PRODUCTION | OSCARS 2021
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION The nominees for this year’s Golden Globes have been announced, building momentum and shaping the race for the Oscars. In this Definition special, we speak to the DOPs in contention for a gilded statuette, teasing out the secrets behind their acclaimed projects
WORDS CHELSEA FEARNLEY / P I CTURES VAR IOUS
David Fincher’s brilliant Mank was always going to be shot in black & white. The film follows a Hollywood screenwriter, Herman J Mankiewicz (played by Gary Oldman), as he wrestles with the screenplay for Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane . It’s a sumptuous ode to the Golden Age of cinema, one that transports audiences to a place where they can understand and appreciate the homage. And yet, it’s littered with modern filmmaking techniques that fool nobody about the film’s release date. Fincher and DOP Erik Messerschmidt didn’t want to be confined to shooting on film or in the aspect ratio of 1.37:1 that was accurate for the period – not with Fincher’s digital prowess and proclivity for a widescreen format. “Filmmaking has always been a medium where we selectively employ the techniques that are available on the day,” comments Messerschmidt. Nonetheless, shooting in black & white demands creative courage and the cinematographer was conscious about being too seduced by the opportunity. “Before I had even read the script, I sent Fincher some images referencing the film noir genre of that era,” he says. “I soon ERIK MESSERSCHMIDT MANK
realised that, thematically, Mank is not a noir film. There are certainly elements that call for hard-lighting effects, such as the flashback sequences in the writers’ room or with Shelly Metcalf [a fictional test shot director friend of Herman’s] moments before his suicide, but I tried to ground much of it in realism. I didn’t want to draw audiences away from the storyline by being too dramatic, so I chose to light through windows and illuminate interiors with practicals.” When it came to choosing a camera, the only option for Fincher and Messerschmidt was a Red – the pair respectively direct and photograph the hit crime series Mindhunter using a Helium 8K. But whether or not Mank would be shot using a colour or monochrome sensor was always up for debate. “I initially thought that shooting in colour and correcting it to black & white would be advantageous, because it would give us more flexibility in post,” says Messerschmidt. “For example, we could do composites, grade in colour and adjust tonal contrasts between shades of colour. But, after side-by-side comparison tests, there wasn’t much to discuss. Clearly, the monochrome sensor was far superior,
Monochrome was paired with Leica Summilux-C lenses, also used by the duo on Mindhunter . But familiarity wasn’t the reason for their selection. “I went to Panavision in Los Angeles and looked at every lens,” reveals Messerschmidt. “We put them on a projector and assessed the resolving power of each lens.” In the end, they tested several hundred, but the very modern large format lenses prevailed. He adds: “We liked that the Leica lenses were flat and incredibly sharp, especially at the emphasised mid-range focal lengths we chose, which were 25, 29 and 30.”
with a depth of tone and dynamic range to it that just didn’t exist in the colour sensor.” The Helium 8K
CAMERA PACKAGE: Red Helium Monochrome & Leica Summilux-C lenses
ABOVE Director David Fincher takes a break on the set of Mank with actor Gary Oldman
08 DEF I N I T ION | MARCH 2021
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