BLONDE PRODUCTION.
PAINT IT BLACK & WHITE One of Irvin’s two cameras, an experimental monochrome Arri Alexa, served as inspiration for much of the film’s unconventional visual choices, including one haunting infrared sequence
larger scale and applied to a fitting subject, it takes on a poignant meaning. “The approach is completely motivated by Marilyn’s lack of – but at the same time need for – stability in life. I feel we found a way to support that sense of desire and continual denial. “I value images existing as metaphors rather than symbols. In that way, they’re indefinite in meaning,” Irvin continues. “For that reason, I was protecting a somewhat arbitrary approach to each individual shot. All I needed was an understanding of the gesture, and how it connected with Marilyn. I abstained from thinking about it on a per-scene level, because I felt if I went down that road it would start coming off as a contrivance, where I wanted it to be abstract. If I had preconceived everything and executed it at intervals, it would have been an imposition on the spectator – so I shot it in a way that lacked stability, true to the metaphor. I couldn’t even logically harness why I approached each scene the way I did. I’d put it down to intuition.” Contrary to this, keen-eyed viewers will notice a number of moments pulled straight from Marilyn Monroe’s non- fictionalised life. Sequences mimicked photographs exactly, with scenes staged in what were once photographs. While closer to the truth than the rest of the film, these shots were, once again, designed to carry intrinsic meaning. As we gaze on, we’re
forced to ask – as Marilyn herself may well have – where does woman end and myth begin? “Sometimes, when we set those shots up, they felt so contrived – but I saw their purpose. To look at them, it feels like she’s a ghost,” Irvin explains. “In the final scene, when she dies on her bed, she rolls over and clinches the pillow. That’s a recreation of a still from the last series Marilyn had taken in her life – which has a tragic backstory itself. In them, she’s smiling as Marilyn, but Norma Jeane was broken. We applied that iconography to her death. In the film, Norma dies, but the Within such a context, a considered camera and lens choice remained paramount, albeit for atypical reasons. To fulfil the desire for varied looks, Irvin chose not one camera, but two – and a selection of glass. A rare monochrome Arri Alexa was met by the Sony Venice, with both used prolifically throughout. figure of Marilyn remains.” THE CREATIVE TOOLKIT “Andrew and I both experimented with the black & white Alexa. There are only a few of them in the world and they’re considered scientific cameras, so I don’t know if they’ve ever been used on a feature film,” Irvin muses. “I love the look of the sensor. In a way, it better represents stills photography than Super 35, because of the grain structure and size.
“I was protecting an arbitrary approach. If I had preconceived everything it would have been an imposition on the spectator – so I shot it in a way that lacked stability, true to the metaphor”
35. NOVEMBER 2022
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