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OUT OF THE SHADOWS
Marcus Dillistone on working with
a quartet of great cinematographers
for the new Eterna 500 demo
hat a fascinating past year it’s been for me, starting with my work on the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games, and
culminating in the Lights 2 demo film production for the new Fujifilm Eterna 500 film stock.
I was contacted by Fujifilm’s Bob Quinn and asked to plan a demo for their new colour negative 500 speed
tungsten film stock. The stock prom- ised finer grain technology, with great colour accuracy, good saturation, dense blacks, and ‘punch’. The first rushes I saw at Deluxe made me very happy indeed.
This was to be the first film I’d made for Fuji where it replaced a demo I’d previously directed. So it was the first time I could make a truly personal comparison - from one generation to the next. Interesting.
The original demo comprised four separate scenarios, the first of which was entitled Lights - a guy, at night, destroying all of the light sources. The sequence, shot by Sue Gibson BSC, so captured the imagination of DPs around the world, that it featured in American Cinematographer magazine.
I’m not a huge fan of sequels, but it seemed that there were far more creative opportunities in the Lights idea than we’d realised in the original F-500 demo.
So I decided to work on a treatment which developed the concept more fully, and created a story around the idea, rather than just a screen ‘event’.
Prior to the previous F-500 demo, I felt that demo films as a genre were often technically worthy, but didn’t fully reflect the purpose of motion picture film - to tell stories and to entertain an audience.
I felt that if I could incorporate the required technical elements into a cohesive story, it would take the demo a step closer to its ultimate purpose.
The primary audience is a pretty pragmatic one - DPs, Directors and Producers - but they’re still an audi- ence, braving the elements to watch a film, so we should try to satisfy them both technically and creatively. Since that first demo, I’ve directed three similar films, and the feedback has been, thankfully, excellent.
I’ve found that combining the requirement for a technical exposition with the demands of delivering a narrative, adds a real ‘edge’ to the process - it gives the demo extra credibility. What’s more, DPs, crews and suppliers all responded well to the narrative element and raised their game accordingly.
Lights 2 was shot at Pinewood Studios combining day and night exte- riors with interior sets. I wanted to incorporate diverse light sources, so
I approached Pat McEnally at Lee Lighting who delivered, as he always does, an excellent package, whilst Jeff Allen at Panavision provided a couple of 35mm camera channels, plus a 16mm channel for blow-up tests, all of which kept the DPs very happy.
Since we used the acclaimed French cinematographer Thierry Arbogast AFC on The Glow (Fuji’s Reala 500D demo), Fuji decided to expand the international selection of DPs. Lights 2 doubled the complement; Ron Stannett CSC (from Canada), and Phedon Papamichael ASC (from LA).
The UK, however, was still superbly represented. The sudden unavailability of one DP came whilst
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making a coincidental telephone call to Sue Gibson BSC, so Sue returned to shoot part of the sequel. This situation delighted me as she’d done a marvel- lous job first time around, and she appreciated the opportunity to test the next generation product.
We’d planned to use three DPs until Roger Sapsford, quick-witted as ever, met legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff OBE BSC at his 90th birth- day party (Jack’s not Roger’s!). The suggestion was made, Jack agreed, and we were up to four! Having Jack shoot something with me was an opportunity not to be missed - a no brainer!
Jack became involved whilst the script was still being formulated in which I had included a cameo part for my dear friend and mentor
Sir John Mills. At 96, he’s still working, recently playing a cocaine snorting ‘party animal’ in Stephen Fry’s Bright Young Things (also shot on Fujifilm by Henry Braham BSC).
I realised that if Jack shot the scene featuring Sir John, it would be the first time they’d worked together since Scott of The Antarctic in 1948. What’s even more astounding (for the record books), is that the combined age of DP and leading actor would be 186 years! It was destiny.
The story was conceived so we could see how the stock responds to scenes with bright daylight and sup- plemented daylight, as well as the more obvious need to see its response to low-light, high-speed cinematogra- phy, and night shooting. In the first ‘act’ (daytime), we establish a small sleepy town in which a mysterious ‘shadowy’ figure is extinguishing the light sources.
It was an easy casting choice was for the title role of The Shadow. As soon as I saw the stunning Oreke
Mosheshe, I knew she would be per- fect. The Shadow’s peculiar dislike for illumination of any sort, and her moti- vation to extinguish it, is known only to her character, and it is left to the audience’s own conjecture!
The second and third ‘acts’ take place after dark, in diverse locations from a welder’s yard, and a dark alley- way, to a dodgy nightclub. Here, the Shadow’s admission is vehemently denied, even though she’s wearing nei- ther jeans nor trainers. She has to resort to her own unique technique to persuade the bouncer to let her pass!
The opening sequences were beau- tifully photographed by Ron Stannett, and opened with a crane shot in the park (repeated with great skill and consistency by operator Peter Versey, focus puller Robert Binnall, and grip Mark Binnall). The ‘park’ (Pinewood’s garden), featured a mature and diverse range of natural tones.
Part of the daytime ‘scene setting’ included three street interviews, pro- viding a vehicle for some Super 16mm shooting, which would be blown up to 35mm as part of the brief. A 16mm camera crew is estab- lished in vision (on 35mm film), whilst the resulting interview close- up is inserted as a 16mm blow up: two digital (via Lipsync Post), and one optical (via Soho Images).
The idea seemed to work very well, and thus the inclusion of 16mm origination had some narrative logic, as well as being an important part of the technical exercise. The necessary inclusion of a practical prop clapper- board in vision did however lead to some confusion. We noticed that the take numbers on that were rising, too. Given we’d established the crew arrive in shot, it could only ever be ‘Take 1’. How far from reality we’d strayed.
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