COMEDY | THE PERSONAL H I STORY OF DAV I D COPPERF I ELD
If I’m lighting and operating I find I need as good an eyepiece as I can get; and that’s the Classic
LEFT A typical high-energy Iannucci scene
Copperfield was mostly a location shoot with some small interior builds and locations. So more than two cameras didn’t really work, even though for some scenes a third was brought in. More than two cameras, both handheld, becomes a problem of keeping either of them out of shot. “Quite often Armando would want to go down to one camera even if we had started with two. He might feel that two would be diluted the scene,” says Nicholson. Exterior shots also used drones to emphasise the ‘big sky’ Norfolk landscape. FILLING THE FRAME If you’ve seen anything directed by Iannucci, you’ll know that his signature scenes are largely full of the ensemble who are usually at loggerheads with each other in a trivial way about a serious matter. This is classic Iannucci, to fill the frame with the farce. The Death of Stalin was shot 1.85:1 and Copperfield was 2.39:1 ( Avenue 5 was widescreen at 16:9). Zac shot both. “In Copperfield there were lots of scenes with lots of people in it and I think Armando
was interested in some of the big, wide landscapes, the flatness, and I think that he thought that the slightly wider aspect ratio played in to that nicely. Whereas The Death of Stalin was slightly more modern architecture, with taller buildings and taller rooms. It made sense to shoot it 1.85:1 from a location and style point of view but Copperfield was much more outside with landscape to photograph. One of the visual themes was the flatness of Norfolk with that flatness referred to in the script – it plays out nicely with the wider format.” WORK WITH WHO YOU KNOW As we learned from talking with Eben Bolter for Avenue 5 , when you’re looking for a camera operator for an Armando Iannucci movie it’s good to use someone you know and who has similar experiences and similar skillsets. Nicholson had used Iain Mackay when he shot The Death of Stalin : “When you’re looking for a camera operator there are a couple of considerations. You need someone who can think like a cinematographer or think like I do about
operating. Someone who has the same sensibilities as me and who has had similar experiences. Iain is also a Steadicam operator so he brings that with him as well. He can also splinter off and shoot pick-ups or splinters. “Armando really likes the handheld camera, he also likes Steadicam. He doesn’t like it when cameras get too fixed. We did
22 DEF I N I T ION | MARCH 2020
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