American Cinematographer - March 2018 - 28

Top: Director Alex Ryan watches over Wardell's shoulder as she lines up a shot outside the supermarket.
Above: The crew employed a 40' Jimmy Jib Triangle jib for the final shot of the movie.

worked with colorist Yanni Kronenberg,
who employed Blackmagic Design's DaVinci
Resolve. "There were so many colors in the
supermarket," the cinematographer continues. "During the grade we wanted to make
sure the red was consistent and the other
colors weren't overwhelming."
The project was shot spherically and
framed for a final 2.39:1 aspect ratio. "I
used [Arri/Zeiss] Master Primes because I like
how precise and clean they are," the cinematographer notes. "They're beautifully
28

March 2018

designed." Wardell was happy with the
lenses' look and opted for no filtration save
neutral density.
"The size of the Mini is great,"
Wardell adds. "We had wireless follow
focus and iris control all in one Arri WCU-4
unit, so when I was running around, [first
AC] Joe Martinez could do an iris pull for
the stop difference between the interior
and exterior of the supermarket." That
functionality was particularly useful for an
early shot that follows Gideon into the
American Cinematographer

supermarket, and for the end of the movie,
when the camera travels with a store clerk
through the back of the supermarket and
outside.
To make operating handheld more
comfortable, Martinez mounted an Aaton
wooden handle upside down on the
camera. "I met Joe at a workshop at
Camerimage," Wardell recalls. "Joe had
worked on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead
Men Tell No Tales in Queensland and loved
Australia. I was very fortunate he was available to come out for this short and work
with me."
As Red Ink ends, the camera backs
away from the tragedy that's unspooled in
the supermarket, moves through the back
of the store, returns outside - to the back
alley where the story began - and then
rises up for a view of the city, offering a
chance to reflect on humanity's interconnectedness and the potential impact of a
stranger's actions. This action was captured
in two shots: first, a handheld camera
moves through the store and out to the
alley, and then a cut leads to a jib shot. For
the latter, the camera was placed on a 40'
Jimmy Jib Triangle jib.
Wardell finds shorts to be a great
place to get to know new crew. She's
impressed when crewmembers on lowbudget projects take the work seriously, and
she often brings those collaborators with
her onto bigger-budget productions. She is
committed to mentoring, and shorts also
afford a good opportunity for mentees to
gain hands-on experience on set.
It's a bonus when a short gains
recognition. For example, the sci-fi project
Shift, which Wardell shot for writer-director
James Croke, has played at more than 20
film festivals and has garnered Wardell two
ACS awards. Wardell stresses, though, that
her primary motivator in shooting a short
project is to connect with new creative partners. "I care very much about the teams I
work with, and I invest my time and energy
into the work and supporting the filmmakers," she says. "I've ended up with some
really great friends and collaborators by
working alongside people under time and
budget constraints, and by understanding
their motivations to tell certain stories." ●

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