TIM CRAGG INTERVIEW
BEAM ME UP The Deepest Breath (this image) plunges viewers into the world of freediving; Tim Cragg on location (below)
WE WANTED closed-in scenes THAT FELT LIKE internal spaces FOR EACH CHARACTER”
The Manhattan Alien Abduction , he once again turned to Cooke full-frame anamorphics paired with an ARRI ALEXA Mini LF camera. This set-up, typically used on big-budget feature films, brought a theatrical, immersive quality to the documentary. “Straight away, with that large format camera and the best large format anamorphic lenses, we were in a cinema world,” he confirms. He achieved the heightened atmosphere he was after by carefully controlling the light sources, as well as manipulating colour palettes to match each character. “In this case, we weren’t after total realism,” he shares. “Directors Dan and Viv were happy for this to be a theatrical world. We wanted closed- in scenes that felt like internal spaces for each character – and in that world,
everything was dialled up to ten in terms of atmosphere. That works really well for this genre because it’s all about mystery. “That being said,” he adds, “it’s still a documentary, so we had a limited budget. It’s about creating – in one location – different tonal changes.” To that end, the main characters in the series each have a distinct colour palette and lighting design. Cragg often takes a minimalist approach to lighting, choosing compact, portable kit that he can control precisely. He’s adept at creating fresh looks in the same space, simply by moving around furniture and tinkering with the light. “I see it like a play,” he muses. “There’s a single character, and they claim their own space – they don’t really interact with anybody. We always say to them: if you take on the
energy of this room you don’t need to do much because the camera and lighting will do everything. It’s very theatrical, which is really fun as a DOP. “In the scripted world, you often have to make things look real – there might be lots of dialogue and movement of people and area to cover, so lighting can’t be stark and minimalist, having pools of light and shade like paintings might,” he continues. “Whereas in this world, it’s more like a music video! It’s all about developing tone, creating a mood like a horror or thriller would.” Another tool that Cragg swears by is the Flowcine GLINK, a high-end gimbal operating system with impressive boom range that allows for smooth lateral panning and seamless, dynamic shots. This set-up, combined with
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