Page 17 - Fujifilm Exposure_48 Tamara Drewe_ok

BEAUTYANDTHEBEASTS
DP DAMIEN MORISOT TALKS ANWAR BRETT THROUGH THE CAREFULLY CHOREOGRAPHED, STUNT-DRIVEN COMMERCIAL FOR THE THE AUDI SPYDER
The commercial has around 30 cars and the Audi Spyder in a choreographed ballet on a white floor,
“which we shot over about four days at the ExCel Centre in London. It was a bit of a challenge because the space is so huge, so we decided to use the 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA VIVID 500T.
We shot some tests and they were quite dark, but after we painted the floor, the level was raised by more than one stop because of the reflection that gave us. Then during the shoot, as the tyre marks built up, we would lose half a stop by the end of the day.
The practical lights there meant we had to shoot at 50 or 100 frames in order to keep it flicker free. The fluorescent lights were halfway between tungsten and daylight. I had the option to send some light through the access door on one side only, with some green gel to match the practical light. Because of the
exhaust fumes, there was a lot of diffusion so we had big fans and extractors going all the time and we had to stop every so often.
The main difficulty compared to any other car commercial was that we weren’t just following one car driving along; we had to choreograph the Beast cars and the Audi with the Russian Arm driving through it all, which was a bit complicated for all the stunt drivers. There were four groups of cars and they were doing the same routine every time, going in and out of each other.
We had to rotate the choreography to organise different backgrounds with the good light. That was a bit of a challenge because when you have a white car in a white environment on a white floor you need to ensure you keep everything, every detail and try to show it in the best way possible.
At one point we have a tyre bouncing through the cars, but we shot that as an element. The flame
that you see there was shot with a car mount using a little remote head to avoid having too much of a static shot. The flames were real there.
But one thing we couldn’t do for real was turn the lights off as the commercial ends on the Audi Spyder. Doing it manually didn’t work, turning off several rows of lights one after the other just
COMMERCIAL BREAK
took too long. So we shot the
car with all the lights on and
had a plate with the lights
turning off and brought them
all together in post. ”
Photos above l-r: the Audi Spyder and on the set of Beauty And The Beasts with one of the 30 cars used during the shoot; inset right: DP Damien Morisot in mask
FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE • THE MAGAZINE • EXPOSURE • 15
Beauty And The Beasts
was originated on 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA VIVID 500T 8547
Director: Sam Brown Producers: James Howland and Victoria Baldacchio DP: Damien Morisot Agency: BBH Production Company: Rogue Films
“WHEN YOU HAVE A WHITE CAR IN A WHITE ENVIRONMENT ON
A WHITE FLOOR YOU NEED TO ENSURE
YOU KEEP EVERYTHING, EVERY DETAIL AND TRY TO SHOW IT IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.”