American Cinematographer - February 2002 - 16

with

melancholy streak. Written and
by Lone Scherfig, it is about a
group of social misfits living in Copen¬
hagen who meet when they all start
taking a class in Italian. The central char¬
acters include a recently widowed minis¬
ter, just arrived in town to replace his
suspended (and exceedingly spiteful)
predecessor; a belligerent restaurant
manager who frightens his customers; a
lovesick hotel manager and the Italian
cook he worships from afar; a hairdresser
with an abusive mother; and a clumsy
young bakery clerk who is forever trying
to please her hateful father.
Although the film was scripted,
Scherfig encouraged the actors - and
Johansson
to improvise. "Lone was
very keen that this film should be fun to
a

directed

-

do and that

we

should all be free,"

observes Johansson.

everything

was

"Anything and
possible."

The cast and

would shoot

crew

about 10 takes of each scene, he

explains. The first four or five were
exactly as they had been
rehearsed. When they were "home safe

filmed
with

a

scene," in Johansson's words,

they would shoot three

or

four

more

with

a

Canon 8-120mm

"It's not the world's best lens," he

never

[film something that
up on the big screen."
The cinematographer says he
meant to

would] end

OR VISIT US AT

chose the

for two

reasons.

"First

grain quality in lowlight conditions than regular digital
video. If I'd gone with a DV system, I
would have ended up with a grainier
picture. The second big reason is the
weight of the camera. [The acclaimed
Dogma project] Celebration was shot
with a very small Sony that you can hold
in one hand. Small, lightweight cameras
result in too much unwanted movement
that doesn't

Betacam,
WWW.CINEMATOGRAPHER.COM

camera

of all, it has better

necessarily fit

on

a scene.

The

the other hand, is very

are

40 minutes

had connected it to the camera, Johans¬
observes that the absence of

son

cable allowed him greater

camera

a

free¬

dom of movement.
A cinematographer's job has
famously been described as "painting
with light," and Johansson admits that
shooting Italian for Beginners without
being able to improve its look was often
frustrating. He notes, however, that the
Dogma restrictions inspired some real
innovation. One particularly tricky location
was a

restaurant that featured windows

side of the room, facing west.
Johansson recalls, "We planned to finish
along

one

sun

notes. "It's intended for TV and was

OR 323.969.4333

Betacam cassettes

long, and once Johansson began shoot¬
ing he tended to keep the camera rolling
for a good five or 10 minutes. If he
wanted to try a different angle, he would
simply hurry across the room with the
camera running. A wireless signal went
straight from the Betacam to Scherfig's
monitor. Although the quality of the
image on the director's monitor was not
as good as it would have been if a cable

shooting there before

camera came

800.448.0145

difficult to move."

whatever

zoom.

TO ORDER CALL

more

takes, but this time the actors could say

they felt like saying and move
anywhere they wanted. Johansson, too,
was free to experiment.
According to Johansson, the DigiBeta is not well suited for filmmaking.
Designed for TV news footage, the PAL

$15.00

heavy and sat on my shoulder. I wanted it
heavy because I wanted it to be

to be

We

entered the
were

room

delayed for

however, and the

through. On

some reason,

began coming
conventional film I could

a
have used scrims
or

noon, before the
and hit the actors.

or

sun

silks

on

the windows

put large, black flags outside, but in

Dogma all of that is impossible. Instead, I
found that the restaurant had

some

white

paper tablecloths that measured roughly 3
feet by 3 feet, and because they were

already at the location, I was allowed to
use them as very primitive silks. By attach¬
ing them to the windows - and keeping
the windows out of the frame

-

I

managed to continue shooting. The mate¬
rial was transparent and transmitted a
nice, soft light."
Johansson enjoyed the Dogma
experience enough to shoot a second
feature, Kira's Reason, in that mold. But
he

only too happy to return to
filmmaking - he and
Scherfig recently began shooting their
second picture together, this time on film
was

conventional

and in widescreen.

■
American Cinematographer - February 2002

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