Page 21 - Fujifilm Exposure_28 Michael Winner_ok

MAGIC?
THE DP VIEW
JOHN DE BORMAN BSC
O
feature in focus
MOTION PICTURE & PRO-VIDEO
“We worked very hard to get exactly the right look,” he comments. “We wanted it to really pop out like a fable or dream so I started by taking digital photographs of each location and set – and then manipulating the colours to give everything, from the sky to the earth, a bright, pastel, fairy tale feeling.
“Then I convinced the producers that even though we would shoot on film, that we had to convert everything to digital right away so we could keep the consistency of colour throughout. It was a very intense process.”
“I also overlit the exteriors and even the night scenes to get a more magical look. Another thing we did with light is to create a special turquoise moonlight that isn’t exactly natural but has its own cartoon-like quality to it,” he explains. ■ QUENTIN FALK
Ella Enchanted, which will be released later this year, was originated on Fujicolor 35mm F-500 8572 and F-250D 8552 Motion Picture Negative
n starting the project, Tommy and I had agreed that we wanted to give Ella Enchanted a distinctive look, one that would be inspired by the old
Technicolor films like The Wizard Of Oz and Henry V.
Anne Hathaway (our leading lady) has very porcelain skin which, we felt, would help create the Judy Garland look we were wanting. We also realised very early on that there would be as many as 750 digital effects shots in the film so the decision to create a digital intermediate was an easy one.
The hard part was to decide: who would be the best to do it and whether to do it 2K or 4K?
We tested high and low to find the best company and realised that it all comes down to the company that has the best look-up table. In other words, the one that can translate the grading decisions one makes in the digital suite best, back onto film.
The look up table would take into account the stock, in my case the Fujicolor F-500 8572 and F-250 8552 and also the lab (Deluxe).
Most importantly, the projected digital image (‘projected’ is important because it means that the colours are truer than if you are grading off a small TV screen) depicts exactly the look that one is going to end up with on film.
For us, we found EFilm in Los Angeles had the most experience and the best results. The other very impor- tant factor for us was to try and not loose any resolution in this process.
Two things helped us. Firstly, we shot super 35 ratio of 1.85 and then in the digital process reduced the frame to the straight 1.85 format on film. That gained us about a third more information on the negative, and although the film was inputted at 2K, we outputted at 4K - just to get as much resolution as possible.
The process is still in its infancy and is constantly improving. But the whole process has fantastic potential. On set, what I think would be a very useful tool to develop for DPs is a digi- tal camera that could be linked to one’s computer that would allow the cinematographer to take a photo which would be representational of the scene, grade the photo taken and make a print out.
The programme in the computer would then have a read-out of the changes in the gamma, the colours etc that could be read by the telecine machine the rushes are being sent to. The telecine operator would also have the hard copy print out to refer to). Hopefully, one would get the perfect end result – with the DP completely in control of his images.
It all seems rather technical but this rather reflects the general approach of this type of film. The DP is very much in the hands of the visual effects supervisor.
On Ella, we sometimes would shoot the actors walking against green screen. That footage would be insert- ed into a shot done four weeks later at Pinewood of a huge model of the elf village and the characters would now be walking down a path.
But then on top of these two layers, another layer was added of individual elves dancing on their balconies (also shot at a different time against green screen) as the camera flies through the village following our main characters.
This is of course very complex as the perspectives on all the characters on the balcony changes as the camera moves through the village.
So thank God, I was in the hands of Angus Bickerton, our visual effects guru. On all levels - from the digital grade to the visual effects - this film was full of new discoveries. ■
Ella Enchanted puts a 21st Century spin on a timeless fairytale
Fuji Motion Picture And Professional Video • Exposure • 19