Mao's Last Dancer period look

[XiaoSu Han]

Has anyone seen this film shot by Peter James?

 

I really like the period look they've employed, having blue shadows and a very nice quality of light... does anyone know how it was achieved? Probably in the DI instead of flashing the negative?

 

Also he says in an interview that he only "used 50% of the negative" for the period scenes, what does that mean?? Just cropped by 50%

 

any information would be helpful...