DRAMA | ALL I S TRUE
DOP Zac Nicholson shot All Is True with full sympathy for the lighting of the time and the sad retirement of the bard SHAKESPEARE SIGNS OFF
WORDS JULI AN M ITCHELL / PICTURES SONY PICTURES
DEFINITION: How did you want to make this movie different from other period shoots? Was there a plan for that? ZAC NICHOLSON: I try to approach every film with as few preconceptions as possible, particularly when dealing with period drama. The script is the inspiration and the beginning is the leaping off point, but the real shape of the film and the inspiration for the method starts with the director and their vision for the project. In this situation, the initial conversation began with a simple idea from Ken [Branagh]; what was it like to live in darkness with the only available light coming from candles? Behind the question there was also an interest in finding an approach to lighting the interiors that were rooted in a kind of organic authenticity and by limiting ourselves to using only candles, the light has a tangible quality that also has the effect of foregrounding the actors and their performances in a fascinating way.
We also talked about how we could expand the world of the film by the way we framed the landscape for the exteriors, the use of wide lenses, natural light and naturally occurring flare that we could use wherever possible.
DEF: Was the shoot always going to be digital? Was that to give the ZN: People have been lighting with candles for years and film stocks
darkness some texture?
have evolved a great deal over that time, but modern digital cameras have really started to unlock the creative possibilities of working in very low light situations. DEF: What lens did you choose? Did you want to de-tune the digital with some old glass or use modern lenses and how did you decide on the focal lengths? ZN: Over the years I have worked a lot with modern glass, such as Master
ABOVE Director and lead Kenneth Branagh wished to replicate what only seeing with candlelight was like
56 DEF I N I T ION | APR I L 20 1 9
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