West Side Story - Spielberg + Janusz Kaminski

[Stephen Perera]

West Side Story - directed by Spielberg with Janusz Kaminski as cinematographer. Shot on Panavision Panaflex Millennium with Panavision T-Series lenses.

Rewatched the original on Netflix and wow it looks fantastic.....such colour, texture....such an 'acute' image....the deep focus on location stuff shot throughout is superb.......shot by Daniel Fapp (won Oscar for it) on 65mm Eastman 50T (5251)

....very much looking forward to see what Spielberg does with this film. I LOVED La La Land so very open to this new musical......I hope they don't Disney-fy it (Disney is the distributor according to IMDB) and it becomes an over-acted, over-exuberant embarrassment that's just...wet......I doubt it......should be great......

Interesting to have Rita Moreno back in the film!

Edited September 28, 2020 by Stephen Perera

[Stephen Perera]

 I particularly love this sequence from the original in 1961.....camera on the ground.....the 'compression'....the building in shadow........so expansive and cool.....

Edited September 28, 2020 by Stephen Perera

[Manu Delpech]

It won't disneyfied in any way as it was made by Spielberg and Fox, Disney just happens to inherit the film. It's been pushed back a whole year to December 2021 alas. It's going to be glorious and lavish (100 million budget).

[John Holland]

But it didn't need remaking !

 

[Manu Delpech]

Who cares, this is Spielberg, he's wanted to make this for a long time. It's going to be very distinct. 

[Stephen Perera]

I just heard the 'Go Creative' podcast featuring camera operator Mitch Dubin who has done 17 Spielberg films incl. this one but doesn't talk about it much other than it was a personal challenge given it was a musical and that he really enjoyed shooting it....I'm sure we will get a lot more 'material' when the film is actually out......

[Phil Jackson]

There were some production stills made available several months ago, that show it looking very Kaminski-ish (which isn't a bad thing necessarily). First Look at Spielberg's West Side Story

Wet pavement and hot backlight

Edited October 17, 2020 by Phil Jackson

[Manu Delpech]

Effin GLORIOUS 

[Stephen Perera]

going to have to be something special to beat the original esp now we have the remastered version that looks incredible.....it will be hard to beat the original opening sequence......the aerial shot over New York and the feeling of expanse and solitude at the same time of the way they did the sound for it

[Uli Meyer]

2 hours ago, Manu Delpech said:

Effin GLORIOUS 

Holy moley, that looks amazing!

[Phil Rhodes]

A couple of years ago I got to attend one of the ASC's classes and West Side Story was used as an example of hugely accomplished technique, particularly some of the night interior stuff which must have been pretty entertaining on 50T.

P

[Stephen Perera]

you all REALLY have to rewatch this film as per the version on Netflix....edge to edge 70mm greatness.....the quality/look of the lenses and film stock are spectacular to my eyes.....has that Sergio Leone sweaty face can see each pore close up kind vibe as well haha

[Tyler Purcell]

The original has such a nice look. It's a hybrid realistic and studio look, I always liked the hard edged more contrasty style of the exteriors. I wish they had shot the entire movie that way, but oh well. The 70mm prints look amazing, for some reason they've held up pretty well over the years. 

I hope the new movie is at least decent. I also hope they decide to do a few prints. It would be nice to see it on film. 

[Manu Delpech]

It's Spielberg, it's been his dream project for decades. It will be far more than "decent", lol.

[Stephen Perera]

The original is trully special in terms of the exterior cinematography.....not so much the obvious shots in the interior sets.....the version on Netflix is supreme.....

[Igor Trajkovski]

GIRLS (chorus)
I like to be in America,
O.K. by me in America,
Everything free in America—

BERNARDO
For a small fee in America.

...

Will there be any T-Rex's? ?

Just kidding.
Love Spielberg, eager to see his take on this.

[Manu Delpech]

For those who have an account over there, here's the teaser in QT 1080p and Pro Res quality ! 

 

https://www.movie-list.com/forum/showthread.php?36012-West-Side-Story-(2021)