American Cinematographer - May 2004 - 88

Sundance 2004:

Independent Artistry
her. Down-converted
transmitted from the
HD monitor,

Director Lars

HD video

camera

package. The bulk

Trier (left)
and

of the film, which is framed in the

cinematographer
Anthony Dod

16x9 aspect ratio, was shot by von
Trier with the CineAlta on a hand¬

Mantle, DFF
discuss their
next

setup.

held shoulder

rig. "When he got
tired, I'd take over," says Dod Mantle.
Otherwise, the cinematographer
was hidden along with Frankenberg,
other

crewmembers

and

were

also tucked into the

"Lars would start every

day
going straight into the scenes, work¬
ing with the actors and shooting
rehearsals," says Dod Mantle, "while
I would watch and bite my nails. He
would want to go really quickly
again, so I'd be flicking off lamps
right, left and center - which, as
you can imagine, can create grading
and continuity issues. But I'd rather
do that and handle it in post than be
locked into my rehearsal setup."
After testing a number of
zoom lenses, including a Century
film lens with an adapter, Mantle
decided that the "strange, closed
world" of Dogville didn't require "the
superior quality" of film lenses. He
cave.

von

signals

camera to an

the

went

with the Canon HD, which

dimmer

provided

set

loves his zoom," he notes. "I let him

panels inside one of the few
pieces, a cave where Grace hides

when outsiders

pro8mm

come

looking for

zoom

out

a range

of 5-50mm. "Lars

but I didn't let him go

that

wide

I blocked it between 16 and

20mm. He knew I did

didn't have time
To

it, but he

think about it."

soften the HD

image, Dod

Mantle used Tiffen Soft/FX and

Black Pro-Mist filters.
A

used

and

Super Technocrane

was

film wider shots of the stage

angles that weren't possible to

obtain from the shoulder. "When it

hot, when it got a bit tense,
when Lars got a bit tired or felt we'd
have to give the actors a bit of a
got a bit

we'd keep them onstage but
do more gentle shots
from a distance," says the cinematog¬
rapher. "Or we'd bring on the
pause,
move

away and

doubles. Whenever

felt it

was a

good idea to have some space, we'd
just hop up in the crane."
After principal photography
was completed, a week was devoted
to effects shots, which provide visual
grace notes in a film that might
otherwise seem relentlessly stark. To

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American Cinematographer - May 2004

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