PRODUCTION | CAMER IMAGE
AURÉLIEN MARRA
Aurélien Marra photographed Two of Us , which depicts the challenges of elderly Nina and Madeleine’s secret relationship. Marra himself describes the film “more as a thriller”. He says: “We wished to show how one’s anxieties can warp reality. Visual elements like lighting needed to create a feeling of unease and were suggestive of a strained happiness, in spite of Nina and Madeleine’s apparent lightness. The schedule was tight, as they always are nowadays. “We didn’t have much time to improvise, and I believe our solid preparation is what allowed us to meet our goals,” Marra explains. On the camera front, Marra opted to use the Sony Venice. “I was convinced after seeing some tests at the AFC’s Micro Salon – they instantly revealed the camera’s range of possibilities. “As for lenses, we chose the Bausch & Lomb Super Baltars rehoused by True Lens Services, mainly for their beautiful round bokeh and our enthusiasm for the 25mm lens, which we felt had to be our main focal length. “The movie’s overall look was outside of a definite timeframe. I didn’t choose the lenses for some romantic notion of depicting timelessness. My interest mainly focused on their ability to offer different looks by varying aperture – that’s a creative freedom I enjoy,” he concludes.
RAUNO RONKAINEN
The film Helene , shot by Rauno Ronkainen, is based on the life of Finnish painter, Helene Schjerfbeck. According to Ronkainen: “The film was made not as a biography, but rather as a dramatic snapshot of a moment in Helene’s life, during which time she fell desperately in love with a younger man who couldn’t reciprocate her feelings. “She is struggling with romantic desperation and doubt, but she’s also locked into her need to create as well as the anxious process of painting,” says Ronkainen, shedding some more light. “This was something I deeply wanted to express in my images to show how an artist sees and experiences the world around her. Her sense of colour, composition, balance and detail – all this made me want to create a filmic world, seen through her eyes. “I wanted to create something unique,” he continues. “We tested techniques and equipment and discussed lighting and colour, all relating to Schjerfbeck’s paintings.” A good artist knows his tools, and Ronkainen is no different. “We used the Sony Venice with a set of Cooke Anamorphics,” he tells us. “Their characteristics allowed me to create a ‘keyhole’, like seeing into the past. “The lenses in particular created a somewhat distorted image with the iris wide open. This let us show not how things were, but how they felt. This element of imagination, or dreaming, or memory, was vital to the film.”
ENERGACAMERIMAGE FESTIVAL 2020 TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 14-21 NOVEMBER.
22 DEF I N I T ION | NOVEMBER 2020
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