American Cinematographer - September 2023 - 43

AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER THEASC.COM
Interiors of the futuristic mansion in Glass Onion: A Knives Out
Mystery - shot by Steve Yedlin, ASC - were constructed by
local technicians at studios in Belgrade, Serbia.
Serbia
As promised by the movie's title, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, shot
by director of photography Steve Yedlin, ASC, is centered around the
dome-shaped setting in which its quirky cast of characters are gathered.
To build the interior of this futuristic mansion - and that of the New
York apartment occupied by detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) - the
production partnered with Work in Progress (WIP), a service provider in
Serbia that arranged for local technicians to construct the sets in studios
in Belgrade, the country's capital and largest city.
The production required several studios to accommodate all of its
sets. One of those was Pink Films International (PFI) Studios, located on
the outskirts of Belgrade. The complex has eight stages, several of which
are usually occupied by programs for parent company TV Pink, the leading
local commercial broadcaster. The two largest stages are 157'x125'
with a grid height of 52', and one room is set up for greenscreen work.
PFI Studios also has a 12-hectare backlot, which has featured set
builds replicating San Francisco City Hall, Venice canals, Monte Carlo,
Washington streets and Belgrade landmarks. Equipment rentals are
available on site.
Rental house Cine Planet provided much of the gear for Glass Onion.
(Yedlin worked with Panavision London on his camera and lens package.)
WIP owner Andjelka Vlaisavljevic adds that if local houses don't
have everything a production needs, equipment can easily be shipped
from nearby Hungary or Germany.
Glass Onion also shot at retrofitted warehouse facilities in the Port of
Belgrade, where WIP also set up the 2018 drama The White Crow, shot
by Mike Eley, BSC and directed by Ralph Fiennes; the Paramount horror
movie Crawl (2019), shot by Maxime Alexandre, ASC; and Sony's Don't
Breathe 2 (2021), shot by Pedro Luque. Vlaisavljevic points out that those
spaces have no columns or obstructions, but are limited by a ceiling
height of 35'.
A bigger space was required for the Glass Onion's spacious atrium, so
WIP and the producers did a massive build at a new 50,000-square-foot
warehouse they found 18 miles outside of Belgrade.
Exteriors for the compound inhabited by billionaire Miles Bron (Edward
Norton) were found on the Greek island of Spetses and at the
Amanzoe resort near the Greek town of Porto Heli. Much of the Serbian
crew carried over to Greece, Vlaisavljevic explains, as they work at a high
level and competitive rate: " After more than 50 foreign projects in Serbia,
our crew's skill is at a top international level while their rates are as
much as three or four times lower. Additionally, a significant financial
benefit is that our incentives apply even if the crew works abroad. "
A production can get a 25-percent refund for qualified expenses, and
if its spend exceeds €5 million, the refund is bumped to 30 percent. Regarding
these incentives, Rade Vojnović, Serbian adviser to the Minister
of Culture, tells AC, " Our intention was to predominantly attract additional
foreign projects with higher budgets, but we are also supporting
some smaller projects with budgets of under €5 million. And it's important
to note that clients are receiving the cash rebate two to three months
on average after submitting their documentation. "
While Glass Onion didn't take advantage of Serbia's photogenic exteriors,
numerous foreign productions have. " We are a European city, "
Vlaisavljevic notes. " [20th-century] students from Serbia studied in
Paris, Berlin and Vienna and brought back those architectural influences.
SEPTEMBER 2023 / 43
PHOTO BY JOHN WILSON, COURTESY OF NETFLIX.
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American Cinematographer - September 2023

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