THE CONJUR I NG | PRODUCTION
if watching through parted fingers. An atmosphere of dread builds through the scares, but it all starts with some disarming naturalism. “In the narrative-driven trial scenes, there were pretty sizeable HMI units outside the windows on lifts. For the final moments, I also had a helium balloon light inside the courthouse, just to brighten it up even more. I wanted it to be a nice, resting, end-of-movie feel,” says Burgess. “The first time we were in the courthouse, though, I didn’t really supplement any ambient light. I just let it all come from the windows so the shadows played a little darker – it’s when the journey begins, so you need to start creating the mood. “Those scenes needed to feel very natural. The audience had to be thinking, ‘OK, we’re in a horror world, but this is also very true to my own life.’ That way, when you get into the terrifying moments, the mood really shifts heavily and the scares are real.”
“The real draw of the PVintage was actually the stops. They start at T1.1, which is great – since we were often in very low-light conditions. There’s vintage texture I liked very much, but a lot of the film’s eighties look and feel came from the production design, clothing, props, plus some lighting. We didn’t want to rely on the lenses for that, as good as they are. “As for the camera choice, the Alexa LF and 65 were options, but the SXT is a bit smaller in size and still fantastic quality. I knew we’d be moving it a lot, shooting handheld often, so I thought that would be the best camera for those particular needs. “The Mini makes wonderful images as well, so we used it for the tightest, most compromising positions – or on Steadicam because of how light it is. But wherever possible, we’d use the SXT.” BUILDING THE FEAR There’s plenty for audiences to feast their eyes on in The Conjuring 3 , even
ABOVE Director, Michael Chaves, casts a keen eye over a frame during one nail-biting interior scene. Through a complex lighting sequence, viewers see Lorraine Warren transported from day to night in an instant
The set pieces certainly don’t come much more disturbing than a late, subterranean sequence – one Burgess relished in lighting. “They’re travelling through these underground caverns and we wanted it to feel hellish, or dungeon-like. So, when we did incorporate any lighting, it was on the warm side to represent the feeling of fire. We also wanted it to be very dark and disorientating – often the only source of on-screen light was one torch. “My gaffer, Josh Davis, built us plenty of options, ensuring we could exert as much control as possible – so, dimmable and colour temperature changeable. “We tried to stay away from beauty lighting in a lot of this movie,
AUGUST 2021 | DEF I N I T ION 09
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