Trends in Cinematography for Independent Filmmaking

There is no one size fits all formula for shooting independent films. It is like composing music or painting portraits. Every cinematographer does it differently based on their collaboration with the director, the story, budget, locations, sets, as well as their innate talent, experience and the relationships that they can draw on for support. Here, several filmmakers talk about their recent experiences:

The Last Word was written and directed by Geoffrey Haley. He was also the A camera/Steadicam operator. His observations were echoed by Kees Van Oostrum, ASC, who shot that film, and by six other cinematographers who shared their thoughts about working in collaborative relationships on independent features with budgets ranging from $600,000 to $10 million.

The Last Word was Haley's first turn at the helm since he was a student at Stanford University. He has earned some 50 credits as a camera/Steadicam operator since 1996, including various films that were shot by Van Oostrum. The main character is a writer who makes his living authoring suicide notes for people. The film was produced in Los Angeles, where familiar landscapes play like characters in the story.

Van Oostrum didn't need to convince Haley that the 2.4:1 aspect ratio was the right aesthetic when he suggested producing the film in 35 mm anamorphic format.

"I had always envisioned a widescreen aspect ratio, but planned to shoot in Super 35 format combined with DI (digital intermediate) timing," Haley says. "Kees made a compelling argument for the richness of the anamorphic format. Panavision has reworked a lot of their anamorphic lenses, including a fantastic E Series 2:1 zoom that is just as good as their Primes. We figured that we could shoot 50 to 70 percent of the film with that one zoom lens."

Haley and Van Oostrum also agreed that it made aesthetic and practical sense to shoot long takes, usually with a single camera, to give the audience time to see what was happening in each frame. They had a 24-day shooting schedule with about 20 pages of the 100-page script set in the main character's apartment, which was the only set. The rest of the film was shot at various locations, including a café where the writer meets with his clients.

Van Oostrum notes that shooting in Los Angeles enabled him to recruit a talented and experienced crew who were happy to be working close to home. It also gave him affordable access to the tools he needed, e.g., it wasn't a problem renting a Fisher crane for part of a day.

Southland Tales was written and directed by Richard Kelly. The story takes the audience on a surrealistic journey to a future time in Los Angeles when the city is on the brink of environmental and economic disasters that are fostering political unrest. Steven Poster, ASC was the cinematographer. He and Kelly agreed during their earliest discussions to compose Southland Tales in widescreen 2.4:1 aspect ratio, because it enabled them to shoot close-ups with wide-angle lenses and include other characters and backgrounds in the frame.

Poster suggested shooting in Super 35 format on three-perf negative combined with digital intermediate (DI) timing that would enable them to add painterly touches to the look. The three-perf film helped to off-set the cost of the DI without compromising image quality. It also enabled them to shoot 25 percent longer takes without changing magazines.

There was a large ensemble cast and an ambitious six-week shooting schedule, mainly on the Santa Monica Pier, beaches and other locations in Los Angeles. Poster cites an example of how the DI affected decisions made during production: "We had a scene with one of our main female characters sitting on steps at the bottom of a staircase. Richard (Kelly) and I agreed that we wanted a darker look in the background. Instead of spending time flagging ambient light off the background, I decided we could do it in just a few moments in DI."

The Nines was written and directed by John August. Nancy Schreiber, ASC was the cinematographer. The film takes the audience on a ride through three different, but subtly interconnected stories. The same three actors played different roles in all three segments.

During preproduction, August and Schreiber decided to shoot each segment in a different format and blend the images into a seamless story with subtly different looks in DI.

Schreiber convinced August to produce the first segment in Super 16 film format instead of digital HD because the setting was his house, which has large windows in almost every room. She explains that the latitude film provides enabled them to shoot those scenes without blowing out backgrounds outside of windows and open doors. The second segment was produced in standard video 24P format rather than HD as originally considered, because it rendered a "somewhat rawer" look that felt right. The third segment called for a filmic look. It was produced in three-perf 35 mm format mostly in a wooded area with a few scenes in August's house.

They had 24 days to complete an ambitious shooting schedule. In part one, the Super 16 camera was static. In part two, the digital camera was handheld, and in the 35 mm segment, Schreiber used extensive dolly and Steadicam movements, a 30-foot Technocrane in the woods, and a small Technocrane in August's house. The differences in looks and visual styles are nuanced rather than obvious.

"It's something we want the audience to feel rather than see," Schreiber explains.

The Dukes was produced and directed by veteran actor Robert Davi, who also co-authored the script and stars in the film. The story revolves around two aging men who were part of a popular doo-wop group during the late 1960s. It was produced in Los Angeles because Davi felt that the locations were right for the story. It also made it practical and affordable to assemble a large and talented cast who were happy to be working close to home.

A colleague who had worked with Michael Goi, ASC on another project introduced Davi to the cinematographer. Goi suggested producing The Dukes in Super 16 format. He had just seen a demonstration of a new and affordable DI system at LaserPacific in Hollywood that would work for The Dukes.

Locations included a private home, streets in an urban area and a tunnel on a road in Malibu. Goi generally shot daylight exteriors in available light.

"I knew that I could tell the DI colorist to tone down the sky in an exterior shot filmed on a sunny day to match footage that was filmed under cloud cover," he says. "We also isolated and toned down the harsher daylight elements of a few shots, and smoothed out some skin tones. There was one scene where the sun went down and it was almost dark by the time we finished shooting. Instead of a pick-up shot on another day, we evened it out in DI."

Save Me is the story of a drug and sex-addicted young man who joins a Christian-run mission where he comes to terms with who he is in heart and spirit. It was the first collaboration for cinematographer Rodney Taylor, ASC and director Robert Cary. The film was produced in 35 mm anamorphic format. Taylor explains that they wanted to frame the story in the widescreen 2.4:1 aspect ratio because there were many scenes with multiple characters interacting in environments that are part of the story. They didn't see a need for a DI and preferred the unique richness of images rendered with anamorphic lenses.

The producers chose New Mexico because of tax incentives. The locations were right, including an old health spa resort where more than half of the film was shot. They had an 18-day shooting schedule. Taylor had to scramble to assemble a crew, because there were eight films being shot in New Mexico at the same time. He brought a couple of his regular collaborators from Los Angeles. Locals filled out the rest his crew. Taylor created two subtly different looks to visually punctuate differences in the emotional flow of the story. He added a painterly touch to selected scenes by capturing images on KODAK VISION2 5279, a 500-speed stock that is designed to record somewhat denser and more contrasty images. Taylor over exposed the film about 1.5 stops to create a "rougher" look.

La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon) is a Spanish-language film with English sub-titles. It was written by Ligiah Villalobos, who co-produced the film with director Patricia Riggen. It was her first turn at the helm on a long form, narrative film. The cinematographer was Checco Varesse, AMC who had previously lensed her documentary Family Portrait. Riggen and Varesse also collaborate in their relationship as husband and wife. La Misma Luna is a road movie and love story about the relationship between a mother and her 9-year-old son. She is an illegal immigrant who works as a housekeeper in Los Angeles to support her son who lives in Mexico with his grandmother. When the grandmother dies, the boy decides to find his mother. He wends his way past authorities at the border, hitchhikes and rides buses across seven states on his way to Los Angeles.

"Patricia asked me to help figure out the difference in costs for producing the film in Super 16, 35 mm and digital HD format with everything included," Varesse says. "We found that it would have cost a little less to produce the film in Super 16 format, and when everything was considered there was no difference between digital HD and three-perf 35 mm film." They chose to produce the film in three-perf Super 35 mm format with a DI finish.

Varesse explains that La Misma Luna was mainly filmed in Mexico at exterior locations with expansive landscapes. He knew they could match shots taken at different times of day for continuity and create a visual arc that flows with the emotions of the story in DI. They had a 24-day production schedule, including four days in Los Angeles. The boy is portrayed by a 12-year-old actor. Varesse mainly worked with a single camera. There were rarely more than two takes of scenes with the young actor.

"Sometimes we lowered the camera angle so the audience sees the world through his eyes," he says. "When Patricia wanted the audience feel the danger, the camera looks down on the boy from an adult's perspective. That subtle dance helps to convey his emotions."

Varesse chose emulsions like a painter selecting different paints for his palette. He recorded exterior scenes on KODAK VISION2 5217 negative, a 200-speed film that enabled him to reach into the darkest shadows without losing highlights in the frame. When it got darker and for some interiors, he chose the 500-speed KODAK VISION2 5218 stock.

Meet the Browns opens with Angela Bassett portraying Brenda, a single mother who is raising a 17-year-old son and 10- and 12-year-old daughters in an inner city housing project in Chicago. When the father she never knew dies in a small town in Georgia, Brenda brings her family to the funeral. That is where they meet the Browns, her father's family in Georgia.

It was Sissel's first collaboration with director Tyler Perry, who also wrote the script and plays "a wild" 60-plus female character in the Brown family. Perry began his career as a playwright about seven years ago. Meet the Browns is the fifth film he has written and directed in three years. They were all produced by The Tyler Perry Company and distributed by Lionsgate.

The decision to produce Meet the Browns in 35 mm format with images composed in 1.85:1 aspect ratio was made before Sissel was on the scene. She spent four weeks in preproduction, scouting locations, coordinating with the production and costume designers, shooting tests with the actors, and blocking coverage with AD Roger Bobb. Sissel also organized mostly different crews in Chicago and Georgia. There was a 24-day production schedule at 37 practical locations in Chicago and Georgia. They spent the last 10 days filming interior scenes on sets in Georgia.

She generally covered the action with two cameras. One camera was usually on a wider, master shot while the second one covered more intimate close-ups of characters. Sissel moved the cameras more and used longer lenses to isolate people in the frame in Chicago. The Georgia sequences were usually filmed with wider-angle lenses "with more breathing room." Sissel used a Techocrane for shots requiring broad, objective perspectives.

"Tyler knew what he wanted," Sissel says. "He was usually by the camera or in front of it when he was performing. We rarely did more than two takes. Sometimes he would look at the monitor, and tell us to come in closer to a character. We could do that in minutes with the zoom lenses. Once we planned a 180-degree move with a Technocrane. Tyler decided that he wanted to circle the scene instead with a 360-degree move. I needed about 15 minutes to re-light."