American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 34
Top: Adi meets
with Amir
Siahaan, one of
the death-squad
leaders
responsible for
his brother's
murder. Bottom:
Adi questions an
elderly man -
another
participant in the
1965 killings -
while giving him
an eye
examination.
responsibility to film the perpetrators
honestly, without editorializing. "I don't
think you should make them look ugly or
put nasty light on them to make them look
more 'gross' than they are. I don't like that
way of doing documentaries. I think we
should be fair, and I think it's very important
that we understand why these people acted
the way they did."
When shooting with the 5D, the
cinematographer worked with Canon LSeries lenses, including the 35mm (f1.4),
50mm (f1.2), 16-35mm (f2.8), 24-70mm
(f2.8) and 70-200mm (f2.8). The prime
lenses were particularly useful when Skree
34
September 2015
wanted to create more separation between
foreground and background, as in several
shots of nuts inhabited by insect larvae,
which hopped around on a glossy floor
while being watched by Adi's children.
In many instances, the cinematographer had to be prepared for uncontrolled
changes in light or other conditions. One
painful sequence in which Adi interviews his
own uncle - who had been one of Ramli's
prison guards - stretched from daylight to
dark. "It's a challenge to keep the scene
equal in terms of lighting," says Skree, who
shot the sequence with the Sony camera.
"That's what happens when you are doing
American Cinematographer
documentary. We worked a lot with that in
the grading."
Oppenheimer and Skree took time to
capture the atmosphere and landscape of
their North Sumatra setting, using a polarizer and grad filters "to build a more melancholic atmosphere," says the cinematographer, who adds that these moments serve
an important function. "I think in documentary films it's very important, when you have
such a close subject, that you can breathe."
A number of shots portray the dense rainforests and mountains around Medan, and
especially the Snake River, where Ramli and
so many others were murdered. "When you
see the Snake River, it's such a beautiful
place," says Skree. "How could it happen
here?"
A more sinister visual motif emerged
from a long shot of trucks rumbling down a
street at night. It was an unplanned vantage
point, which Oppenheimer and Skree came
upon by happenstance and recognized as
an ideal match for the film - as Ramli had
been taken away in just such a truck. "The
better you prepare, the better you know
what you need for the story, so it's just about
being in the right spot at the right time,"
notes the director of photography. "I chose
a long focal length, like 400mm, to make a
very compressed picture so you could see
the trucks for a long time in the frame. You
feel how terrifying it must have been in
American Cinematographer - September 2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - September 2015
Contents
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - Intro
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 1
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 2
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - Contents
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 4
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 5
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 6
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 7
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 8
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 9
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 10
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 11
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 12
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 13
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 14
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 15
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 16
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 17
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 18
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 19
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 20
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 21
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 22
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 23
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 24
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 25
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 26
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 27
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 28
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 29
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 30
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 31
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 32
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 33
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 34
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 35
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 36
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 37
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 38
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 39
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 40
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 41
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 42
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 43
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 44
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 45
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 46
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 47
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 48
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 49
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 50
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 51
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 52
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 53
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 54
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 55
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 56
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 57
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 58
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 59
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 60
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 61
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 62
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 63
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 64
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 64a
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 64b
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 64c
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 64d
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 64e
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 64f
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 64g
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 64h
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 65
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 66
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 67
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American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 70
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 71
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - 72
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American Cinematographer - September 2015 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - September 2015 - Cover4
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