DISCLOSURE DAY PRODUCTION
HAPPY ACCIDENTS Kamiński captured the film with
That consistency in visual language is rooted in the decades-long rapport between Spielberg and Kamiński. He explains how there has always been a strong sense of trust, and Spielberg’s sets are always a comfortable working environment. “There’s also that sense of familiarity, not just with Steven, but with the producers, production designers, editors – everyone. You know you are in good hands and so you’re willing to push it to another level without fearing that you might fail.” Sometimes those so-called failures can even result in unforeseen successes. Kamiński describes achieving interesting shots throughout his career as a result of making mistakes. One famous example is in AI Artificial Intelligence , when the main character played by Haley Joel Osment is first introduced. “There’s a beautiful image of Haley coming out of the elevator and the shot is out of focus,” describes Kamiński. “That was completely by mistake. I was playing with the focus and had zoomed in, and it ultimately made the final cut because Steven really liked it.” Kamiński notes that, when you don’t have that level of trust or understanding with the director, the film’s world can end up becoming too safe. “Safe isn’t interesting, and you always want to push boundaries. My relationship with Steven
gives me that chance to fail and allows us to take risks.” This professional relationship and method proved effective once again on Disclosure Day . A similar happy accident occurred during filming one of the house scenes that star actors Josh O’Connor and Eve Hewson. “All of a sudden, the light came between the actors,” says Kamiński. “The colour of the light was slightly cold and reserved, and perhaps a little too shadowy, but we embraced it. It looks dramatic and great.” Kamiński is happy with the final result of the film, and admits it has moments he thinks are visually beautiful, although not in a conventional way. For Kamiński, those unplanned moments often produce the most emotionally resonant imagery. “There’s a Danish painter called Vilhelm Hammershøi,” he says. “His work is reserved and his use of light is very colourless but a little theatrical. His paintings by windows are often soft and slightly surreal, but very emotional – and our shot had elements of that. It wasn’t planned at all – Hammershøi wasn’t an intentional reference. Throughout his work, he paints lots of figures standing in open rooms with doorways and windows, and the colour palettes are desaturated and quite stark. A couple of scenes in Disclosure Day have similarly beautiful, stark imagery.”
Panavision’s Panaflex Millennium XL2, accompanied with Panavision C and T Series lenses. “The majority of the film was shot on 35mm negative,” he says. “For the TV studio scenes, I used a Sony VENICE 2 Extension System (aka RIALTO Mini) because it would have been too laborious to shoot those with 35mm. It also has to do with the film’s sensitivity and the brightness of the screens in the studio. You can dial into 1600 and 3200 ASA and those screens on-set will give you enough illumination that you don’t have to supplement much with other lights. I love film. There’s definitely a difference, but it just wasn’t practical to use the film emulsion in those scenes.” Additionally, Kamiński did not want to use lenses that would produce too much distortion, and so he tried to stay clear of flares. “There is still the odd flare though,” he adds, “but these are very restrained compared to what I have produced in the past.” West Side Story , for example, features an entire sequence consisting of flares. “I usually have two sets of lenses: the clean anamorphics for normal, realistic and non-invasive photography, and then another set for work that requires more of an effect. It’s a rather conventional approach in terms of lenses.”
REEL DEAL Kamiński and Spielberg filmed the majority of Disclosure Day on 35mm film, using Panavision’s Panaflex Millennium XL2
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