MAK I NG OF A LEGEND | FEATURE
IMAGES Behind the scenes shots from Ghost in the Shell, Okja and Altered Carbon. All shot on the Arri Alexa 65 camera
Simon Jori DIT on War for the Planet of the Apes
“The appeal of the Alexa 65 was obvious: the resolution and ability to create a very rich negative, and the option to play with it in post – to zoom, reframe and do all sorts of directing after,” says Jori. “But the bigger the sensor size or larger the film negative, the shallower the depth-of-field. So, from a technical perspective, it was a challenge.” He adds: “Honestly, 1280 ISO on the Alexa 65 looks better than 800 ISO on regular 35mm digital cameras. That’s a real bonus, considering some of the medium format lenses that are needed to cover the large sensor area are not as fast as we are accustomed to using. Usually, when one ‘gains up’ a digital camera signal a stop or more, the otherwise insignificant electronic noise, lurking in the shadows and mid-tones of the shot, is exponentially increased. This often results in objectionably coarse and grainy images. With the Alexa 65, the pixels are so relatively small compared to the final frame size, that any increased noise is so fine-grained it has far less apparent effect on the image. We could increase ISO to 1280, 1600, even 2000 if needed, without suffering problematic noise levels.”
Taylor Matheson DOP Michael Seresin’s first AC on War for the Planet of the Apes
“That Arri sensor has a filmic response to light, both in how it rolls off highlights and in its sensitivity and roundness in the low end,” says Matheson. “It never looks like ‘video’. Michael’s single-source approach to light, combined with his utter fearlessness of the dark side, roots exposures firmly in the lower end of the scale, and leaves a real honesty to the images. They never look lit, but still have an energy.”
Dan Skinner DIT on Netflix’s Okja
“Everyone really saw it [the effect of the Alexa 65’s 6.5K oversample],” says Skinner. “We used a 4K 50-inch monitor on the set, or in a vehicle near the set, and that’s where we were able to see the full quality. There’s no comparison. So clean and so sharp.”
That Arri sensor has a beautiful filmic response to light in how it rolls off hightlights
MAY 20 1 9 | DEF I N I T ION 49
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