DP Craig Wrobleski CSC creates immersive horror with the ALEXA LF on Netflix s "In the Tall Grass"
30/01/2020
Did you have any visual inspiration or a specific style you were going for in capturing In the Tall Grass?
Well, the critical thing was that it had to be immersive. The audience had to feel that they were in the grass with the characters. We did discuss The Thin Red Line, a Terrence Malick film where the soldiers were fighting on a tropical island, dealing with visibility issues with the grass and not able to see the enemy, but we didnt really have any specific visual references. Vincenzo, the director, had a Japanese anime artist do a lot of pre-viz work, so I would say that the look of the film is fairly unique in the sense that we didnt specifically reference any other films.
The whole look drew from this notion that it either had to be natural or supernatural. If we ended up in the middle ground where its stylized naturalism, its not going to work when we get supernatural and things get really crazy. So, that was the overriding mantra for me. It was just about feeling very natural and very real.
Wrobleski chose the ALEXA LF to create an immersive visual that would easily showcase the texture of the grass.
The film definitely had an immersive feeling. You got a sense of being surrounded by that tall grass. So how did you go about achieving that?
That immersive quality was a big part of why I was pushing to shoot on a larger sensor. When I was approached, I was shooting The Umbrella Academy, which was shot on the ALEXA 65. The ALEXA 65 is unbeatable as a capture medium because it is so incredibly immersive and incredibly detailed. It picks out every single nuance of the image and has so much to offer. But the reality of taking the [ALEXA] 65 into the field was overwhelming for this production.
I had previous experience with the ALEXA LF, and I thought it was a perfect fit. It offered that immersive quality and a larger sensor, which allowed us to shoot wide lenses but not feel the lenses as much. If we went in there with a conventional-sized [Super 35] sensor and shot with really wide lenses, youd feel the lens and the grass bending on the edge of the frame. It would take some of that realism away. Youd start to feel you were in a supernatural world because it would have that fisheye look. The [ALEXA] LF was perfect for flattening the frame but still giving it that beautiful, wide perspective that made us feel like we were right in there with the characters.
Is that immersive feeling something that you feel large format film cameras provide versus their Super 35 counterpart?
Definitely. I always want my photography to support the story and I dont want to feel like we are inflicting ourselves onto the story. Sometimes when you get into wide lenses, you start to feel the lens. The larger sensor captures all of the details, the nuances and the way the focus falls off is so beautiful. You can get these beautiful layers of texture in the grass.
Thats what the larger sensor helped with so that there were layers, and it was never just faces cut out against a mask of green. If we had a conventional sensor, we wouldve run the risk of everything feeling flat and one dimensional.
In the Tall Grass was Wrobleski's second work filmed on HDR for Netflix
Can you talk about how much CG was involved?
I dont want to give away the exact ratio of whats real and what isnt, but we did spend an enormous amount of time in real grass. The majority of the film is real grass. We shot exteriors in a field in Stratford, Ontario (Canada). We did move into a stage for the interior work. That was only because the reality of shooting night exteriors in a field in summer, wouldve made it even more uncomfortable for the actors and crew.
Regardless of that, it is a truly challenging environment to work in. The grass is serrated, so its like a knife. So, when you walk in it, it will cut you.
You can see it in the actors. In some of the early takes, you can see that the actors are visibly annoyed [by the grass.] You can see them walking through, and they are slapping the grass out of the way because it was so irritating. It really supported what we were doing. Working in that environment really made the film what it is because we were living what we were shooting.
The rain sequence (pictured above) was one of Wrobleski's favorite scenes. Wrobleski used various lights to create lightning that had texture and layers.
What was your experience in filming HDR?
On Tall Grass, the script requirements and the realities of the setting told us we would be dealing with bright, sunlit day exteriors and dark, moonlit night exteriors - all in the tall grass environment. Those situations can create quite a challenge for the HDR process, especially where the expanded dynamic range could make already bright highlights overwhelmingly so and could potentially reduce detail in the blacks where you wish to retain texture.
Our amazing DIT, Gautam Pinto, is well-versed the HDR process and was ever vigilant about protecting our digital negative by ensuring we always retained detail in both the highlights and the shadows so that we would have complete control throughout the process to modulate the levels and guide the audiences eye in the right direction. With Joanne Rourke in the grading suite at Deluxe Toronto, the b
LINK: | https://www.arri.com/en/company/arri-news/news-stories/news-stories-20... |
See more stories from arri |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
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...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik Discusses 1Q24 On CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime"
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
Audinate Adds Major New Features to Dante Connect
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
Bell Media Launches New Portfolio of FAST Channels
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
Study: Broadcast TV Evening News Avoids Serious Economic Issues
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
Hughes Opens Manufacturing Facility and Private 5G Incubation Center in Maryland
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Broadcasting Legend Harry Pappas Dead At 78
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
Televisa Selects Synamedia For Broadcast Distribution Overhaul
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024 0 Comments By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show Brie Clayton April 26, 2024 0 Comments SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Certificate
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Reports Higher Q1 Profits Despite Broadband, Video Losses
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
27/04/2024
Environmental Groups Aim To Make Unscripted TV More Sustainable
Two environmentally-focused groups are partnering to engage the unscripted TV world in finding better ways to address climate change. Reality of Change is an ec...
27/04/2024
Sarah Garcia Named Weekend Anchor at Telemundo 40 in Texas
Sarah Garcia has been promoted to weekend anchor at KTLM McAllen, Texas, known as Telemundo 40. Starting April 27, she will anchor Noticias Telemundo 40 weekend...
27/04/2024
CBS Sports Kicks Off FAST Channel for UEFA Champions League on Pluto TV
CBS Sports said it launched a new 24-hour free, ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to the UEFA Champions League....
27/04/2024
Brian Roberts's Pay Rose To $35 Million at Comcast
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts received $35.4 million in compensation in 2023, up 11% from the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed by th...
27/04/2024
John Lithgow Goes Back to School in Art Happens Here'
Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, which sees the actor study dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz with students in Los Angeles, debuts on PBS ...
27/04/2024
FETV Wants Upfront Buyers Seeking Cable Viewers To Join Its Family
Remember Leave It to Beaver? Bewitched? Dragnet? When cable ratings were rising?...
27/04/2024
Catchy Comedy Features Gomer Pyle, USMC' Weekend Marathon
Next up for the weekend binge at Catchy Comedy is Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Every weekend, Catchy Comedy features The Catchy Binge, a marathon of a classic sitcom....
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks off today at Cinpolis
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
Interview: Lourdes Portillo, Director of Las madres de la Plaza de Mayo, La Ofrenda
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
26/04/2024
Career insights instead of everyday school life
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
L3Harris Technologies Reports Strong First Quarter 2024 Results, Increases 2024 Profitability Guidance
Orders1 of $5.5 billion; book-to-bill of 1.06x Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 17%,...
26/04/2024
What Makes A Network Resilient?
Five Considerations For Communications Modernization In The 21st Century In the digital-enabled battlespace, the Joint Force needs to shoot, move and communica...
26/04/2024
CBS Sports Launches New Free Streaming Channel
CBS Sports has launched Champions League as a new, 24-hour streaming channel that will serve as the year-round destination for nonstop highlights of the UEFA ...
26/04/2024
Roku Streaming Homes Hit 81.6M
Despite tough competition in the streaming space, Roku reported solid results in Q1 2024, beating revenue expectations, with total net revenue up 19% YoY to $88...
26/04/2024
Sarah Farrell Named General Manager Of Pinewood Toronto Studios
LONDON AND TORONTO Pinewood Toronto Studios has appointed Sarah Farrell as general manager of the Studios in downtown Toronto....
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and Myriad Solutions
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talent' award
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted Brie Clayton April 26, 2024 0 Comments Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024 0 Comments By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Hi Barbie! Mattel Launching First FAST Channels on Samsung TV Plus
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Marty Moe Named President Of Trusted Media Brands
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard Directs Jim Henson Documentary for Disney Plus
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
Kraken Skate Away From RSN Root Sports for Deals With Tegna, Amazon
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
26/04/2024
Warner Bros. Discovery Launches Olli First-Party Data Platform
Heading into the upfronts, Warner Bros. Discovery said it launched Olli, a first-party data platform advertiser can use for converged, targeted advertising camp...
26/04/2024
The Equalizer' Gets Season 5 on CBS
CBS has renewed the drama The Equalizer, which will see season five on in 2024-2025. Queen Latifah stars....
26/04/2024
The CW Inks New Deal for Miss USA, Miss Teen USA
The CW has entered into an exclusive multiyear broadcast partnership for the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The 73rd Miss USA Pageant will air ...
26/04/2024
Fuse Urging Young Viewers To Vote With Blunt Campaign
Fuse Media isn't mincing words in a campaign urging its young viewers to register and participate in the 2024 elections....
26/04/2024
Neil Gaiman's Sandman' Universe Expands With Dead Boy Detectives'
Dead Boy Detectives, a series from Neil Gaiman about a detective agency staffed by ghosts, debuts on Netflix April 25. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri are in t...
26/04/2024
The Story Collective opens largest film and TV studio in the heart of London
The Story Collective has gradually repurposed the former Mortlake Brewery to include production offices, workshops and sound stages By Matthew Corrigan Publi...
26/04/2024
Richard Perkett joins Amagi as chief product officer
Perkett joins the company following a 25 year career in product management, product marketing, engineering and user experience (UX) across multiple industries ...
26/04/2024
Teradek Announces Smaller More Robust Built-in Antennas f...
Teradek, the industry leader in wireless video transmitters and receivers, announced today the launch of new Bolt 6 LT 750 and Bolt 6 Monitor Module 750 RX with...
26/04/2024
Amagi Names Richard Perkett Chief Product Officer
NEW YORK Amagi has appointed Richard Perkett chief product officer (CPO)....
26/04/2024
NAB Board Election Results Announced
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2024 NAB Radio and Television Board of Directors elections. The...
26/04/2024
Mattel to Launch First FAST Channels on Samsung TV Plus
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & NEW YORK Mattel has announced a deal to launch its first three 24/7 free ad supported streaming (FAST) channels on Samsung TV Plus, Samsung...
26/04/2024
NextGen TV Launches In Portland, Maine
PORTLAND, Maine Viewers here can now receive the NextGen TV signals of five local stations with the launch of ATSC 3.0 service from host station WPFO, which is ...