Remi Adefarasin - 'Elisabeth" and "Elisabeth - The Golden Age"

[Guest Gabriela Castanon]

Hi there everyone,

 

I watched Shekhar Kapur's 'Elizabeth " and the sequel, "Elisabeth;The Golden Age" on Saturday, one after the other.

All I can say is wow, wow, wow!The incredible lighting and all that attention to detail just blew me away.Remi Adefarasin's cinematography is simply breathtaking.He and Mr Kapur did such an amazing job!Now that is what you call cinematography!

[Shelly Johnson ASC]

Hi there everyone,

 

I watched Shekhar Kapur's 'Elizabeth " and the sequel, "Elisabeth;The Golden Age" on Saturday, one after the other.

All I can say is wow, wow, wow!The incredible lighting and all that attention to detail just blew me away.Remi Adefarasin's cinematography is simply breathtaking.He and Mr Kapur did such an amazing job!Now that is what you call cinematography!

 

AGREED!

 

I remember seeing those films when they first came out and being blown away by both of them. The prominent foreground elements gave the idea of the levels of opulance and richness, yet Remi was able to make the film cold and sterile when it needed to be... while using these elements that typically convey warmth. Not as easy as it sounds.

 

I liked also how many of Remi's lighting choices were simple, which gave the films this purity that you could feel more than see. Pretty great.

 

He walked the edge on all fronts and that's admirable in of itself.

 

People like Bob Richardson, Vittorio Storaro, Emanuel Lubezki and scores of others all get these fantastically consistent and expressive results because they are willing to live far outside any kind of safety zone and experiment... in many cases not being 100% sure of the outcome. But it's that kind of risk taking that takes films to a new level for their audiences and their colleagues.

[David Mullen ASC]

I love the photography in both movies. The second one was a bit more romantic-looking, there were some scenes with diffusion on the lens whereas the original movie was shot fairly sharp for the most part. The second one was, in some ways, more theatrical, fantastical, and painterly (with more visual effects) while the first was harder, darker, edgier. Both looked great!

 

Remi used to post here, maybe he's still listed as a member and one could PM him.

 

I know one technique that has been written about is his use of various fabrics to shine light through -- he's not fond of plastic diffusers, feels that that they lack texture.