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SOFTER AND GENTLER
JOURNEY INTO FEAR
FUJI WEBSITE
www.fujifilm.co.uk
Cinematographer Alessandra Scherillo recently used the new F-400 stock for a Times Magazine campaign on behalf of the pro- duction company Mustard and agency Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R. The commercial was shot, post produced and aired within four days. She writes for EXPOSURE about the speedy assignment.
“When I first met with the director, Terence Stevens–Prior, to discuss the ‘look’ he wanted for the commercial, I was naturally delight- ed to discover that he had a very clear vision of what he wanted to achieve. He gave me and extremely
strong brief, which proved to be an invaluable reference when shooting the commercial.
We wanted the commercial to appear as though the light was omnipresent with no apparent source, the colours to be very soft and mainly a gradation of one colour in all its spectral range. It is ironic to think that we have spent years making pictures sharper, with more contrast, crunch- ing the blacks, so that colours have almost assumed the quality of the old Technicolor strip system, to the point that in Hollywood they have a labora-
Both Terence and I were
used to a much more saturated look and we had to keep constantly remind- ing each other what we wanted to achieve. On the last set we thought we had it. Halfway through, I realised that I was lighting very much chiaroscuro instead of soft lighting. I had to pull back to fill things more with less source – so no negative fill that day!
The choice of stock was the new Fuji F-400 which I had wanted to use for some time. I was not disappointed on a couple of set-ups I was four stops over and I still had plenty of detail. In
the blacks it graduated very gently leaving the mid tones all there. The
skin tones are brilliant.
A really good stock for
a look people seem to go for, the colours not so strong, less ‘con-
trasty’ gener-
ally with a much subtler palette. I can see this
look going further with some old lens- es and filters resurfacing from the depths of rental house cupboards.”
Photos above: The Times commercial sequence; below left: Alessandra Scherillo with director, Terence Stevens–Prior
tory using that very same system again. And here we were with this commercial, wanting it softer, gentler, like a painting.
Fear is the key, explains Cardiff- based producer David Ball about his latest CF1 production, Alone, recently shot in Wales by first-time feature writer-director Philip Claydon.
The thriller, co-starring Claire Goose, Caroline Carver, Miriam Margolyes and John Shrapnel, was originated on Fuji by cinematogra- pher Peter Thornton. A full produc- tion report will be in the next issue of EXPOSURE. ■
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
FESTIVALS & EVENTS