JDC
We had talked about it for months regarding the format going from all video, Super 16mm, (1: 1.85 35mm and half video, HDV with 35mm lenses, Super 35mm... But we eventually we got support from JDC (Joe Dunton's Company) and we we set to shoot on 35mm Anamorphic. Anamorphic lenses squeeze the image vertically so when it is 'unsqueezed' we see a much larger image horizontally, what is commonly called 'cinemscope' (1: 2.35). JDC 'loaned' us an old Arri IIc, and a 35mm and 85mm lenses for free. They were incredibly helpful and friendly throughout preproduction and have continued to be. At the time, they were supplying for the next Harry Potter so, it's not like they needed us. They also made a special attachment for a 1.5x lens for our DVX 100 video camera so that a 1: 1.78 image would stretch to match our film 1: 2.35 (we were shooting video prior to when se arrives on the Island). JDC were amazing to us and we had no money to give them, just our ideas. Here I give endless thanks Joe Dunton for being interested in our little project, Mick for putting up with my lack of knowledge and questions and to the other camera technicians Aggie and Simon for getting lenses other equipment out for us.
Ornsay
It's a 13 hour drive from London to the Island. You have to get there at a certain time to be able to walk over when tide is low. Me and David drove there on a recee months before we shot and missed the window due to a mis calculation and no petrol, it's 2am. We ended sleeping in the car in car park outside a B&B which was full.
With our cast of 2 and a crew of 5, we arrived in Ornsay after a (stopover in Glasgow) on the 29th May. We had organized boat trips back and forth to transport equipment over to the Island. It was wet. The Island is comprised of the house and the Lighthouse and not much more. We were staying in the house which we were also shooting in. We scheduled shooting nights so we would wake up around 6pm and have dinner (prepared by our Art Director/Chef Elmi) before we started shooting at 8/9pm. We would finish at 7am and have a whisky or beer. This happened for the next 6 days. The terrain varied from grass to marsh, from pebble to massive jagged rocks. With the limited hands we hand on board, transporting equipment for exterior shots became an ardous task. If you've ever lifted a flight case for 35mm film equipment, you'd know. Our make up person, Jennifer Latour was a last minute addition to our tiny crew. She also helped with gaffering and transporting equipment which was fantastic. She had previously worked on Kingdom of Heaven with Ridley Scott. She also does a hilarious impression of Napoleon Dynamite. We all worked really hard and doing as much and as well as we could on the shoot. David spent a while chucking out seaweed from the very cold waters because he didn't want them in the shot. Elmi made wonderful meals from a tiny cooker I'd have problems making beans on. Catharine my Focus Puller deserves credit for the very hard work and orgaized ability she pulled throughout he shoot. And Caspa our actress who was an absolute trooper for bearing the cold waters, standing ona jagged ledge for 2hrs and still managed to smile at the end of it all.
There were lots midges, like tiny mosquitos that harrassed us as we waited hours in the early morning for great light to come over us. It's so quiet that I heard birds wings flapping as the flew past. The sun never really set as we were so high up (see picture). Ornsay is a remote and cut off Island which feels like the end and the beginning of the world.
Post
We shot a few picks in June and did a rough grade for the show at the RCA. David had acuired the rights to use Queen's Bohemiam Rhapsody from EMI (Lyndsay Armstrong used to listen to it). Right now, we just finished a grade at Glassworks and now need the sound mix before it goes off to festivals.
It was a great experience and oppotunity to have done this film. I never really got emotional listening to Bohemiam Rhapsody before and won't hear it the same way again.
- J
No comments:
Post a Comment