STANDOUT CINEMATOGRAPHY
– Katie Kasperson TRON: ARES
When Disney dropped Tron in 1982, it was met with mixed reviews and a meagre box office performance. Visually, it broke ground as one of the first feature films to use extensive computer-generated imagery, but it was disqualified from the Academy Awards’ visual effects category – back then, using CGI was synonymous with cheating. In the four decades since its debut, Tron has spun off an animated TV series and two sequels – including Tron: Ares, released earlier this year. The third instalment in the Tron film trilogy, Tron: Ares is a tale of an agentic, intelligent programme designed as a soldier with superhuman strength. Instead of taking viewers into ‘the Grid’, as before, Ares brings the Grid into our reality. This has some interesting implications on the film’s visuals and raises existential questions, too: what
happens when our physical and digital worlds start to merge together? (The answer: nothing good.) Inspired by its predecessors, Tron: Ares , led by DOP Jeff Cronenweth, uses Tron ’s trademark look: highly computerised images that resemble video game graphics, Light Cycles and laser beams. In Ares, we’re also
treated to the titular character’s perspective: a view of the physical world through a digital lens. Filmed for IMAX with a RED camera, an Atomos Sumo HDR monitor and ARRI spherical glass, Tron: Ares blends action with science fiction. It’s a not-too-distant dystopia that uses modern filmmaking techniques, while staying true to its roots.
A RED CAMERA, AN Atomos Sumo HDR monitor AND ARRI spherical glass ”
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