PRODUCTION SECRETS OF THE NEANDERTHALS
RECREATING THE ANCIENTS The dedication to authenticity paid off, resulting in a vivid depiction of early human life
The results are soft, vignettey, curved, focused and flarey lenses with the large format depth-of-field character. They are extremely funky and filled with beautiful organic accident.” They tested the set extensively before shooting and were all ‘overwhelmed by the results, which fit perfectly’ with the world of the film. “We were shooting 8K resolution across a 2.39:1 aspect ratio,” McGinty continues. “The 8K – perhaps counterintuitively – allows you to stay away from any optical sharpness. You get natural resolution without any artificial sharpening and contrast, which can be baked into a lot of modern glass. I often work with RED’s Raw format (R3D) – the latitude, grading flexibility and colour depth this affords is fantastic.” McGinty says they ‘knew from the outset we were potentially on a tonal knife edge’ when shooting Neanderthal scenes with modern actors. They looked through the visual history of early- human photography and found plentiful examples of what they didn’t want to do. Intensive research compiled by Gething and the BBC Studios team, the tests, rehearsals, extraordinary prosthetic work, props and costumes paid dividends on the shoot. ”We had decided early on to favour a vérité shooting style,” he adds. “Considerable handheld on soft flarey vintage lenses shooting wide open, so both seeing and not quite seeing our Neanderthals. We used a handheld camera wherever we could to feel as real, organic and analogue with the operating and lensing as possible.”
and accident as we could as we strived to bed ourselves into a very human documentary style.” VFX responsibilities for the film were entrusted to Lux Aeterna, with the company’s CEO and creative director Rob Hifle participating in the shoot. McGinty emphasises that the former’s involvement proved invaluable at every stage of the production. “We ran something of a second unit approach, where I’d join with Rob after completing a scene to shoot moments and stand-alone vignettes with a specific VFX element,” he concludes. “But he was also very much part of our core team, advising on what elements he could augment in post-production and which were best to manage in-camera.” Secrets of the Neanderthals is now streaming on Netflix THE TLS LENSES SIT far closer TO THE FILM PLANE THAN OTHER later Reflex lenses ”
BRAVING THE ELEMENTS Sunlight and fire were two decisive light elements for Neanderthals, so Gething and McGinty wanted ‘to feel these single sources in our frames’ whenever they could. “With both our fire and sunlight sequences, we leaned into flare, shadows and disruptive foregrounds,” McGinty expands. “We used one large HMI in our cave to produce the shaft of daylight we wanted (the cave had a natural aperture in its roof) and then LED augmentation for our live fires.” What’s more, it was a collaborative process between director and DOP. “He worked with the actors as I watched, then I’d suggest a blocking after we watched a rehearsal together, which nearly always chimed with his vision for the scene,” McGinty continues. “We also embraced as much spontaneity
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