Gattaca

Mike Williamson · January 26, 2009

I recently picked up a copy of "Gattaca" on Blu-Ray and finally got a chance to watch it. Slawomir Idziak's work on it is amazing, great use of light and color, I was also impressed with the lens choices through out. The production design and costumes are wonderful as well, the visual design of the film is well thought out and executed.

I'm curious if anybody knows of any articles written about the film, in AC, ICG or anywhere else. I'd love to read more about it, any Slawomir Idziak interviews would be appreciated as well. I just put the "Double Life of Veronique" in my Netflix queue, so hopefully there's some extras on that to check out. Thanks for the help!

K Borowski · January 27, 2009

Sorry at least as far as the 'net goes there doesn't seem to be much on it, and my ASC magazine collection stops one year short of this in 1998.

From what I can gleam, it was shot 35mm anamorphic (which you already know) and the mag tape I saw in the behind-the-scenes trailer is blue.

I'd assume they'd have shot a lot of it on EXR 5245, and EXR 500T, forget the number '98?

The film seems to have a distinct blue-green pallette, with the exception of the outdoor scenes, which are decidedly orange, so either they used some warming filters or timed it that way, though I'd think it'd be the former.

I really wish I could see this film on Blu-ray, as I missed it when it was out in theatres. It is one of my favorite recent Sci-Fi films, though it didn't really do that well in its theatrical run surprisingly.

I also remember the film being quite contrasty and dark, but I don't think anything like a bleach bypass was used. Both in art and wardrobe design, it was clearly going for the film noir look, so it seems to be have a lot more hard light than your typical '90s film.

I also saw one shot where they had a green towel up (didn't look like a green screen shot though) so perhaps they were trying to throw in some greenish fill with this too.

Sorry to have so little facts and so much speculation. BTW, where'd you pick up the Blu-ray of this? I'd definitely like to add it to my collection.

Mike Williamson · January 27, 2009

I think I'm gonna have to go to the library and dig around a little bit, probably what I should have done in the first place. As far as the Blu-Ray disc, I got mine as an Xmas present but I think it's available from Amazon.

Karl, I'm curious what makes you think the movie is shot in anamorphic? I don't remember any specifically anamorphic artifacts but maybe I'm missing them. I was actually thinking it looked like Super 35, but then "Crimson Tide" fooled me into thinking it was S35 for about half the movie. The very brief behind-the-scenes doc on the disc had them using what looked like a Moviecam, so I guess I expected it not to be anamorphic because it wasn't Panavision (not that it necessarily rules anamorphic out).

Keith Mottram · January 28, 2009

think that was shot on S35, Slawomir Idziak is great creating a scope feel in S35- think of the epic quality he gave to a gritty pic like Black Hawk Down.

K Borowski · January 28, 2009

No guys, you are right, it is a S35 optical blowup (remember those?), not anamorphic. I should've just played it safe and said it was 2.35:1 ;) This is according to IMDB.com.

Anyone have any further info on the film? I am curious now myself. . .

Ignacio Aguilar · January 28, 2009

I watched the Blu-ray a few months ago. The photography is very good and the film is excellent.

"Gattaca" was shot in Super 35 using spherical lenses. The bokeh has a hexagonal shape, so that rules out Zeiss lenses and since they didn't use Panavision equipment, I bet Slawomir Idziak used some old Cooke Speed Panchro prime lenses. I'd put my money on Kodak 5298 (500T) as the main stock for nights and interiors and 5293 (200T) for day exterior work. Idziak usually needs fast stocks for his heavy grads.

Overall, the BD is quite soft and a bit grainy at times for a 1998 film.

Mike Williamson · January 29, 2009

To my eyes, the movie looks much sharper than anything I've seen from Speed Panchros. The idea of using older, softer lenses seems out of line with the visual style of the film: sleek, angular, modern and crisp. Would this have been too early to be using Cooke S4's? Or perhaps a mix of Ultra Primes and something else? Sounds like it's time to rewatch it more closely, thanks everybody for the help on this one.