Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Creating the Look of Late Night

17/05/2022

A legendary talk show host employs a young scriptwriter and sparks fly in the new indie feature Late Night, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Written by and starring Mindy Kaling, and co-starring Emma Thompson, the set-up depicts them as poles apart in generation and culture, adding further twists in the comedy.

Cinematographer Matthew Clark on set.

The interplay between the two leads, as well as the desire to convey differences in the characters personalities and environment, led director of photography Matthew Clark to work closely with Panavision and Light Iron, who he had collaborated previously with on Set it Up and Little Evil.

Director Nisha Ganatra (Transparent) wanted to try and create as naturalistic a world as we could for the actors. That way, they would feel free to play around on set and location, explains Clark. I feel that with comedy especially, you want to allow your actors the freedom to move around physically and to improvise in order to find that true comic moment. So, we needed to keep our camera and lighting package small and our sets an open space. To be clear, we weren't aiming for the natural style of a documentary, but more of a heightened realism.

The film's three main locations are given a different tonal look. The parts of the story which cover Katherine's (Thompson) personal life at home in a town house in Brooklyn were given an elegant, rich, warm feel to which we added a little smoke haze to create some depth, notes Clark. The talk show studio (on a set in a Greenpoint Studio/Warehouse) was crisp and clean with a more neutral feel to it. The writers' room, which we shot in an office on the 17th floor in a building on Manhattan's east side, was given a cooler palette, more office or business-like.

Clark chose a Panasonic VariCam 35 to accommodate a tight budget and 25-day schedule. Sometimes, we had three or four locations a day. That means you have to move fast. I liked the ability to shoot at 5,000 ISO at night on location. I knew we would have a good base to start. Then, Ken Shibata (gaffer), Tommy Kerwick, Jr. (key grip) and I could use a minimal lighting package and still get our look while working at that speed.

For lens selection, he visited Panavision in Woodland Hills, and got his pick of 70s era Ultra Speeds and Super Speeds. Dan Sasaki presented me with two tables full of lenses from classic old Primos to new glass. I had the whole place to myself and was able to test shoot a lot of it.

Clark continues, I took the tests to Light Iron in Hollywood where colorist Corinne Bogdanowicz and I tried different looks, playing with saturation, shadows, highlights and even adding grain. That color prep really helped us move quickly and seamlessly when the production moved from L.A. to New York for principal photography where I collaborated with Light Iron NY colorist Sean Dunckley.

We tried out some pretty stylized filmic emulations, and then adjusted the levels of color in the blacks and highlights to create a more refined look, notes Bogdanowicz. The grain tests helped us add some subtle texture to the images.

Clark also worked with Light Iron Dailies Colorist Aaron Burns for a couple days to establish a LUT which Dunckley then finessed. I like to light for the LUT on location and I tend not to change it, says Clark, but if needed I will play around with it later. That's what Sean and I were able to do.

On finessing that LUT, Dunckley adds, I worked with Matt to create a LUT that was a bit more dynamic, pushing some cyan into the shadows and smoothing the skin tone colors. The LUT was used for dailies, and because Matt takes the time in pre-production to make the post process easy, we were a step ahead of the game when starting the DI.

Clark continues, One of the things you used to be able to do with film was pre-flash the raw stock. This opened up the blacks and allowed you to add color in the shadows depending on the percentage and color of the flash. It's a way to create an emotional effect. I wanted to do this digitally for our story. So, we mapped out the emotional change as we went through different scenes. The basic narrative arc is that the character's start out as individuals and wind up working together as a team. So, we start out with colder hues in the office, introducing a steely look in the shadows, and as the story moves forward we minimize blue for more rosy, warm tones with addition of some grain. There's a big juxtaposition between a scene in Katherine's bedroom, which is tonally rich, and the next day when she comes into the office and realizes she has to do something to get her job back. It's not a straight arc from blue to warm but changes according to the scene and context of the scene.

Lens choices included an 11:1 Primo Zoom the tried and trusted workhorse which is still beautiful and very creamy, Clark says. The older glass he chose helped break down the digital image in the way he wanted. The coating on the 40 delivers a warm glow which we mostly used for Katherine's personal world while several of the lenses had this rainbow flare which I felt gave us something different. These lenses are not perfect' which makes them perfect for this film. The aberrations, the older coatings, and the glass itself is less precise than most contemporary lenses and gives the digital image a softer look with more personality.

The two-camera, 4K production was lensed mostly on tripods and dollies with some Steadicam and occasional handheld.

A lot of the time, we were shooting close to wide open, maybe 2-2.8. That's hard on a 100mm with minimal lighting, so all credit to my A camera AC Pedro Corcega and B cam Adriana Brunetto-Lipman. Pulling focus on a Steadicam moving through a party is not for the faint-hearted. If you don't have tale
LINK: https://www.panavision.com/highlights/highlights-detail/creating-the-l...
See more stories from panavision

Most recent headlines

03/06/2024

Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...

19/03/2024

Barco announces collaboration with NVIDIA and SoftAcuity to add AI and data analytics applications to the operating room

Mar 18, 2024 Barco announces collaboration with NVIDIA and SoftAcuity to a...

19/03/2024

Hear from New Bulls Manager Morgan Ensberg on latest The Durham Bulls Podcast

Meet the Bulls' new manager, hear from 2 former managers, a former player and a person with a very special connection to Wool E. Bull. Tune in to The Durham...

19/03/2024

What Is Dembow? Tracing the Roots of a Global Phenomenon

What Is Dembow? Tracing the Roots of a Global Phenomenon The story of the dembow beat, which can be found in reggaeton, hip-hop, pop, and far beyond, speaks t...

19/03/2024

Berklee's Roger H. Brown Jr. Building Honored by Boston Society for Architecture

Berklee's Roger H. Brown Jr. Building Honored by Boston Society for Architec...

19/03/2024

Applications Open for 2024 Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics

Applications Open for 2024 Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics The 39th edition of the program will be held from July 9-21. By Callista Chan March 21, 2024 Ima...

19/03/2024

Smoke and Mirrors: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Smoke and Mirrors: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South Afric...

19/03/2024

Umkhokha: The Curse - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Umkhokha: The Curse - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South Af...

19/03/2024

Gqeberha: The Empire - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Gqeberha: The Empire - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South A...

19/03/2024

Muvhango: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Muvhango: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South African websit...

19/03/2024

Uzalo: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [video]

Uzalo: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [video]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South African website. ...

19/03/2024

Generations: The Legacy - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Generations: The Legacy - Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The Sout...

19/03/2024

Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 18 March 2024 [VIDEO]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African soa...

18/03/2024

USC Basketball Star Juju Watkins on Fashion, Film, Friendship Bracelets, and More

Listeners turn to Spotify to connect with their favorites-from artists and album...

18/03/2024

Young professionals successfully complete vocational training at SGL's Meitingen site

Seven young professionals completed their vocational training at SGL Carbon in M...

18/03/2024

Vintage Allure

Released this past January, the music video for Ariana Grande's yes, and? brings a modern approach to vintage allure. The video was directed by Christian ...

18/03/2024

ST Engineering iDirect Unveils Intuition at SATELLITE 2024 Conference and Exhibition

Global satellite communications leader gives market a first look at its next-gen...

18/03/2024

Box to Box Films shares with MediaSilo

Box to Box Films Shares with MediaSilo Amy and Drive to Survive producer updates collaborators simply and securely Boston, MA, March 18, 2024 - Box to Box Fi...

18/03/2024

Telestream Introduces AI-Powered Tools for Rapid Content Delivery at NAB Show 2024

Telestream Introduces AI-Powered Tools for Rapid Content Delivery at NAB Show 20...

18/03/2024

Docufiction Film Bringing Down a Mountain Edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio

Docufiction Film Bringing Down a Mountain Edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton March 18, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design today announced ...

18/03/2024

FingerWorks Telestrators Releases Enhancements to Computer Vision Live Tracking Software at NAB 2024

FingerWorks Telestrators Releases Enhancements to Computer Vision Live Tracking ...

18/03/2024

DirecTV to Allow Subscribers to Opt Out of Local Stations

DirecTV announced a new feature over the weekend that will allow its subscribers to opt out of their local stations in return for a discount. Customers who ch...

18/03/2024

Logging and reviewing: Moving towards a sustainable workflow

Jane Sung, COO at Cinedeck, explains how broadcasters and content production companies can achieve the goal of moving towards creating a more sustainable, effic...

18/03/2024

Altice Media sold to French shipping tycoon for 1.55 billion

The deal includes BFM TV, one of the country's largest 24-hour news channels, as well as documentary channel RMC D couverte, and RMC Story By Jenny Priestl...

18/03/2024

Meet the CEO and founder

By TVBEurope Staff Published: March 18, 2024 Nick Franco tells TVBEurope how he went from being a master plasterer and refurbishing the ornate plasterwork ...

18/03/2024

Master the Avatar State: Glowing Eyes in Adobe After Effects

Master the Avatar State: Glowing Eyes in Adobe After Effects Levi Borland March 18, 2024 0 Comments In this step-by-step tutorial, learn how to recrea...

18/03/2024

Next Season of Doctor Who' on Disney Plus May 10

The next season of Doctor Who, with Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor, premieres on Disney Plus and around the world May 10. It is the first season to launch on Di...

18/03/2024

Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative

18 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative LTR Denise Eriksen, Esther Coleman Hawkins, Caroline Pitcher, K...

18/03/2024

CBC/WRAL Night Helps Bring in Over $26k for PBS NC

Capitol Broadcasting and WRAL-TV continued a decades-long tradition of supporting PBS North Carolina, our state's public television station, to good result ...

18/03/2024

Tonight on My Brother's Keeper: Nomusa leaves Moketsi's house in a rush

Tonight on My Brother's Keeper: Nomusa leaves Moketsi's house in a rushDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie My...

18/03/2024

Tonight on House of Zwide: Zola discovers she's pregnant

Tonight on House of Zwide: Zola discovers she's pregnantDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie House of Zwide on e.t...

18/03/2024

Big Brother Mzansi 4: Papa Ghost secures back-to-back Head of House wins

Big Brother Mzansi 4: Papa Ghost secures back-to-back Head of House winsPapa Ghost has clinched consecutive victories as Head of the House in the latest edition...

18/03/2024

NVIDIA Edify Unlocks 3D Generative AI, New Image Controls for Visual Content Providers

NVIDIA Edify, a multimodal architecture for visual generative AI, is entering a ...

18/03/2024

From Atoms to Supercomputers: NVIDIA, Partners Scale Quantum Computing

The latest advances in quantum computing include investigating molecules, deploying giant supercomputers and building the quantum workforce with a new academic ...

18/03/2024

New NVIDIA Storage Partner Validation Program Streamlines Enterprise AI Deployments

A sharp increase in generative AI deployments is driving business innovation for...

18/03/2024

NVIDIA Unveils Digital Blueprint for Building Next-Gen Data Centers

Designing, simulating and bringing up modern data centers is incredibly complex, involving multiple considerations like performance, energy efficiency and scala...

18/03/2024

Generative AI Developers Harness NVIDIA Technologies to Transform In-Vehicle Experiences

Cars of the future will be more than just modes of transportation; they'll b...

18/03/2024

All Eyes on AI: Automotive Tech on Full Display at GTC 2024

All eyes across the auto industry are on GTC - the global AI conference running in San Jose, Calif., and online through Thursday, March 21 - as the world's ...

18/03/2024

All Aboard: NVIDIA Scores 23 World Records for Route Optimization

With nearly two dozen world records to its name, NVIDIA cuOpt now holds the top spot for 100% of the largest routing benchmarks in the last three years. And thi...

18/03/2024

We Created a Processor for the Generative AI Era,' NVIDIA CEO Says

Generative AI promises to revolutionize every industry it touches - all that's been needed is the technology to meet the challenge. NVIDIA founder and CEO ...

18/03/2024

Banglalink Gets Unified Licence to Deliver Superior Digital Services in Bangladesh

18 Mar 2024 Banglalink Gets Unified Licence to Deliver Superior Digital Service...

18/03/2024

Thuraya partners with Niflink to deliver telemedicine and eLearning to users across its network

Abu Dhabi, 18 March, 2024 : Abu Dhabi, 18 March 2024: Thuraya Telecommunication...

18/03/2024

Thuraya partners with Niflink to deliver telemedicine and eLearning to users across its ne...

Abu Dhabi, 18 March, 2024 : Abu Dhabi, 18 March 2024: Thuraya Telecommunication...

18/03/2024

Major League Soccer: IMG on Capturing Fan Rituals and Delivering Consistent Coverage

Major League Soccer: IMG on capturing fan rituals and delivering consistent cove...

18/03/2024

Smashing Padel: Inside Aurora's Innovative Production of the Inaugural Hexagon Cup

Smashing padel: Inside Aurora's innovative production of the inaugural Hexag...

18/03/2024

Airspeeder Teams Up With EMG for World's First Live Broadcast of Flying Car Series

Airspeeder teams up with EMG for world's first live broadcast of flying car ...

18/03/2024

Netflix Announces News About 26 Upcoming Nordic Titles - Including 12 Brand New Titles

Back to All News Netflix Announces News About 26 Upcoming Nordic Titles - Inclu...

18/03/2024

Final sprint in the AS4 market communication

Final Sprint in the AS4 Market Communication: All Arvato Systems Customers Are Ready to Go Customers for market communication AS4-ready Arvato Systems is now...

18/03/2024

Tonight on Uzalo: Nkunzi takes a drastic decision

Tonight on Uzalo: Nkunzi takes a drastic decisionDon't miss Monday, 18 March's riveting episode of South African soapie Uzalo on SABC 1 on DStv channel ...

18/03/2024

Thales to modernize Montreal Mtro blue Line,improving passengers' punctuality and train reliability

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Following a call for tenders, the Soci t de tra...