tech spex on Constant Gardener?

[Robert Glenn]

I watched it last night and was amazed at how well it looked--what an amazing film. Does anybody know what film stock(s) and lenses they used? I read that all shots other than the landscapes were in super16mm aaton cameras. Thanks

[John Pytlak RIP]

I watched it last night and was amazed at how well it looked--what an amazing film. Does anybody know what film stock(s) and lenses they used? I read that all shots other than the landscapes were in super16mm aaton cameras. Thanks

 

I did some research on the Internet, and found these links:

 

http://digitalcontentproducer.com/mag/video_fade_black_41/

 

Like City of God, this film was shot almost entirely in Super 16, with 35mm being used for wide shots, and then finished as a digital intermediate at London's Framestore. The Super 16 portions were shot with an Arri SR III and two of Aaton's tiny A-Minimas. An Arri 35 BL was used for the wide shots.

 

The Aaton A-Minima was not only unobtrusive on set, it enabled the production to steal shots out in public. ?The A-Minima was so small nobody noticed when we were walking around in public,? the director explains. ?With 35mm equipment it would be impossible. Everybody would be looking into the camera and trying to charge us.?

 

As with City of God, Charlone designed his lighting to benefit from a great deal of manipulation during the DI phase. ?He creates flat light on location to put just enough contrast in the negative to be able to work with it in post,? he says. ?Most of the time his lighting is just changing bulbs. He'll use Kino Flos or even HMIs if he has to put light through a window, but he's very unobtrusive. Then, he'll spend a month in a DI suite really creating the look of the film scene by scene. His work is done in post more than on set.

 

http://www.aboutfilm.com/movies/c/constant...r/meirelles.htm

 

Question: How small is your camera crew when you go into those places? It seems like it must be very compact.

 

Meirelles: Yeah, it's usually César Charlone the DOP., myself, the sound guy who uses a wireless microphone for the actor, and one producer, and that's it. Four or five, and the cast. Where we have Rachel and Hubert walking in Kibera, in that scene they were really leading the camera. There was nobody telling them where to go. They were just walking in Kibera, and the camera was following. And we did other scenes like this, like Justin in the market asking for Kioko. He's really asking people?because the camera is so small. We were using A-Minima, which is a very small camera from Aaton, so nobody could really see [it]. So Ralph was walking and asking, ?Do you know Kioko?? And people say, ?No, I don't know [him]. Sorry.? To do that sequence in the market with two thousand people selling things?you can imagine the cost and the time to put that [together]. Shooting this way, there's a lot of production value and a lot of reality value, for nothing.

 

http://centerstagechicago.com/stumped/inte...transcript.html

 

CHRIS NEUMER: Digital or film?

 

 

FERNANDO MEIRELLES: Film. 16mm.

 

 

CHRIS NEUMER: Oh, ok.

 

 

FERNANDO MEIRELLES: We used some that were 35, and some that were 16. But it?s still good, especially in this type of situation. When you go in with a really small crew, you can get a real set, real people, nobody really knows that you?re shooting a film, so you capture this. I don?t really know why, but when you bring extras and you recreate all this, you don?t the same level of reality.

 

 

CHRIS NEUMER: So was the play just going on and you had them shoot it?

 

 

FERNANDO MEIRELLES: No, we put that play there, we recreated it, and we brought the stage in and the actors. But they performed for the crowd. We just told the crowds, everyone in that slum, that there was a play going on and they could come and they could watch, so a lot of people came. They weren?t extras; we didn?t pay anyone in the audience to watch the play.

 

 

CHRIS NEUMER: Well, it seems like that would also speed things up for you.

 

 

FERNANDO MEIRELLES: Much less expensive.

 

 

CHRIS NEUMER: If you don?t have to pay the Union guys to move all the lights, that seems a lot better off for you.

 

 

FERNANDO MEIRELLES: Yeah. Not only the crew, but if you put lights, then you have to pay all the audience because everyone would be extras. It?s a totally different approach. So all our big scenes, like in the market, there?s a scene with Ralph and he?s walking through the market asking for Quelco, and it?s a big market.

 

 

CHRIS NEUMER: And he ends up being in line.

 

 

FERNANDO MEIRELLES: And then he?s arrested. Before he gets arrested, that sequence, it was just him and this small crew. So Ralph was really asking and talking to people, and they were answering him, "Quelco, no I really don?t know." They were really answering.

 

 

CHRIS NEUMER: But they knew they were being filmed, right?

 

 

FERNANDO MEIRELLES: Some of them would like around, and they would see the camera, so they would stop. Other people really didn?t see the camera. So it was real people answering real questions.

 

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products....1.4.4.12&lc=en

 

The world's smallest, most affordable HD camera has arrived - the Aaton A-Minima. A-Minima is a richly featured, high tech motion picture camera that produces quality HD-ready Super 16mm film images. The camera is lightweight with an elegant, camcorder-like design for ultimate portability and flexibility.

[Robert Glenn]

Thanks for posting all of that invaluable information Paul... I am amazed at what Charlone and Meirelles can do with such a small and inventive production.. I saw no noticeable grain last night.. I hope that they used a lot of 7218, because if 7218 looks like that, then my stock considerations will be very simple!

[Scott Fritzshall]

?Most of the time his lighting is just changing bulbs. He'll use Kino Flos or even HMIs if he has to put light through a window, but he's very unobtrusive. Then, he'll spend a month in a DI suite really creating the look of the film scene by scene. His work is done in post more than on set.

 

I wonder how much money they're saving by doing all that in post (if any). Interesting way of working, I guess.

[Sidney King]

Interesting. So they basically went into one of the poorest corners of the planet, filmed people without their consent, and used real-life slums (and real-life human beings) to save money and add production value to a Hollywood movie.

 

Good thing they had the Aaton or heaven forbid, they would have had to build sets and maybe even get people's permission before filming them.

[rob spence]

Of course an Eclair acl with 200ft mags is the same size as an Aaton minima for an absolute fraction of the cost. I've already used mine ( super16) for 'stealing ' shots...it's an incredibly useful camera.

Cheers Rob

[Gino Terribilini]

I watched it last night and was amazed at how well it looked--what an amazing film. Does anybody know what film stock(s) and lenses they used? I read that all shots other than the landscapes were in super16mm aaton cameras. Thanks

 

 

IMDB has everything you need to know about almost every film:

 

Camera

Aaton A-Minima

Aaton XTR

Arriflex Cameras

Film negative format (mm/video inches)

16 mm

35 mm (Kodak)

Cinematographic process

Digital Intermediate (master format)

Super 16 (source format)

Super 35 (source format)

Printed film format

35 mm (Fuji)

Aspect ratio

1.85 : 1

[Leo Anthony Vale]

IMDB has everything you need to know about almost every film:

 

---But take it with a grain of salt.

Particularly tech spechs for foreign films.

Off hand 'Pathfinder/Ofelas' is listed as 35mm 2.35/1, when it was shot in 65mm Super Panavision.

 

---LV

[Matt Frank]

Interesting. So they basically went into one of the poorest corners of the planet, filmed people without their consent, and used real-life slums (and real-life human beings) to save money and add production value to a Hollywood movie.

 

Good thing they had the Aaton or heaven forbid, they would have had to build sets and maybe even get people's permission before filming them.

 

 

I think you have to look at the intentions of the artists. I don't think that anyone would argue that the film was exploiting and trying to fleece the people of Africa. Quite the opposite in fact. Since their intention is to bring these people struggle into focus for others who may not understand or even know about it, I don't think you can really fault the methods.

 

I suppose you could say that making the production bigger would have been helpful for the economy of the area where it was filmed, but that assumes that they would have had the money in the first place. It is quite possible that it was a do it on the cheap or dont do it at all situation.

[Brad Grimmett]

Interesting. So they basically went into one of the poorest corners of the planet, filmed people without their consent, and used real-life slums (and real-life human beings) to save money and add production value to a Hollywood movie.

According to the behind the scenes and interview footage on the DVD, this simply isn't true. They were planning on shooting most of the film in South Africa until they went to Kenya and realized that it was perfect for the film. Also, there are many interviews with locals talking about how happy they were to have the film there and also how the production helped the slum they shot in (they built a bridge). They also stated that they hired as many as 2000 local people to work on the film. Sure, they probably weren't getting paid much, but it was probably quite a lot to them.

So I don't think it's fair to call the producers exploitative in this instance.

Also, this wasn't a "Hollywood" movie. I believe it was financed mainly through the UK.