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SHOOT STORY MAMMA MIA 2
I LOOKED AT THE MUSICAL NUMBERS AS BEING AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE STORY, NOT AS SEPARATE ELEMENTS
CINEMATOGRAPHY AND CHOREOGRAPHY What is the secret to making a narrative-driven, musical-based movie? Is it a matter of separating the musical numbers in to mini movies of their own? “I looked at the musical numbers as being an integral part of the story, not as separate elements. Somehow everything had to visually fit into the world that we were creating. That said, we tried to give each song its own distinct style and attitude which took its cues from the music. Our choreographer Anthony Van Laast would design the dance sequences, then the director Ol Parker and I would figure out the best way to realise the choreography on screen. I would often attend the rehearsals with Ol to see what Anthony had cooked up! We could then make a plan about how we wished to shoot.”
Take us through some of your planning for this movie. Dealing with the high-contrast sun in Croatia, for instance, and the multi-camera style for the music sequences. What was the lighting plan: how much natural sun was there on location and how did you replicate it back in Shepperton. Also how much blue screen was there? For the lighting design, are we talking about large light rigs or subtler placements and practicals? Did you use LED lights or more traditional light? “The film was shot in both London and Croatia. Our goal was to make it seamless. We obviously couldn’t control the weather in Croatia but fortunately we shot there first, which made the London-based scenes easier to match. We generally had sunny days in Croatia and my goal was to backlight our actors as much as possible. Luckily for me
ABOVE Actress Lily James plays the younger version of Meryl Streep’s Donna to reveal how the past shapes the future.
DEFINITION AUGUST 2018
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