PRODUCTION FOE
same is true of the way in which Erdély and Davis have textured her tale. “The contrast between the house and the landscape immediately creates this amazing tension,” Erdély says. “That was already written in the visual structure of the film.” Erdély’s primary challenge when creating the stifling feel of Hen’s life in the farmstead was to ensure the light remained consistent throughout. “You might have a five-minute scene shot over the course of a few days, and I have to think about what natural light I can use and what I have to fight. “For example, if you’re in a room and the sun comes in in the morning but it goes away in the afternoon, then I need to block the direct sun coming in so it’s consistent throughout the day. You have to have an understanding of what you’re dealing with because then you have to order certain equipment to make sure you can do it.” The equipment can be high-tech or low. When moving to Melbourne’s Docklands Studios, which housed the first floor and basement of the farmhouse interior (along with the chicken farm and the space installation, OuterMore), Erdély needed equipment that would help create a seamless transition. He went “old-school,” he says. “We had to be really smart about how to connect these shots. We would cut from a shot that was captured on location to a shot that was in the studio, and we kind of went old-school with this by using Translites. That gave us control on set over the colour and the amount of light that is reaching the lens. Patrice [Vermette, the Academy Award-winning
production designer] really fought to make sure they were perfect, and that was a massive help for us.” The time spent on set at Docklands was just as intense as the time spent on location, the nature of the film requiring Erdély and his team to shoot very close to the three actors. “Obviously, we want to make sure that whatever we do, we do it in a way that’s the least intrusive to the actors as possible,” he says, “but occasionally the camera has to be incredibly close to someone’s face or to their performance. “You do not want to compromise your vision. If I feel that I have to physically put the camera across the actors, then I would always talk to the actors, talk to the director, and make sure that they’re OK. I think the biggest influence or inspiration for me was watching these actors at work. They are a really amazing cast and they were one of the reasons I wanted to work on the movie.” Ideally, Erdély would like to have captured the amazing cast on film, but was hindered by the dearth of film labs in Australia. “It is a sad thing there are no
HIGHLY DECORATED Erdély also secured the Camerimage Bronze Frog for Son of Saul
film labs in Australia anymore. How is that is even possible? I think that’s something that needs to be fixed. And please quote me on that.” He turned to the Alexa 65. “We were able to get that camera system to Australia, which, I would say, is the best digital format there is. It has the biggest chip and an amazing format. It is the most cinematic, or most filmic, of all the digital formats, I think, and it’s actually really, really beautiful.” Erdély likes its heft. “The camera physically is nice and big and heavy, which I really like. It’s great for handheld work and it’s always nice to have toys like it. I always enjoy the big, big cameras.” Later this year comes Erdély’s next film, Iron Claw , which looks into the life of professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich and features Zac Efron in the lead role. “Just be very excited,” laughs Erdély. “Watch this, watch that – the same guy shot it. I really hope that it is different. It’s the opposite of Foe in many ways, but there are also a lot of similarities, because it’s also a very emotional film.”
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