INTERVIEW AERIAL DOPS
Doug Liman, VFX supervisor Paul Lambert and DOPs like Roger Deakins, who desire to do as much in camera as possible. In Sicario , he was tracking a convoy of FBI jeeps where the heli work had to look like it was shot from a Reaper drone. For the aerial shots of a border crossing, Villeneuve flew with Goss in a heli at dawn down to El Paso. “When we got to the border, it was a beautiful, magical sunrise, one where you couldn’t help but start pointing the camera around. Denis and I are in the back seat of the heli, I look over and he gives me a thumbs up to start rolling. “I shot a lot of footage for that movie; it was amazing to see it in the final film.” Working with Villeneuve again on Dune , Goss found even more of his work in the final cut. “We’re sitting on top of a cliff looking over the Wadi Rum with a camera and
WHEN WE GOT TO THE BORDER, IT WAS A beautiful, magical sunrise – YOU COULDN’T HELP BUT START pointing the camera around ”
tripod just surveying the immense scale of the landscape. They used it because it served the story. “I have lots of obvious aerial action shots from a heli I could quote, but I am awed by being given the opportunity to create with filmmakers of his and Roger Deakins’ calibre.” The ornithopter sequences in Dune and Dune: Part 2 included shots filmed by Goss from a helicopter in Jordan’s Wadi Rum of a different helicopter that suited the scale of the fictional vehicle. “It’s a stand-in for the ornithopter. So while I’m filming an empty frame for a big superhero movie [he has shot sequences for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 as well as Avengers: Endgame ] into which they will insert VFX, for Denis I’m shooting more practical FX. “The tracking of my frame is real, the light on the object is authentic. If it lands or takes off from the desert floor then all these interactions with sand and light add to the plausibility of the final picture.” On the set of forthcoming feature The Instigators , Liman told Goss about his long-gestating project to film Tom Cruise aboard the International Space Station. “Doug [Liman] is a problem-solver and explained that they needed to redesign the camera by removing components which weren’t designed for zero gravity. They were taking an existing camera and space-proofing it. Sign me up! “My understanding is that, if they go at all, it will be Doug and Tom plus a camera since the cost for seats is astronomical. “If you are on the ISS, audiences can really feel that you’re there. The way the light comes through a window, or the way your arms float would be tricky to simulate even on the most cutting-edge sound stage.”
CREATIVE FREEDOM Goss has
now worked with legends such as Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins
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