PRODUCTION 3 BODY PROBLEM
A WIDESCREEN FORMAT MADE SENSE TO CONVEY the scale of individuals IN A LANDSCAPE”
according to Jonathan Freeman, ASC, a Canadian DOP who won an Emmy for Boardwalk Empire and has also worked with directors Russell Mulcahy, Richard Loncraine and Robert Lepage. His first decision was determining the aspect ratio. Game of Thrones was presented in familiar 1.78:1, but for a story at least partly set in outer space, they discussed using several framing formats. “I was keen on the notion of a wider aspect ratio because eventually this story will expand into space,” Freeman says. “A wider-screen format of 2:39 or 2:35 is used in many successful space odysseys to represent the vastness of space and the distance between elements, whether between two planets or an astronaut
floating over a planet. A widescreen format also made sense for the VR game, where we need to convey the scale of individual figures in a landscape, Lawrence of Arabia style.” A storyline in episode 5 about a giant freighter ship also suggested a wider-screen frame. They decided to stick with 2:35 shooting on ARRI ALEXA LF, but to divide earthbound scenes of relative normality from the hyper-real sequences of the VR world by using different glass. “Given that the first couple of episodes jump from scenes set during the Chinese Cultural Revolution to contemporary scenes in London, and to lean into the cinematic language of films set in space, my preference was for anamorphic. I felt
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