The cinematography of PRISONERS

[paulherrin]

Nice Mathew, thanks for the breakdown,and good eye. Wish we could see more posts about the art and breaking down the language of cinema more often.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFt7s00dzNk

Curious if anyone knows how these large rain scenes are shot ? Is the rain real or artificial?

don't know about this one in particular... probably not waiting around for a rain. i've seen everything from firetruck deck guns to rain machines (you can make your own to scale with enough water flow and hose/piping) - also, digital fx augmentation can be very helpful

here's some bts (from video) stuff from a (shot on red1) project i worked on in savannah:

in this case you can see this worked very well for a firehose from the ladder spraying into the existing trees to trickle down 'naturally'

and then just straight-up for a smaller shot, which looks kind of funny but works very well. pressure/spray is very easy for a two-man ff team to control with combination nozzles. i think this was one of the producers driving the trans-am... hehe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDjonticIj4

^if you have the disk, check out the bts he refers to - "super burly brawl" - good stuff all around, demonstrates a great integration of practical/digital fx, not only for rain

okay, interesting stuff but i gotta get back to work

 

[paulherrin]

btw...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-SDsqK-b0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfKoUi3V0F4

 

[Tony M]

Hey Tony, thanks for the input man I totally agree that I should have/will credit the other departments involved, as I know my "breakdowns" aren't all about cinematography or, solely Deakins' work. If you've read any of my other articles you'll notice I seem to talk about team work and collaboration probably more than anything, giving credit where credit is due and appreciating different departments for sure. I wouldn't say that wardrobe and set choice colors have nothing to do with the DP though, I sure as hell talk about it and collaborate with those departments when I DP indy films, so I'm assuming it would definitely happen at the top game, don't you think?
I also agree that I could have put more into each slide in a sense that I could have talked about meaning and perception but come on man! Each one takes 20mins!!! hehe I need to earn a living I kind of try and stay away from that analytical side of how things make people feel, because with the right tongue, I could pretty much convincingly tell you anything hehe...I'd rather leave that sort of interpretation to the viewer/reader and try to stay logical about my analysis.

Loving your additions to my slide though...especially the two-point perspective one.

Thanks for commenting and taking the time to respond

Matt, You are so right, man. I totally AGREE, about needing to earn a living! We all need to, and of course, i know how long it takes to analyze a frame! Which is why i ll say Kudos, again. (you can still hear me bowing and clapping for your effort )
I was just trying to add a little to the immense work you had done already.

About how things make people feel, People want that. (reason why shrinks earn a lot of money). Everybody wants to understand their emotions better, or what their emotions. Film, they say, is "meaningful emotion", which is one of the things that makes it the greatest form of art.
You have given them (us) meaning, why deprive us of emotion? Of course, we WANT you to convincingly tell us anything!. Convincingly.
Sometimes, we prefer to be "lied" (told anything) to convincingly than have the bitter truth rammed down our throats.
It is what makes the world go round. Love, Sex, Life, War, Film, e.t.c all share this trait of "Sweet Lies, Bitter Truths".

Ah, but i know you need to earn a living!.

 

[Noel R.]

don't know about this one in particular... probably not waiting around for a rain. i've seen everything from firetruck deck guns to rain machines (you can make your own to scale with enough water flow and hose/piping) - also, digital fx augmentation can be very helpful

Paul,

Thank you for the detailed rain shot BTS, that explains a lot. Also nice analysis of "The Fountain".

 

[paulherrin]

always welcome, i'm good at getting distracted*... really enjoyed watching me some matrix-stuffs
i highly recommend that bts (couldn't find it online, one can get discs on ebay for under $5, or your local library may have a disc if you don't have it/want it)

thanks, i guess i was happy enough with it, i only did one take and really couldn't say everything that could be said, and it'll get augmented with writing/visuals/clips in a much larger multimedia essay, when i get round to it - since i have so much spare time (or i would if it wasn't for reduser*) - if you're a fan of the film def check out the graphic novel (but not from my library cause i've kept it way overdue... oops) and you may like the version i recut based on its structure, although the most feedback i've gotten is from the warner brothers, whoever they are, and they didn't seem so happy with it, but there it is anyways*

*:badputer: