PRODUCTION | CENSOR
ABOVE Enid’s viewing room is completely windowless, lit by desk lamps and overhead fluorescents – the cyan-based palette and subterranean atmosphere provoke claustrophobia in both the characters and the viewers. Close-ups like this are key in helping to generate this fear factor
office’s cramped rooms were key to the plot progression. As the edges of Enid’s prim exterior begin to fray, and she comes face to face with the reality of the video world, the camera becomes less static and transitions into handheld. “We developed it slowly; when she started losing control, we got looser with the camera and eventually went completely handheld.” RED ALERT You feel this tension in the third act, in a forest, where Enid experiences horrifying childhood flashbacks that have taken root in her mind. It is here that Summerson used the Sony Venice instead of 35mm. There’s no need to replicate realistic moonlight – by this point, Censor has catapulted into full-on red and cyan craziness. “It’s giallo-inspired – garish and colourful. The two worlds have married together perfectly,” she says. However, there was still a vast forest space to illuminate – challenging on a budget and tight schedule. The rooms are very small, so I opted for top lighting, then additional floor lamps for close-ups
similar colours before making a decision,” she says. Lighting the office was another story. The environment has a cyan-based palette and feels almost subterranean because there aren’t many windows – the viewing room doesn’t have any. Motivation came mainly from desk lamps and overhead fluorescents. “We wanted to create a close, low-key environment that’s mysterious and frightening. Our intention was always to make the characters feel as if they were sitting in the dark, watching something scary. The rooms are very small, so I opted for top lighting, then additional floor lamps for close-ups. We tried to add in practicals to create depth,” Summerson explains. Although it had its limitations – especially for camera movement – the
CINELAB Cinelab provided the film with various on-set tech and digital imaging services, including the film processing, which involved 93,000ft Super 35mm 3-perf stocks, a Scanity HDR Film Scanner and a 2K ‘scan once’ workflow. Paul Dean, who is the company’s head of scanning and grading, was Censor ’s film dailies colourist.
“We scouted so many forests, because we wanted the right type of trees; they had to be bare and quite uniform. One bigger light source didn’t reach far enough – it needed flat ground to park on, but the forest floor was bumpy. So, we complemented it with HMIs dotted around the trees, and Skypanels for close-ups and mid-shots,” says Summerson. “We had to light 360° as much as we could, because there’s no time to relight for a turnaround in the middle of the night – moving a cable 100m takes forever in the dark. I would have loved more lamps and more time, but honestly, I don’t want to see a forest ever again!” she laughs.
14 DEF I N I T ION | AUGUST 202 1
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