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USA FEATURE IN FOCUS
ROLLERCOASTEROFFUN
SHAWN MAURER’S CAMERAS CHRONICLE
JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER
hird-grader Judy Moody, a Tcharacter who has delighted
children for the past decade in a series of books by Megan McDonald, makes her onscreen
debut in the fun, colourful feature
Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer. Director John Schultz (Aliens in the Attic) called on frequent collaborator, cinematogra- pher Shawn Maurer (Vampires Suck, The Honeymooners), to shoot the film, which stars Australian newcomer Jordana Beatty as Judy and Heather Graham as her cool Aunt Opal and follows the title character’s missteps as she pursues the most fun summer ever.
Maurer and Schultz set out to give the film a distinctive look inspired in part by the idiosyncratic approach director Jean-Pierre Je- unet and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel AFC took with the great international hit Amélie and also by the feel Danny DeVito and Stefan Czapsky established in the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda. “We wanted the geometry of wide lenses close-up,” says Maurer, “and to have specific push-ins on charac- ters to emphasize certain beats. When you put a really wide lens a couple of feet from actors’ faces, you can create a great sense of depth of 3D in a 2D medium.”
Achieving this look, Maurer explains, involved more than just lens choice. “The camera was frequently on a 30mm lens at eye level with the lead character, which meant it had to be low to the ground,” he says. “The camera lived about three to four feet high and that meant that you’d naturally see all the ceilings in just about every scene. That meant I couldn’t do much lighting from above. “It also made it essentially impossible to put
a B-camera anywhere since the A-camera would be in the way,” he adds. “We shot primarily single camera for the whole shoot, which is rare these days, especially since we were working with children and their working hours are strictly lim- ited. We had to get quite a lot done each day but I think the result is something with a look that stands apart from a lot of films today.”
Maurer stresses the importance of a top-notch crew in pulling this approach off and credits first AC George Sanchez for holding focus during quick push-ins, often from more than six feet down to two. “At the end the depth of field is really shallow,” he says. “You really need to be an especially skilled focus puller to work in that situation.”
The cinematographer lit Judy Moody with very large sources that could naturally bounce around a room and wrap around the charac- ters. This is usually his aesthetic preference but it was necessary to avoid camera shadow and potential light flare that could come from more direct, harder units. For the interiors, mostly shot on sound stages, Maurer would use 20Ks from outside windows and let that light
come in and create hot spots that were about three to five stops above key and then that light would bounce around the floor and room to create a general ambience. “I really like that look of warm light bouncing up from below,” he says. “I would also enhance that look sometimes by putting some un- bleached muslin down on the floor to catch some of the light.”
There was never any discussion of shooting Judy Moody digitally, Maurer is happy to report. The producer and director, he reports, “both really like the feel and texture of film and so do I.” Maurer, who has shot quite a few features on various Fujifilm stocks, went with ETERNA Vivid 500T, ETERNA 250D and Super F-64D stocks. “It’s a snappy movie and these stocks gave me what I wanted. They really handled the colours well,” he says, adding that
he is also very pleased that the film’s theatrical release will be on Fujifilm’s high contrast positive film stock. “I always push to release on that stock. I always love the way it looks.”
So much of the film rests on the shoulders of the young star and Maurer expresses his admiration for her performance and her profession- alism. At one point, Judy and her friend Frank brave the formidable Colossus roller coaster in Southern California’s Magic Mountain amuse- ment park. “I rode on it in prepro- duction,” Maurer recalls, “and it scared the heck out of me! John wanted to shoot the two of them with three cameras, a two shot and two singles, because we weren’t sure the actors could do it more than once. And it’s good we did!”
His rigging crew mounted three ARRI 235s with 200-foot film loads to the kids’ car, which got them through exactly one run of the ride. “She stayed in character the whole way,” he marvels. “And part of the scene involves her friend throwing up on her! She did an amazing job. And as soon as the cameras rolled out, we could tell she was shaken up. Everyone was extremely impressed. The scene was perfect on the first take!”
Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer was originated on 35mm Fujicolor ETERNA Vivid 500T 8547, ETERNA 250D 8563 and Super F-64D 8522
Photo top: Judy Moody (Jordana Beatty) and her Aunt Opal (Heather Graham); above: Frequent collaborators, director John Schultz (left) and cinematographer Shawn Maurer line up a shot; Opal and Judy prepare for the most fun summer ever
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