REBECCA | PRODUCTION
LEFT Rose supported candlelight, and other period-practical fixtures, with tungsten light to fit the warm, low-voltage look of the 1930s
they’ve just got so much personality and lots of soul,” he enthuses. I found the edges were a bit varied,” Rose continues, “so, that slight sensor crop helped me control that, as well as marrying up the images between the two cameras. Alongside the 65, the results were beautiful – the skin tones, the contrast, the handling, all just beautiful. “Watching on set through the viewfinder or even streaming dailies on a 17-inch monitor, you don’t get a full sense of that scale and that quality. None of that comes through until you see the final product,” Rose explains. He notes that while it wasn’t formatted as such for theatrical release, when it can be seen at home on a larger 4K TV, it looks great. “That’s happening more and more now. When it went to Netflix, the image
can’t fix everything – you can’t adjust every light perfectly. I worked with Rob Pizzey, digital colourist, on Rebecca and all my credit goes to him in that sense. That real balancing and finding consistency from shot to shot or scene to scene just can’t be done without a fantastic colourist on your side,” Rose adds. SHOOTING FOR SCALE Rebecca is a big film and required a set of gear to reflect that adequately. When it came to camera choice, Rose took the opportunity to shoot on the Arri Alexa 65. “I’d shot on every flavour of Alexa until that point, having used almost nothing but Arri since about 2013, but I’d never used the 65. I operated that and used it alongside the Alexa LF as our B camera, because I knew we’d be using a fair bit of Steadicam and that was much more workable when it came to weight,” he says. Rather than shooting at full resolution on the 65, the crew came down to 5.5K, closer to the LF’s 4.5K, just so the lens fields matched more closely. “Knowing a sensor as well as I know the Alexa is a real joy, then to put that sensor into such a large field of view simply looks incredible,” Rose adds. When it came to lens choice, he opted again for Arri, but chose something a little different: rehoused vintage Hasselblad glass, in the form of Arri’s Prime DNAs. “I wanted a big-screen feel and the Alexa 65 offered exactly that, but I also wanted some additional intimacy and texture and that’s what the lenses really brought. The DNAs are interesting lenses and aren’t looking to be optically perfect,
stayed very consistent and, ultimately, it really was beautiful,” he says. “It was all a coming together – of the lighting, the production design, the grand locations – and the format of the Alexa 65 did it justice. I can’t forget the beautiful cast, Armie, Lily and Kristin Scott Thomas, you really can’t get a bad shot of these people,” he says, lauding the actors. “I was so impressed with how all of those visual elements came across together, so I’m overjoyed with the picture,” Rose concludes. REBECCA IS CURRENTLY STREAMING ON NETFLIX WORLDWIDE
I wanted a big-screen feel and the Alexa 65 offered exactly that, while the DNA lenses brought so much personality and texture
RIGHT The moonlight, requiring 16 8ft Tommybars rigged on a 60-tonne crane, was the biggest lighting set-up Rose has worked on
FEBRUARY 202 1 | DEF I N I T ION 13
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