it has such a huge latitude. Running around in mud and rain film is actually quicker and easier. There were a lot of shots where we had a very bright sky and actors standing in shade. On a 30 day schedule you simply haven’t got time to pull out lot of lights and light them up all the time.”
The ambition of Gupta’s film is reflected not just in a cast that in- cludes Andrea Riseborough in the lead role of Sarah and Michael Sheen as in- spirational resistance leader Tommy Atkins, but also in the cinematic styling that the director and his DP went for. Shot 2 perf in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, this very much a movie for the big screen.
“I was worried about shooting that ratio in small farmhouses but the framing really brings you close to the characters, and the close-ups are very strong when we use them. It also allowed me to hide my 8 foot kino in
theceilingbeams,andtoletdrawthe audience into the world of the Olchon Valley.” For flashback scenes that recall happier times, Pardue and Gupta looked at a similar sequence in Terence Malick’s The Thin Red Line, shooting hand held and occasionally as 36 frames per second to emphasise the heightened, and more personal, reality of memory.
The wartime backdrop for Pardue’s third feature seems, superfi- cially at least, to have echoes of his debutTheBunker. Butwherethisisa meditative character drama that was an edgy genre tale, set in claustropho- bic confines as a group of German soldiers face a terrifying new foe.
“That film was all about trying to interpret darkness , which is always a wonderful thing to do cinematically, because you can’t just turn the lights off. You have to create darkness, and that film as scripted goes into pitch black. It was really challenging, but I think it paid off.”
It also began Pardue’s working relationship with director Rob Green that looks set to continue with the intriguing sounding Gladiators Vs. Werewolves. Resistance has certainly set a standard that he is very keen to maintain, and he hopes to take the crew he worked with in Wales onto his next film.
“Resistance was such a great script,” he adds, “and a rare opportu- nity to do what – in some ways – I’ve been working towards shooting this kind of movie for such a long time.
I gave it everything, and I’m really thrilled with what we achieved.” ANWAR BRETT
Resistance was originated on 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA 400T 8583
Photo main: John Pardue on Resistance; above, l-r: Andrea Risborough, and scenes from Resistance; right - Bernard Hill as David Blunkett in A Very Social Secretary
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