Some observations about 'Dallas Buyers Club'

[Karim D. Ghantous]

I watched this film on a PAL DVD yesterday. I am not usually adept at picking digital cameras (film usually stands out like a '50s Ferrari on a suburban street). But as I watched the movie, I thought: well, it's not a bad looking picture; film-like, but without soul; it's like digital pretending to be film with those milky shadows; probably Alexa? Well, it seems I was right.


I'm not really sure about the mental processes that make DPs choose this camera. I mean, if it was cheap - I'd be all for it! But, come on... Hell, I'd have chosen 16mm or 2-perf 35mm. (IMO: Film, then RED, then Alexa).


Maybe the final cut should have gone to a film intermediate.


It was a very good film, story-wise and performance-wise, though I know so much about AIDS now that the technical aspects of AIDS treatments in the script felt much too simple. But this is a human story, not a documentary!


I recommend it, if you like a well made film.

 

[Mike Quill]

I would say DBC has a lot of soul, both in story and in imagery! Great example of how amazing the Alexa is.

 

[Daniel Pearson]

I haven't seen the film yet but there are plenty of amazing looking films shot on Alexa, Drive springs to mind.

 

[Carlos Reyes]

I would say DBC has a lot of soul, both in story and in imagery! Great example of how amazing the Alexa is.

Agreed. I think it's pretty silly to claim it would have had more "soul" had it been shot on RED.

http://www.cinemareview.com/production.asp?prodid=16894

The director remarks, "I now had a perfect opportunity to try to shoot an entire movie without artificial lights, using the Alexa digital camera. Like the RED, the Alexa offers a broad spectrum of colors and shadows in even the darkest natural lighting conditions."

"I felt that the approach was right for this project. The look and feel became that we were capturing reality; even though Dallas Buyers Club is not a documentary in content or structure, it could have that subtle quality. We shot the movie 100% handheld with two lenses, a 35-millimeter and a 50-millimeter. These get close to the actors and don't skew the images. [Director of Photography] Yves Belanger adjusted for every shot at 400 or 1600 ASA [camera speed], displaying different color balance."

 

[Brian Anderson]

I watched this film on a PAL DVD yesterday. I am not usually adept at picking digital cameras (film usually stands out like a '50s Ferrari on a suburban street). But as I watched the movie, I thought: well, it's not a bad looking picture; film-like, but without soul; it's like digital pretending to be film with those milky shadows; probably Alexa?

Off topic but did you notice the picture of the Aventador behind Mcconaughey in a 1980 period film lol..
Saw it last night and when you mentioned cars this came to mind.
Overall I liked the look of the film... It had the "film look"

 

[Mike P.]

Does that mean it was shot with ONLY practical lighting? Is that what he means by "without artificial lights"?

Is there any BTS?

EDIT: Reading the article now... that's crazzzzy.

EDIT2: Does anyone know *what* lenses it was shot on? It says "only a 35mm and 50mm", but it'd be nice to know if they were Master Primes at t1.3 or something.

 

[Karim D. Ghantous]

Off topic but did you notice the picture of the Aventador behind Mcconaughey in a 1980 period film lol..

Actually I did, but it didn't properly register until you mentioned it! That must have been deliberate - maybe a joke by the director.

 

[EMMANUEL DELPECH]

The movie looks pretty good, although it doesn't really matter, it's not a movie that needs great visuals, the Alexa continues to impress me though, although I still like RED better.

 

[Zakaree Sandberg]

weird thread...

DBC looked great..

great choice on camera

 

[Julio Quintana]

weird thread...

DBC looked great..

great choice on camera

Agreed. I'm not sure how the movie would have been been better or worse if shot on Epic, F65, or 35mm. There is a minimum level of quality that all these formats meet and then you are just evaluating story, performance, etc. This was an intimate character drama, not Baraka or Lawrence of Arabia.

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

I watched this film on a PAL DVD yesterday.

Perhaps this is the issue. It looked pretty good in the cinema.
The aesthetic felt just about right for the story and the intent mentioned in the article.

 

[Van Royko]

The used old Zeiss 1.4 Super Speeds. At least thats what one of the camera assistants who worked on it told me.