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(pag 14)
El Hombre Araña contra el Mundo is the second
Spanish feature film to be shot entirely in High Definition.
Although the digital format is fully assimilated HD
is still something of a novelty, which presents remarkable
differences with celluloid when it comes to filming.
Alfonso Parra, Director of Photography, and Concha Marti,
make-up director, have described the technical details
of this shoot and the challenges faced by their departments.
El Hombre Araña contra el Mundo tells the story
of the peculiar way a 25 year-old man from in a working
class neighbourhood takes care of his family after the
death of his father. It’s a naturalistic film,
an actors film. That’s why its director, Chiqui
Carabantes, isn’t concerned about working with
film or HD, but is aware of the advantages of the latter,
such as “not having a limited amount of stock
or having a clearer idea of what the end result will
look like, and in that way control the image better”.
This is Carabantes’ feature debut, produced by
Jaleo Films, Letra M and Canal Sur TV, with a budget
of approximately 1,200,00 euros, starring Julian Villagran.
The directors previous work, with more than 40 awards
for Los Dias Felices (35mm/10’) and Bailongas
(35mm/10’), and his own training and work as an
actor, have led him to make the film, which is focuses
on the work of the actors.
Until now, the only Spanish feature shot entirely in
HD, with a HDW- F900, was Sex and Lucia by Julio Medem,
which wasn’t a referent for Chiqui. “That
was a very audacious project. The world of El Hombre
Araña contra el Mundo is much more realistic”,
explains the filmmaker. That world has determined the
work of the DoP and the make-up department. Alfonso
Parra has been working since 1992 as a DoP, and examples
of his work include Mama es Boba, by Santiago Lorenzo;
the documentary Berlineses, by Felipe Vega; the Tv series
Europa for Argentinian Tv and many several projects
in advertising, music videos and theatre.
Parra has explained to Cinevideo20 the technical configurations,
tests and differences of High Definition that he encountered
while making El Hombre Araña contra el Mundo.
As for the camera menu configurations, he works mainly
on the gamma section, as much on the median greys as
on the shadows and highlights (Knee, gamma and blackgamma).
Using all kinds of filters, 4 x 4 by Tiffen for the
correction of colour temperature and contrast: series
85, Promist, Neutral. The set of lenses used were 10,
15, 24 and 35mm Prime lenses by Canon, as well as a
HDTV Zoom HJ 15x8. These prime lenses are adapted from
the EJ Cannon series for High Definition.
Technical tests
The technical tests focused on the reproduction of colour,
contrast and the capacity of the camera with the different
EJ lenses, filming the image with Arrilaser on Kodak
internegative and printing
(Pag 15)
over Kodak Vision. To determine the “effective
exposure” of the camera, we photographed a Kodak
grey reference card at 18% reflectance, with each and
every one of the lenses, and at different F-stops, noting
down the voltage values using a wave monitor. “We
filmed with Arrilaser over internegative, measuring
with the sensitometer the values of the video signal
with the photographic densities”, says Parra.
To have an approximate idea of what the end result would
look like on the screen, he explains: “During
the shoot I constantly carry a wave monitor which, just
like a light-metre, indicates the values of the image
that I then compare to the table of densities”.
Other tests were done by filming the resolution and
colour cards, as well as make-up and costume tests:
“From the more technical tests we concluded that
the results of the EJ lenses is quite satisfactory in
terms of homogeneity observing only a slight loss of
luminosity ( less than 1/3 of the aperture) in 35mm,
and a slight increase in contrast with the 10 and 15mm
lenses”. The camera’s sensitivity is around
320 ASA, which is modified with the use of certain parameters,
such as gamma. “The resolution of the camera as
well as the lenses was more than enough for the kind
of film we were making”, Parra concluded. The
results of these tests were approved by the director
and the producers given the surprising quality the camera
achieved.
Disadvantages of HD
Although HD approximates film quality, negative emulsions
still have a lot more resolution and latitude than HD.
Alfonso Parra gave details about some of these disadvantages,
and the different way in which the negative captures
colour, with a wider range in the reproduction of slight
colour differences. The HD camera has just about half
the resolution of the standard 35mm and a latitude of
5 points in the diaphragm, compared to the 10 of the
negative and the 7 of the positive. The colour range
that the HD camera uses is RGB, which digitises at 10-bit
to compress to 8 in the recording of the tape. This
translates into a lower capacity to capture subtle colour
shades, specially towards the lower end of the spectrum
( blues and purples), and an excessively saturated reproduction
of reds, oranges and yellows, which affects the skin
tones as we saw during the make-up tests. To compensate
for this inconvenient, Parra explains, “we will
work more on the colour in the colour grading that we
will do at Jaleo. In the camera I chose a colour Matrix
(SMPTE – Wide ) that gives lighter tones. I also
tune the lighting equipment with the Calcolor series
by Rosco, to achieve slight colour dominances, which
later during colour grading will allow me to obtain
the desired results”.
Another of the drawbacks found in the HD camera is the
lack of a greater latitude, which makes it lose detail
in the highlights and so any shine, however small, starts
burning and becomes a white spot. On the other hand,
he notes the outstanding amount of details captured
by the camera in low light and how it achieves an excellent
balance of colour, where photographic emulsions tend
towards darker tones.
In exteriors, according to Parra, the problem normally
revolves around reducing the level of light to have
greater detail ranging from the shadows to the lights.
In order to do this, he exposes for the highlights,
sometimes lighting the shadows with cinepar, other times
using reflectors, gels and the standard tools for film
lighting. Similarly he uses polarizing camera filters,
neutros, series 85, Promist, etc. He often also works
with the Knee menu of the camera, giving special attention
to the choice of the time of the day and the framing.
Another of the points brought up by the DoP is the difference
in the depth of field between the two formats. “The
diagonal of the CCD is 2,5 times smaller than the 35mm”,
explains Parra, “which means that the HD camera
has, at the same F-stop, more than twice the depth of
field than 35mm, with the limitations this implies in
the use of the focus as a formal strategy. We have used
larger focal lengths and very low apertures to solve
this difference”.
(Pag 16)
For Parra, we must take into account the fact that the
image we see on the big screen betrays the original
medium with which it was captured, so, for example,
light and colour transitions feel smoother and more
natural on negative than on HD, where these are always
more abrupt. (Film photographs on more or less uniform
HALUROS DE PLATA grains, whereas HD does it on dots).
He acknowledges however that “such differences
are being visibly addressed since the appearance of
the Sony camera, which shoots in the same way as a film
camera: 24 images per second, as individual, separate
frames” and that understanding the way the camera
works, one can obtain fantastic results on the big screen,
to the point where the audience can’t tell whether
the images are 35mm or HD.
Advantages of HD
As for the advantages of this new format Parra pointed
out the consistency of all things digital, the possibility
of constructing an image with photographic precision,
until now only restricted to computer generated digital
effects, without being subjected to the delicate mechanical
processes of film.
“With HD one can configure the image in the shoot,
in the electronic colour grading, the kinescoping and
printing with a wide range of possibilities when it
comes to correcting colour, achieving tones, lights,
shadows and effects which are not available in film”,
he adds.
He also pointed out that “the digital camera allows
for greater flexibility when it comes to shooting, and,
in a film like this, where the actors performance is
crucial, we can shoot as many takes as we need without
having to worry about using up too much stock”.
Make up
When we talk about being photogenic, we make a direct
link with lighting, but make up is equally essential
when it comes to working this feature. Concha Marti,
head makeup artist for this production, shares with
us the challenges she faced while working with this
new format. Martí, nominee for best make-up in
this year’s “Goyas” for her work in
Buñuel and King Salomon’s Table, has been
working as a film makeup artist for fourteen years,
having trained extensively with Dick Smith.
The makeup tests consisted of close-ups of the actors
with different tones and colours, as well as wide shots
for costume and different kinds of lighting. For Martí,
working in HD doesn’t represent a limitation,
however, it “requires adaptation to find what
is best to this medium, and the study of the specific
variations that are required for this format”.
Regarding the differences with 35mm, the fast loss of
detail under strong lighting stands out, which increases
the luminosity of the whites (eyes, teeth..) and requires
a more matt toning for the skin. To this purpose, she
used an oil-free facial cream, a makeup base that contains
vegetable instead of mineral oils, to lessen any facial
shines. Glycerine was substituted by more watery mixes
to obtain artificial sweat. Due to this loss, and to
counterbalance, she uses makeup with tonalities that
are made with a high content of pigments(50%), which
provides the skin with a thick covering. Another difference
is the intensified use of the reds, which means that
corrections are needed on women’s skin, which
tends towards pink tones. This means that additional
tones and mixes are necessary (minus red 1667 RCMA),
or blue-greens that counterbalance heavy reds. For the
basic masculine tonalities they avoid the use tones
that go from bronzed pink to reddish brown. Concha has
had to also use special tones to create specific characterising
effects like bruises or cuts with artificial blood.
Martí has highlighted the importance of “coordination
with the DoP, to adapt the lighting to the makeup as
well as to the previous designing of the appropriate
colours”.
Necessary improvements
HD cameras have just appeared in the market so naturally
they will be improved progressively. According to Alfonso
Parra, the most urgently needed improvements are the
view-finder in the Sony HD, inadequate when it comes
to composing, which is particularly problematic when
shooting at night. The 8-bit compression system of signal
recording is still a problem when capturing high contrast,
subtle colour details.” To conclude, Parra states
that shooting in HD for theatrical projection includes
several very important processes that affect the final
quality of the image. This depends of the lighting,
the camera, the electronic colour grading ( with Jaleo,
telecine, etc. ) the transfer (laser, crt, etc ) and
the printing in the lab. Each one of these processes
adds variations to the image which affect the photography,
and by extension, the film. “Its our responsibility
as Directors of Photography to control and supervise
all these processes, knowing how they work and using
them to make a better film”. |
