ALISTER CHAPMAN CASE STUDY
becomes more widespread it will impact hugely on the way that the industry needs to work. Some of the optics designed ostensibly to be used with still cameras, for example, might no longer be able to cope, since every small flaw will end up being revealed in the footage. “I took a selection of cameras and lenses with me for this job,” says Alister. “I had a Sony FS5, which I used in tandem with a Fujifilm MK 18-55mm T2.9 and an F5, which was paired with a Fujifilm Cabrio XK6x20 20-120mm T3.5. These covered me for the daytime shoots that I had to do, shooting such things as dog sledding, riding on snow mobiles and staying in a tent in a Sami village. Because light levels were so low for the actual aurora, however, I also carried with me a 20mm Sigma f/1.4, which I used with a Metabones Speed Booster to boost the maximum aperture still further.”
auroras could be filmed. While it was anticipated that the aurora would be visible most nights, as a natural effect the quality can obviously vary, and the aim was to shoot multiple auroras and to select the strongest one. “We had to contend with the vagaries of the weather,” says Alister, “and on nights when it was cloudy we couldn’t see the aurora at all. Our biggest challenge, however, was the cold, and when you’re out all night north of the Arctic Circle it can be very difficult to keep yourself from freezing. We had the contingency that I already had a lot of footage of the Northern Lights that could have been used, had we been unable to shoot anything fresh, but ultimately we were able to produce some really high quality original material.” Shooting HDR material does, however, change the goalposts for filmmakers in a significant way, and as this technology
man in Alister, who was not only ahead of the curve in terms of his interest in HDR technology but who is also an expert in filming the Northern Lights, considered to be the ideal subject for the film. “I’ve been filming the Northern Lights for the past ten years,” says Alister, “and it really is the perfect subject for this kind of technology. You get intense greens and reds set against a dark sky, while stars are revealed as tiny pinpoints of lights, and it all comes to life on an HDR screen. The Ambilight TVs also have an extra feature in that they project light around the edges of the TV, so that the eye thinks it’s seeing a bigger picture – with a green glow around the sets at IFA the overall effect was amazing.” Alister and a crew from POV Productions set off for northern Norway last March, with a view to spending a week or more in the area so that multiple
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SPRING 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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