DRAMA | CATCH -22
REFERENCES To help understand the period, production designer David Gropman provided a lot of stills from Heller’s regiment to show the team what life in those camps was like, along with viewing historical newsreel footage. Then, during camera tests, stills were taken and placed into Photoshop to match the old postcard look of the era. Company 3, which would handle the digital intermediates, then created LUTs for the cameras to match the required looks. With more than 20 years of experience with Cooke lenses, Ruhe knew from the start that he wanted the S4/i primes. “I first grew attached to Cookes on commercials, and I shot The American with S4s as well as The Keeping Room , where I also used original Cooke Speed Panchros,” he says. “They are just beautiful in the way that they fall off, how they flare and the texture you get from them. This is especially important when shooting in digital, as the lenses give you a nice organic feel. There’s just something so beautiful about I first grew attached to Cookes on commercials and went on to shoot The American with them
ABOVE Martin Ruhe with his Arri Alexa Mini/Cooke S4/i camera and lens package
STANDOUT SCENE For Ruhe, one of the standout scenes from Catch-22 for the S4/i was in episode six. “I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but there’s a scene in that episode that was entirely shot with the 32mm,” he explains. “It’s so close to the faces of the actors and so intimate, which I just love. You’ll have to see the scene to understand it, but every DOP out there will know what I’m talking about when they watch that episode. It just looks great.” CATCH 22 IS ON HULU IN THE US AND CHANNEL 4 IN THE UK.
the Cookes, and I go back to them time and time again. And the close-up with the 32mm is just the perfect tool.” For both the ground and aerial scenes, Ruhe went for a natural look. This was especially important on board the planes as he didn’t want them to be too perfectly lit. For ground interiors, a 120x75ft soft sail and grey screen was used with a 20K standing in for sunlight. “You want people to feel the heat of the day,” explains Ruhe. “We worked with hard contrast; blow out when inside the tent looking out. I think this looked quite natural, as I wanted to convey the feeling of heat.”
BELOW The shoot was perfect for Arri’s Alexa Mini’s small footprint
ABOVE A telescopic crane shot in Catch-22
22 DEF I N I T ION | AUGUST 20 1 9
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