DEFINITION June 2018

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SHOOT STORY YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

lenses with a mixture of C-series, a couple of E-series and then AL Series. It wasn’t a huge set of lenses but we carried two 50mm and a couple of 75mm lenses, only because the C series in those focal lengths have nice characteristic and flare. But the ALs, which were much bigger and heavier, didn’t have any of the slight aberrations or slightly weird focus drop-offs across the frame. Depending on the situation, I would go for the well-behaved lens or the ill-disciplined one.” Tom’s locations sometimes didn’t help with close focus on the anamorphics but he used a 55mm macro lens – it was even inscribed on the lens that it was ‘eye focus only’, as in ‘don’t trust the focus scale’. “That was an invaluable lens on certain occasions when we wanted to be close but also relatively wide angle.” CAMERA MOVEMENT Tom’s usual mode of transport for his camera is a dolly, even if he’s only using it as a tripod substitute, mainly as it’s so much easier to adjust the height. In fact, the first AD on the shoot named Tom’s type of camera movement as ‘heavy camera’. “This mainly meant that it was pretty firmly bolted to the ground for most of the time and it only ever panned

THE MOVIE BUILDS THE NARRATIVE WITH VISUALS

The movie is very light on dialogue scenes and so builds the narrative with the visuals. For a DOP this can be good news as you’re not setting up return shots, which take time. “It was a quiet set most of the time – you could only have the lead actor in the room, quite often you’d set a frame and then see what would happen.” The lighting design didn’t call for any type of separate design for Joaquin, partly because of his lack of vanity. Tom would start with where the light would naturally be coming from, which is easy when you have windows but didn’t help when

if it needed to. That was sort of the style just because Lynne isn’t a fan of hugely choreographed shots, and also just the way the scenes were played out. It didn’t make much sense to plan anything elaborate because things would change on the day. There are a couple of Steadicam shots and a couple of handheld shots but that’s about it. We did have a 30-foot Technocrane locked off but it was the only way to get the camera in to its position, as we had to go over the property of someone who wouldn’t give us a permit. We just parked the base of the crane in a backyard and hoisted the camera over.”

ABOVE Most of the movie was filmed on location, with built sets used for a couple of interiors. BELOW Ekaterina Samsonov plays Nina, who becomes a key part of Joe's story.

DEFINITION JUNE 2018

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