PRODUCTION FRANKENSTEIN
like a period movie. “We wanted to take a more modern approach. We had lots of early discussions about that and about moving the camera more than we’d done before. The takes in this movie were much longer and all the sets and shots were less designed than in The Shape of Water . We were a little bit looser in the camerawork, although it is still very precise. I think that’s great for the story and for the actors. The lights and movement should be very precise, but also a little bit loose on the other hand.” PLAYING WITH COLOUR Lighting was an integral part of the discussions, with Laustsen and del Toro preferring single light sources. They wanted to keep practical fixtures out of the frames as much as possible. Laustsen cites the ship sequences as an example of this. “We have all the soldiers holding torches when they’re standing. We like light when it’s organic and moving around. We did speak about whether or not live action flame torches would be too dangerous, but I fought very hard for them because when the wind and light is changing, they look organic and really beautiful in the light.” Laustsen tested using candles to light the older sets, though he admits candlelight can get too soft. He used candles within the frame, but relied on light fixtures and fire effects for the key lighting. “Half of our fire effects were visual effects,” he says. “For example, if I am putting a light into the chimney or
the fireplace, our visual effects supervisor Dennis Berardi is putting a flame on top of that light. We were cheating a lot in that sense.” In terms of practical lighting fixtures, Laustsen resorted to old-fashioned lights. “We had big lights outside the windows: 24K Raptors and 24K Dinos. We used more tungsten light in the studio,” he details. “We had LED lights as well. On location, you have to work with where you are and so some of those were led with tungsten and some HMI. I’m never using HMI in the studios, however. If I need steel blue, then I put steel blue on the lights at the studio. The locations are always another discussion because you are fighting the sun, the weather and the elements. It’s a challenge, but when you have time to do it right it looks really nice.” Laustsen is no stranger to steel blue, having frequently used the colour across
his other films. “We attempted to escape from steel blue colours, but we love it so much,” he says. “It works so well with the ambers and golds and so we returned to it again. We tried to get away from it but couldn’t, and it works so well in this movie. Red was another important colour and element in the flashback sequences with Frankenstein’s mother, it’s very distinctive with her dress and the blood.” The sets, creature, costume design, hair and makeup and the overall colour palette were meticulously planned down to the smallest details. “We were not going to change the colour in post,” says Laustsen. “Our dailies and the final movie are very alike. We’re not making it warmer or colder because if you do that then the whole colour palette is sliding to another side. We shot a lot of tests during pre- production to make sure we had the right colour on both the costumes and sets.
IN THE THICK OF IT Laustsen rose to the challenge of shooting on location
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