Green Zone

Chris D Walker · November 12, 2009

I just watched the trailer on Apple's website. Besides the story of the film, which reads like the spawn of Ridley Scott's "Body of Lies" and Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker", what was most striking was the look: very noisy night shooting that looked like video. What's strange is, if IMDb is to be believed, it was shot on Fuji Vivid 160T and Reala 500D stocks (it doesn't say whether it's 35mm or Super16).

For such a high budget film and talents like Greengrass and Damon it's strange to see such a rough and dirty look. Sure, the Bourne films had the shakycam and zoom lenses but I can't decide whether this is either a progression or a step back. Most likely 500 speed Fuji pushed 2 stops? Maybe shooting digital for night sequences?

If anyone does know for sure or has any thoughts about the film and/or its look, please post here.

Thanks,

Chris

Adrian Sierkowski · November 12, 2009

I think they wanted the grainier look, and the Reala is an older stock and from what I'm told pretty grainy. I liked the grainy look on the trailer, myself. I think it's a rough and gritty aesthetic kinda fitting for a warm film. I believe the DoP also shot Hurt Locker which had it's grain (though from S16mm). I'd say it's not a step in any direction, just the choice they made and we'll see how well it works in the film. I didn't really distract me in the trailer once I noticed it and went "hmm." Certainly, though doesn't look like noise to my eyes at all.

Robin R Probyn · November 14, 2009

I think they wanted the grainier look, and the Reala is an older stock and from what I'm told pretty grainy. I liked the grainy look on the trailer, myself. I think it's a rough and gritty aesthetic kinda fitting for a warm film. I believe the DoP also shot Hurt Locker which had it's grain (though from S16mm). I'd say it's not a step in any direction, just the choice they made and we'll see how well it works in the film. I didn't really distract me in the trailer once I noticed it and went "hmm." Certainly, though doesn't look like noise to my eyes at all.

Yes same DP Barry Ackroyd BSC... he also did nearly all of the Ken Loach stuff last 10 yrs.. and United 93 (was it 93)?

james mcpherson · January 24, 2010

i spent a year working on this at double negative as a roto/cleanup/junior comp . dneg was the sole vfx vendor on it. we have to sign NDA's and our jobs are always on the line when it comes to loose talk. all i can say is go and see it , its brilliant!

Jay Stewart · January 30, 2010

Hurt Locker was shot entirely on Fuji 8663 250D. I'd imagine Green Zone was shot on 16mm as well judging by the trailer and grain present.

Adrian Sierkowski · January 30, 2010

35mm According to IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947810/technical

Film negative format (mm/video inches)

35 mm (Fuji Eterna Vivid 160T 8543, Eterna 250D 8563, Eterna 500T 8573, Reala 500D 8592)

Satsuki Murashige · January 31, 2010

Love the grain in the trailer, looks very gritty and organic. That said, if they did a DI then it could have been enhanced in post. Ironically, I've found it tricky to get this kind of look on a super low budget because there's no margin for error.

James, if and when you are able to talk about your work, I'd love to hear about what kind of post work went into enhancing and/or maintaining the film's grainy look.

james mcpherson · January 31, 2010

Love the grain in the trailer, looks very gritty and organic. That said, if they did a DI then it could have been enhanced in post. Ironically, I've found it tricky to get this kind of look on a super low budget because there's no margin for error.

James, if and when you are able to talk about your work, I'd love to hear about what kind of post work went into enhancing and/or maintaining the film's grainy look.

ill let you know !

james mcpherson · March 11, 2010

sorry but i dont think i can help you'd have to ask Paul Greengrass!

John Holland · March 11, 2010

I think Barry Ackroyd is the man to ask !!! he isnt into heavy post production ( enhancement ] one of the reasons he is such a great DoP

Ben Syverson · March 11, 2010

They did a DI (according to IMDB anyway)... Looking at the 1080p trailer, those grainy sections look pushed to me; photochemically, in the DI, or both. Either way, deliberately underexposed and then brought back up. I'll be curious to read the AC.

Edited March 11, 2010 by Ben Syverson

Freya Black · March 11, 2010

Hurt Locker was shot entirely on Fuji 8663 250D. I'd imagine Green Zone was shot on 16mm as well judging by the trailer and grain present.

That kind of makes sense. It could be they wanted to get a look similar to Hurt Locker and so went for the faster stock but in 35mm in the hope the extra speed would cancel out the lower grain in 35mm. (500d vs 250d)

The trouble with this theory is that they are doing a DI which obliviates the cost advantage of shooting 35mm.

I think they are deliberately going for the grain tho. Vivid 160T has a bit of a reputation for being grainy for example.

Personally I'm a fan of grain. I know the whole thing people tend to think in terms of S16 is what you shoot if you can't afford 35mm but I think that sometimes you might want a grainer look and then Super16 might fit the project BETTER than 35mm. Heart Locker being a case in point. I think the grain suits the subject matter.

I actually love to see the grain on a big movie screen, and I always thought it looked nice on CRT's too but the new flat panel displays seem to make it look not as nice to me.

All the same I think grain has it's place. Sometimes it seems to me like people almost create rules about what the images should look like (shallow DOF, High res, no grain) that might not be what is best in every case.

love

Freya