NIGHT TEETH PRODUC T I ON .
production team – from costume to set – had a playbook from which to work. It also provided the framework to build on during production. Along with planning the gradual ramp-up of experimental lighting, Bolter and Randall visually bookmarked the locations throughout the course of the film. This assists the audience in subconsciously understanding the physical world they’re seeing. Bolter explains that, although he was looking to be bold with his colour choices, he didn’t want the unconventional lighting to be purely stylistic and extraneous. There should always be an in-world explanation causing it. “I’ve always been fascinated by cinematographers who are brave enough to wash the whole street in green light – and use colour in a really bold way. Me being me, I require some sort of motivation for the light. I’ve got to be a little bit grounded in reality.” For example, he would intensify the neon signs that peppered the LA skyline, or make use of a large green billboard to flood a street with light – rather than the ghoulish green moon in the world of Night Teeth . This results in a film that feels like it’s set in a heightened, hyperreal version of LA, rather than a cartoonish comic book universe. In order to achieve some of these effects, Bolter got creative with LED and rear projection screens. The club was earmarked to be a blue and purple space, so we first see a large, purple
no-brainer. He tested two of the Caldwell Chameleon Anamorphic lenses. While they do have a large format option, he opted for the Super 35+, which was actually slightly too small for the large format sensor. “We had to zoom in on the sensor by about 3%, which still kept us above the Netflix threshold for 4K.” He explains: “I wanted that because the lenses are sharpest in the middle, and towards the edge the focus just falls apart. It’s got this sort of watery quality that’s gorgeous, and I love all of the distortion. They’ve got the contrast and colour of a modern lens, with the flowering and distortion of an old- fashioned lens.” Though at first it may seem like an odd choice, deciding to use the smaller lenses only exaggerated the distinct aesthetic for which anamorphics are so fervently revered. WITH FLYING COLOURS The daring use of colour throughout the film – lovingly paying homage to neon- noir goliaths such as John Wick and Blade Runner – was achieved by keeping it at the forefront of the minds of everyone on the production team, Bolter reveals. “A long time ago, Adam and I sat down with the script and went through it as colours. We wanted to plot out a visual journey for Benny and go down a rabbit hole – but avoid going too big, too soon. Initially, it’s elegant: moonlight and candlelight for the first party. For the second location, we introduce a blue neon to start to elevate it.” This, he explains, meant the whole
“Deciding to use the smaller lenses only exaggerated the distinct aesthetic for which anamorphics are so fervently revered”
SUPERNATURAL Bolter used light in the film to visually distinguish between
different locations – but the source was always based within real-world logistics
25. DECEMBER 2021
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