Lucy, the latest film by Luc Besson, with Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, filmed with Sony F65 Thierry Arbogast, director of photo in Lucy, like this interview some of the secrets of the filming of the latest film by Luc Besson who opens these days. Lucy, the latest film by Luc Besson, with Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman and filmed with Sony F65, now comes to the screen. Thierry Arbogast, AFC and director of photography of this film and many other Besson, shares his experience of recording with the F65.
What made you choose the F65? So far, Luc has very little shot in digital: only a few shots here and there for technical reasons and never a full movie. For Lucy, I wanted to go. Therefore, started testing with three cameras of the time, i.e. the Epic, the Alexa and the F65.
After the test screenings, all agree that the F65 was visually superior to the other two cameras. During the match, we just always combining three cameras, but the natural image of the F65 us conquered all.
During the screening, it was Luc who spoke first. He had no doubt that it was the F65 which stood out above the others. The color fidelity and reproduction of skin tones, attracted him much. The colors were there really; We could recognize the blue sweater and skin colors seemed very natural.
But actually we shot with three cameras for different reasons, mostly due to space issues.
What sensitivity usasteis the F65? I worked with the nominal sensitivity of the camera, i.e. 800 ISO. And I think that the sensitivity of the F65 is enough when I show her the monitor 800 ISO. We have carried out tests in Pigalle, at night and with three cameras. I realized that the sensitivity of the F65 and the Alexa were very similar, while the sensitivity of the Epic was much lower.
How do you expusisteis the F65? As a general rule, digital image or DIT technician controls the iris with a remote control. Before shooting, we analyzed the effect desired and, together, we agreed the best exposure. For example, I would say if I want to let the shutters go very fast or not, the black level and where is the key light, among other things.
Then, if iris changes are needed during shooting, he takes care of them throwing you a look at the curve of the monitor.
You recorded in 8 K? No, work in 4 k. were aware that we had a race car, but we didnt want to step on the accelerator too. For this film, was not needed 8K, especially taking into account that premiering at 2 K in most cinemas.
Of course, there are exclusive passes under 4K, but copies of the premiere will be in 2K. Special effects Department felt very satisfied with files 4K that we provide. I think that 8 K would have considerably increased their computing time.
8K is obviously something good in itself because, as we always say, it is best to start too high and get off course, we would have been able to get a file best 4 K 8 K file. From the phase of preparation of the film, I emphasized that Luc record in 4 K. At that time, the first screens and 4K televisions were beginning to appear. The dynamic range 4K is already here, perhaps more in the United States than in France, but has begun.
What do you think about ergonomics? Luc always part of his films. He could speak better than me.
But like the Genesis or the F35, we are not talking about cameras that are very attractive from the ergonomic point of view. And its obvious that we would have preferred a camera that would be more compact. However, its design makes the F65 much more balanced on the shoulder that a network.
For some shots in which wanted to record with a mobile home, we use the Epic. Its an amazing camera, mostly because of its lightness. Despite its rounded and their impressive appearance, it is a very light camera and I guess that this is thanks to the materials with which it is made. In my opinion, its weight is virtually identical to an Alexa, although its volume is obviously very different.
How was the process of color grading? It must be said that we dealing with three large chambers and everything went very well. In addition, when working with a good grader, is always achieved to eliminate the differences between them.
Although its color interpolation systems are not the same, and despite other differences, we did not have any problem to harmonize them.
If you wanted to sum up their respective advantages, we could say that the Alexa has the best dynamic range, the F65 offers the best color reproduction and the Epic is the lightest.
You usasteis the built-in neutral density filters? Yes, they were very helpful. They are extremely quick to use and eliminate the glass on the front of the lens surface. From time to time we lament bamos some that began in ND0.9. Sometimes we would have liked a ND0.6 or a ND0.3. However, the choice of Sony is understandable, because mainly neutral high density filters are used only when there are major changes in the light. In fact, Thierry Arbogast is right. There are less than a kilo of difference between the weight of these two cameras (13.5 kg for the F65 and 12.6 kg for the Alexa, equipped both with two modules RAW recording).
You recorded at 120 fps? We had very few shots at high speed, only a few for special effects. We did shots of crowds to 100 fps and very fast shutter speeds of up to 45 degrees to avoid rotation. And here, the sensitivity of the camera helped me a lot. The sequence was recorded in a Studio, where we recre bamos the light of the day. I was a HMI of 24 kW for the Sun and two HMI 18 kW in the background to cover a set of 250 m2 and the maximum opening. Never would have been able to do that with a less sensitive camera.
Do objectives derivates? You meant that it was necessary to filter? As a general rule, Luc never filtered with diffusers. Like a crisp image without the need of a diffusion filter. Therefore, I tried to choose target
