Page 34 - Fujifilm Exposure_49_King's Speech_ok

“THE ETERNA 500T
ALLOWED ME TO USE
THE EXISTING CLUB
LIGHTING AS A BASE
AND THEN ADD MY
OWN TO PICK OUT
THE ACTION.”
EMMA DALESMAN
Au Revoir Monkeys was my second collaboration with director Janis Nords at the NFTS. It was key to the story
“that it was told with a smile and to convey the sense of humour that came across strongly in the script. I was keen to complement this with the visual style.
The film is about a debt collector, Duncan (Shaun Prendergast), who meets an attractive woman Anna (Myanna Buring) whilst trying to collect a debt from her. She isn’t intimidated by Duncan, nor does she treat him like scum.
He is struck by her peculiar quality, and on discovering she works in a strip club, Duncan only grows more intrigued by her. The themes of professionalism, money and sex along with the light-hearted nature of the film leant themselves to being shot boldly.
I shot on 16mm Fuji ETERNA 250T for exteriors and day interiors and ETERNA 500T for low-key interiors and nights. There was discussion about shooting on digital but it was thanks to the support of Fujifilm and Technicolor that I was able to shoot on 16mm within budget, without compromising what was in front of the camera.
One of our locations was a strip club, which was interesting to scout to say the least. The club we found looked fantastic. The main room was covered in darkened mirrors with chrome and marble fittings and neon signs; its over-the- top style suited the film well.
I shot those interiors on the ETERNA 500T, which allowed me to use the existing club lighting as a base and then add my own to pick out the action; it was a challenge to light and shoot in a room of mirrors.
I also used this stock for some scenes inside a car at night. I wanted to have changing light as the car moved, and after testing I found that I could shoot at times with no additional lighting and when I did addlightIwasabletodosoatalow level which meant the streetlights and various passing light sources still registered.
Another challenging scene was a night exterior on a tarmac caged basketball court where Duncan challenges some boys to a football match. We wanted this scene to feel impulsive and keep raw atmosphere of the location.
As the court had no lighting I rigged 1.5K atlas lights (which were provided from Arri Lighting) along one side of it. As they are floodlights
it meant they had the right quality and that I could include them in shot. I used them mainly as a backlight and shot towards a road, which gave some background action and added to the atmosphere of
the scene.
At the NFTS, the graduation films
shot on film get a 2K scan and as there is a Digital Post Production MA at the school we are able to
grade in house. I had a great
time shooting this film and I
am really looking forward to
grading it.
FIRST PERSON
THEGRADUATES
32 • EXPOSURE • THE MAGAZINE • FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE
Photos l-r: DP Emma Dalesman, a North Yorkshire
native and Freddie Young Memorial Scholar at
the NFTS, behind the camera;
scenes from Au Revoir Monkeys and The Field Of Vision; Jamaican-born DP Stil Williams
”