American Cinematographer - December 2007 - 36

Irretrievable Deeds [Cecilia and Robbie]. To enhance that, I had a 2K Zip light on a dimmer through a 4-by-4 frame of 216 keying Robbie and Cecilia. They were initially in semi-darkness, and as the camera approached and the flare diminished, I brought this soft key on the side up on the dimmer.” The flare from the lamp also revealed another characteristic of the Dior stockings: “The point of light from the table lamp created a sort of chromatic circle around the hot spot.” Looking a bit like a rainbow around the light source, the effect is also present in a night exterior when everyone takes up flashlights to go searching for a pair of boys who have run away from the Tallis home, where they are visiting along with their sister, Lola (Juno Temple). For shots of family members carrying flashlights, period torches were outfitted with higher-powered bulbs by Evans’ crew, though McGarvey reveals that when the actors were “far off in the background, we actually used modern lights, like large Maglites, to get more punch.” The sequence focuses primarily on Briony as she searches the grounds and, in a dark turn, finds Lola being raped by an attacker Briony misidentifies as Robbie. A number of the shots in the sequence simulate Briony’s point of view, and McGarvey “led the camera with a Source Four [Leko] with a spot lens on it. Focused in at full spot, it gave a softer edge like a flashlight, but it also gave me the exposure I needed. So instead of attaching the flashlight to the camera, I’d point it one direction and then Pete [Robertson] would follow with the camera, as the eye normally would.” To create night ambience in this scene (and most other night exteriors), McGarvey tried something he had shied away from in the past: “We used smoke, which is quite difficult to deal with. We had a great special-effects department that created wonderful layers of haze. You Above: Wielding a flashlight while helping to search for twin boys who have gone missing on the estate, Briony stumbles across a sexual assault. Gaffer Perry Evans and his crew outfitted the period flashlights with high-powered bulbs. Right: Although Robbie manages to locate the boys, he becomes the prime suspect in the rape. used this technique before, McGarvey and his crew refer to it as “jamming,” and Wright was keen to employ it regularly. In particular, the director recalls using music for a scene in which Briony walks in on Cecilia and Robbie making love in the library: “We were shooting something very intimate, but we used music that wasn’t sexy. It took our minds slightly off the sex aspect and led us more to an emotional realization.” A lit desk lamp in the library first draws Briony’s attention to the room, and as the young girl enters, the lamp obscures her vision, preventing her from immediately seeing the lovers. McGarvey explains, “We were able to tilt the shade on the table lamp enough so that at the top of the shot the lamp created a flare, and then, as we approach the table, the shade reduces the flare and provides some resolution of sight as Briony sees 36 December 2007
American Cinematographer - December 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2007
