Page 27 - Fujifilm Exposure_48 Tamara Drewe_ok

HOLDMETIGHT
CINEMATOGRAPHER DAVID KATZNELSON RECENTLY RETURNED TO HIS NATIVE DENMARK TO SHOOT THE NEW FEATURE HOLD ME TIGHT (HOLD OM MIG), A DRAMA ABOUT PEER PRESSURE WHICH CENTRES ON FOUR TEENAGERS. KATZNELSON, WHOSE WORK IN THE UK INCLUDES MISS AUSTEN REGRETS, THE QUEEN’S SISTER AND HIS BAFTA-WINNING SHOOT THE MESSENGER, REPORTS ON A REWARDING VISIT HOME.
The last time I worked with the Danish director, Kaspar Munk, 18 years ago, I nearly had to file for bankruptcy.
“Both passionate about films, but novice filmmakers, we had written a story, inspired by Kieslowski’s Dekalog films, about a Pole seeking a better life in the West.
We bought an old Arriflex SR 16mm camera, a huge amount of Fujifilm stock and drove to Poland. The shoot lasted weeks and weeks and I learnt a lot, but had to work off my debts for years to come.
The reward came a few years later, when the film got me in to The National Film & Television School in Beaconsfield.
I didn’t realise that my life was going to go through such a radical change. For the next 13 years I worked only in Britain on a variety of film and television projects.
So it was a surprise when Kaspar called me up to ask if I would film his first, fully financed, feature in Denmark. I didn’t have to think for long before saying yes.
Knowing his style and dogged determination, the first task was to talk the production into shooting on 35mm film, rather the RED camera for which the production had budgeted. We chose to use Fujifilm stock and their people were great and made it all possible!
In early pre-production we tested various film stocks, and in the end settled on the ETERNA 500T and the Super F-250D, which is a slightly older stock, but matched the 500T
and our needs of a filmic look extremely well.
Some sequences had to be simulated mobile phone footage, and I tested several 2, 5 and 8 mega pixel phone cameras, and in the end settled for the 5 mega pixel.
A fair number of scenes in the film are set in a class room with much scripted dialogue from the teachers, but the film is very much about the teenagers, and what goes on in their world, so we decided not to see the teachers faces.
We chose to frame boldly either cutting off the heads of the teachers or keeping them as soft background. The Danish crew were, to say the least, somewhat surprised by this approach, but we all felt it paid off and worked for the story.
Throughout we decided to go for composed set ups in which the action played out, rather than getting a lot of coverage. We were inspired by two recent films; Let the Right One In and The Return.
Working in Denmark was very civilised in terms of the shooting hours – 39 hours a week. We only had a small crew, but everybody contributed a great deal.
A ‘green’ approach to filming was implemented; we were each given a Sigg bottle for water to refill and a thermal coffee cup at the beginning of the shoot, so that no plastic bottles or polystyrene cups were ever used.
I hope, in the future, to encourage other shoots to ‘green up’.
Shortly after I wrapped on Hold Me Tight, I went to Glasgow to shoot a short for writer-director Des Hamilton called Behind the Door.
This time I used the new ETERNA Vivid 500T. I was really impressed by
it as it held up beautifully on S16mm
and I hardly had to use any
lights. We shot car scenes at
night at T1.3, with minimal
output from a lite pad, and it
still looked good. ”
Hold Me Tight, due for release later this year, was originated on 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA 500T 8573 and Super F-250D 8562
Behind The Door, originated on 16mm ETERNA Vivid 500T 8647, was nominated for the 2010 Fujifilm Shorts Award
For a free DVD copy of all the shortlisted films in Fujifilm Shorts 2010 please contact Jerry Deeney at Fujifilm: jdeeney@fuji.co.uk
Photos: Scenes from and on the set of Hold Me Tight; inset above and second from left: DP David Katznelson on the set
FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE • THE MAGAZINE • EXPOSURE • 25