2015-01-27 : Interview with Dariusz Wolski, ASCInterview with Dariusz Wolski, ASC
Darius Wolski, ASC - Kerry Brown / 20th Century Fox
Dariusz Wolski, ASC attended film school in Lodz, Poland. Then he went to New York, tried to get a job, worked as a camera assistant and moved to L.A. where he started in music videos, commercials,and movies.
JON FAUER: Tell me a little bit about your current job, The Martian.
DARIUS WOLSKI : It is directed by Ridley Scott. We describe it as Robinson Crusoe on Mars: an astronaut stranded on Mars struggles to survive. It stars Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Kristen Wiig, and Matt Damon. It's not Sci-Fi. The story is realistic. It's very interesting; everything the astronaut does is quite feasible.
We have consultants from NASA and they say, You can't do this; yes, you can do that. So our character grows potatoes on Mars and there are attempts to rescue him and so forth.
And you're shooting this in 3-D?
It's 3-D, yes.
What equipment are you using?
Panavision equipment and 3ality. Since my early 3-D days, we used RED cameras because of the size. Now we're using RED Dragons. Our lenses are small Angenieux Optimo zoom lenses, so we don't have to change lenses to change focal lengths. The biggest problem in 3D is changing lenses, because that takes forever.
Basically we devised a system with lots of multiple cameras. This movie has four rigs. On Exodus we had five rigs. We have two wide rigs and two tight rigs. That's why those little Angenieux Optimo zooms are basically indispensible. They are the best thing that could happen for us. We have 15-40 mm T2.6 Optimo zooms for the wide rigs and 28-76 mm T2.6 Optimos for the tight rigs. With that range, we don't change lenses, which
is great. We line up the shot and adjust the focal length.
On Exodus we actually went a little bit longer because it was just really a big landscape movie and so we also had a fifth rig that had another set of small Angenieux Optimo zoom: 45-120 T2.8. I was afraid to use longer lenses at first, but when you deal with big landscapes, they actually work pretty well.
Are the lenses in PL or PV mount?
There should be one universal mount for all cameras.
That would be nice. Hah!
And one electrical connector, like the Apple MacBook charger.
Hmm. That may happen when there's just one RAW format for all cameras.
It'll never happen.
Back to lenses: on your regular movies, not 3-D, are you also using zooms more than primes? And especially on digital shows?
Not just in the digital world. Using a zoom is just simpler. Even in the film world, I use Optimo short zooms all the time. Why not have a zoom lens that is as small, or smaller, than many primes? Some people have to have a lot of big, heavy equipment, but for me it's not necessary. When it comes to the quality of the Optimo lenses, they are wonderful.
Of course, you can debate that certain primes made your shot or gave it a look, but, as you know, everything is so sharp these days. Film stocks are sharp, the digital images are sharp, and as long as you treat these zooms well, they're absolutely beautiful.
It's surprising we don't use zooms more often as variable primes.
There is a stigma that goes way back to the 1970s, when the earlier zoom lenses came. Some of them breathed, they were not that sharp, not that fast, and during a zoom, they could go out of focus. There were all those issues. It was a very complicated optical thing. Actually there were two stigmas the first was technical, that the image was not good enough. The other was artistic. The idea of zooming in and out made people think of television.
But when you look at all the great movies, people used zooms. Billy Fraker and Vilmos Zsigmond used zooms in the 70s. That's how it was.
Vilmos was talking with me about using zooms on McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971).
Of course. And then there was this weird notion that you shouldn't use them. But you can look at it both ways. For example, you can be on the roof of the building, following a car way down below, and zoom out to establish the scene, as Billy Friedken did in the French Connection, and many films.
You can make a statement out of it and make the zoom noticeable. Or you can just do it gently. If we watch various movies, most of us won't even notice whether a zoom was used or not. Using a zoom has become a classic way of telling a story.
Right now you're using zooms as variable primes?
Yes. Basically it's a variable prime. But you can a zoom in and adjust the frame slightly during the shot. You can sneak in or out. It holds up, even in 3-D And it totally works.
Do you remember the first time you used an Angenieux zoom?
The first time was probably as a camera assistant, in the 80s. I remember putting them into blimps with all those little strips and gears. In those days, of course, using primes was beneficial: sharper, faster, smaller. But there were certain situations, like, when you went outside, where zooms were indispensable.
What about matching the two lenses on your 3-D rigs?
Well, that takes a little work. I don't do that personally, but we have a great crew. We prepped at Panavision in LA. And we are supported by Panavision here in Budapest. The reason I use Panavision is that I appreciate their vast network, with their excellent service. When it comes to making movies all over the world, I find that Panavision still has the best service system in the world. They'll do anything for us. You go to England, you go
to Budapest, you go to Australia, you go anywhere, and you're talking to the same people.
Other rental houses can buy a bunch of cameras. But can they deliver? You can buy 10 cameras and be a rental house, but can you really service a big movie with a lot of equipment changes
