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Chris Doyle


icha7

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Hi, I'm a big fan of the Wong Kar Wai and Chris Doyle collaboration and was wondering how Chris Doyle achieves the look to their films such as Happy Together and In the Mood for Love. The question may seem general but how the colours contrast and blow out into different colours and so forth interest me. I await your responses. thx

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Hi,

 

Have a look on Google under Chris Doyle interviews you will find some good stuff.

 

There is a interview in American Cinematographer 'September 03' talking about Hero and he focuses on his use of colours and why.

 

 

Chris - "Well, Happy Together is actually black and white much against my wishes in a certain way. The film was processed in a different way for the entirety of Happy Together. It was very heavily push processed, and then we increased the grains by reduping the film again. We were really working for grains and contrast and a very special image"

 

 

"They have developed a unique technique which they have used in all their films together to date: particular scenes are shot at a slower frame-rate so that the action is speeded up; the frames are then step-printed at a lower speed onto the finished film to restore the action to its real-time duration.4. The resultant images are ethereal and disorientating; scenes play and actions take place as if in normal speed, but yet there is a distortion; images seem to bleed into one another, lurching slightly so that one may think the action is taking place in slow-motion before realizing it is not. The effect is strangely dream-like, blurring colours and lights, seeming to simultaneously freeze action while it continues to move in front of our eyes"

 

They are some small exerts from some interviews i have

 

James.

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There is actually quite a variety of looks in their films -- some were shot on Agfa, some Fuji, some Kodak. The latest one, "2046" was shot in 35mm anamorphic and went through a D.I. Some movies are more muted than others.

 

But one common technique for Doyle (it appears) is to use medium-speed stock and push-process (probably by two stops) rather than use a faster film. This is for night scenes in particularly. He's done a number of films on Fuji F-250T push-processed, for example. But others have used Agfa (like "Chungking Express") or Kodak (like "In the Mood for Love".)

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  • 3 weeks later...
" particular scenes are shot at a slower frame-rate so that the action is speeded up; the frames are then step-printed at a lower speed onto the finished film to restore the action to its real-time duration.4.

 

I have no concreate idea of what "step printed" means in post production. Is that part of the standard processing process and transfer to to Telecine??

 

Can anyone elaborate?

 

i.e can I during a low budget 16mm shoot, try this out? even though I'm going to telecine after processing?

Edited by Sarfaraz Kaus
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I have no concreate idea of what "step printed" means in post production. Is that part of the standard processing process and transfer to to Telecine??

 

Can anyone elaborate?

 

i.e can I during a low budget 16mm shoot, try this out? even though I'm going to telecine after processing?

 

Hi,

 

A step printer is a single frame printing machine using a pin registered gate to make a print from the negative. Manly used for dupes needed in optical work using neg perf (print) stock.

 

The step printer can be used to double frame the negative so negative exposed at 12 fps printed in doubles so the print is now 24fps.

 

This equipment is not used so much today as most optical work is done digitally today.

 

Stephen

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I understand that Doyle usually shoots wide and tries to film the environment as well as the people (esp. 'In the Mood...' and 'Last Life...'). But, I can't figure out how you shoot wide with the kind of focal range he gets. In many scenes there's only an inch of space that's in focus, but the scene looks big (esp. in 'In the Mood..' and 'Hero'). Is he filming telephoto and just fooling me, or is he using magic, or what?

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  • 3 weeks later...
I have no concreate idea of what "step printed" means in post production. Is that part of the standard processing process and transfer to to Telecine??

 

Can anyone elaborate?

 

i.e can I during a low budget 16mm shoot, try this out? even though I'm going to telecine after processing?

 

"step printing" in Telecine is pretty easy - transfer at 12 fps, 6 fps, etc.

 

If you're staying in video / digital from then on..

 

-Sam

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  • 3 weeks later...
hi, Derick

 

Could he just be bringing in camera closer, and using a larger aperture?

 

I persoanlly was very moved by "In the Mood".

 

If your at Lodz this year you can ask him, although you may not get a reply.

 

How do you know he'll be at camerimage this year?

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