American Cinematographer - January 2008 - 38

Blood for Oil Right: After falling into a mine and breaking his leg, Plainview brings his precious metals to an assay office for evaluation. Cinematographer Robert Elswit, ASC notes, “The guys in that scene are reenacting what really happens when they smelt ore and measure it to establish its purity. That scene was shot in an old schoolhouse in Shafter. [Production designer] Jack Fisk fixed it up to look like a turn-ofthe-century assay office.” Below: Members of the crew trail Steadicam operator Colin Anderson as he captures a shot of Plainview and his men arriving in a small town near the Sunday ranch, which he has targeted for mining. The car’s arrival was also captured with a striking dolly move that director Paul Thomas Anderson chose to leave a bit shaky. “My dolly grip, Jeff Kunkel, was ready to attach the camera to a stabilized head, but I knew Paul would never go for that,” Elswit says. “Instead, we had the camera on a dolly with nobody sitting on it, and it was pushed down the track as fast as it would go. I had hot wheels at the end of the track waiting for it.” things as much as we can, but what I’ve learned from Paul is how much better it can be to let accidents happen rather than try to force everything to be a certain way. He wants to see things unfold on the set, and if something isn’t working, he’s willing to stop in his tracks and start all over again. So there’s a constant recharging and renewal of creative energy. “That way of working is particularly difficult if you’re the focus puller or the dolly grip,” continues Elswit. “Those guys are used to more precise timings and methods. When you work with Paul, you’re shooting with anamorphic lenses and there are no marks on the ground. There is no hair-andmakeup or wardrobe on set. There are no final touches, there’s no ringing of the bell, there’s no announcement that we’re shooting. There’s also no standard rehearsal, really; once we figure out what the shot will be, there’s a little bit of rehearsal, but then it starts to change and the rehearsal turns into the shooting. It’s a very organic approach, and you have to be ready for immediate changes. That’s why we have the same crew over and over again — Paul has to work with people who are incredibly alert and aware on set. Everyone is truly a filmmaker.” “I enjoy the technical side of filmmaking, but I’m only able to enjoy it because I have true technicians with me,” admits Anderson, who has no formal film education. “I actually learned a lot of what I know by reading American Cinematographer. Some of the articles could get a bit technical, but that just made me want to learn more. I’m still a bit of a Luddite, though, and I probably think I know a bit more than I do.” Elswit says he appreciates Anderson’s combination of experimentation and old-school filmmaking principles, qualities that blend to powerful effect in There Will Be Blood. On the technical side, “Paul knew he wanted to make an anamorphic film 38 January 2008

American Cinematographer - January 2008

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