Crash

Jake Kerber · May 12, 2005

I just saw the film Crash this evening and was wondering what others think of the photography and if anyone knows the technical specs.

Due to the grain being fairly prominent at times, an inherent softness to some of the wider shots, and what looked to be some selective color manipulation, I'd say it was a s35 DI blow-up shot with a fast stock--'18 maybe.

James Muro uses a lot of source lighting and presents nighttime L.A. as a mix of mercury vapor blue-green and sodium vapor orange. In some of the night scenes he takes it pretty far in terms of under exposure (i.e. interior car driving scenes), which I think works for the film. Nice use of long lenses, shallow depth of field and flares too.

Some of the day interiors inside the D.A.'s office building are shot against huge, blazing windows and there's a lot of flare and veiling that, again, works for me in the context of the film's overall style and mood.

I'm hoping there's an article somewhere that talks about some of this stuff and what Muro and Haggis were going for and how they achieved it.

On another note, before Crash there was a trailer for Akeelah and the Bee, which looked great in its anamorphic glory. The trailer is pretty fast paced, with many shots lasting only a moment and, of course, I wanted more time to take them in. As one who follows this forum pretty religiously (although I rarely post), it's great to actually see on the silver screen a glimpse of what David Mullen has so comprehensively and graciously explained to us with words. I look forward to seeing the film in its entirety.

-Jake Kerber

D.P.

L.A.

David Mullen ASC · May 12, 2005

I'll have to check that out just to see the trailer. What's weird is that we just wrapped four weeks ago and there's already a trailer in the theaters???

Jake Kerber · May 12, 2005

It was at a Regal theatre in the L.A. area if that's any help.

-Jake Kerber

D.P.

L.A.

Kevin Zanit · May 12, 2005

Was a great movie. I did not see David's trailer, all though I would have loved to.

The film looked to me like a 2k DI shot on s16. That said, it may have been done photo chemically because it looked a lot like an optical blow up.

I really liked the look, fit the story well. Almost looked like a grittier version of Collateral.

An old friend of mine was the loader on the film, so I can try to find out what stock they shot, but I am sure it will be published soon enough.

Kevin Zanit

Jake Kerber · May 13, 2005

Now that you mention it, s16 origination makes much more sense in terms of the look.

A 'grittier Collateral' is a good description.

-Jake Kerber

Brad Grimmett · May 13, 2005

Hmm, IMDB says it's 35mm. Of course, IMDB is wrong sometimes, so that could be incorrect. I couldn't find any tech info anywhere else.

Logan Schneider · May 14, 2005

I visited the set of Crash for a day. They were shooting 5229 Vision 2 Expression 500T pushed 1 stop. Lots of China balls and kinos. The scene where Matt Dillon's father is on the toilet was lit by just a rope light.

Logan Schneider

Dp

drew_town · May 28, 2005

I caught Crash finally. I couldn't concentrate on the cinematography because I was being preached at for the entire two hours. I must say I didn't enjoy it very much. I did however see the trailer for Akeelah and the Bee. I'll be sure to catch it.

F Bulgarelli · June 11, 2005

I saw Crash a few days ago and I have to say I really liked the overall approach to the cinematography, very loose I would say, a lot like 21 Grams in my opinion.

I had a few problems with the story but it does make you ask yourself: Does this really go on in our society? and the obvious answer is Yes! However I think it is hard to see it magnified to such extreme.

The opening footage for the titles was great.

Francisco