OSCARS 2021 | PRODUCTION
In The Midnight Sky , George Clooney stars and directs Mark L Smith’s screenplay adaptation of Lily Brooks-Dalton’s novel, Good Morning, Midnight . He plays Augustine, a terminally ill astrophysicist based in an Arctic research station on a dying Earth, as he tries to make contact with a spacecraft crew unaware of the planet’s devastation. Clooney envisioned combining the lost-in-space grandeur of Gravity (2013) with the gritty, survivalist drama of The Revenant (2015). Despite referencing these films, Clooney wanted to bring something fresh to the visuals of The Midnight Sky . And with this in mind, he called upon friend and cinematographer, Martin Ruhe. “We read the script, talked about our references, and decided to put those away and create something of our own,” explains Ruhe. “From our talks, we knew immediately that we didn’t want to have a giant hunk of metal floating around space; we wanted the structures to be organic and futuristic, yet still based on factual science.” Ruhe’s camera choice was largely informed by the scenes that take place on Earth, and many of these were filmed on location in Iceland. “While bitterly cold, Iceland has a stunning landscape, and I wanted to be able to capture that on camera,” says Ruhe. “I thought the Alexa 65 would be perfect for that reason, because it offers so much detail in big vista shots. MARTIN RUHE THE MIDNIGHT SKY
ABOVE Actor and director, George Clooney, with his cinematographer and friend, Martin Ruhe
When we eventually tested it out, we realised it’s also a very intimate format for shooting faces, and we had a lot of talking heads, so it was just the perfect tool.” Nonetheless, shooting with a big camera, such as the Alexa 65, comes with its difficulties, especially when working in a compact spacecraft interior. “It was quite a challenge,” Ruhe admits. “We relied a lot on LED lighting to make room for shooting 360° angles. And in some sequences, where we needed to get into very tight spaces or shoot some action, we even had to switch to the Mini LF.” Ruhe had tested Hasselblad’s 65mm lenses, but found they didn’t match his and Clooney’s vision for the film’s look. “Before we chose the Alexa 65, we had thought about shooting on IMAX because we wanted to create a big cinema look. The Hasselblad lenses were too pristine; they also had f/stops that demanded more light and that didn’t work for me technically. So, we also tested Arri’s DNA lenses. These were perfect because they’re built for
Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back , but luckily there weren’t any problems shooting in the less than pleasant Icelandic conditions. Nonetheless, it was still very dangerous and very cold. “On one occasion, we had to stop shooting and de-ice Clooney’s face, because he had formed icicles on his eyebrows. It was very tough for everybody, but especially the actors, as their faces weren’t protected. When the weather got particularly bad and we started losing daylight hours, we transitioned to the studio. And this scared me a bit, because I wanted to make sure it felt real – I think we pulled it off,” he concludes.
CAMERA PACKAGE: Alexa 65 & DNA lenses
modifications. We detuned them, and this added the character that we initially had envisioned the IMAX camera would give us.” We’ve all read the horror stories that came with shooting the scenes on
The Alexa 65 offers so much detail in big vista shots
MARCH 2021 | DEF I N I T ION 1 1
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