American Cinematographer - September 2004 - 62

recommended
using
motion-picture film instead. He
shot the portraits with Eastman
Plus-X 5231 and used regular color

explored Macchu Pichu, and finally
ended up at the San Pablo leper
colony near Iquitos, Peru, where
they volunteered their services for a

images appear on screen (a second
series plays under the closing cred¬
its), they appear to be stills; the sub¬
jects stare straight into the camera,

Gautier

month.

motionless. But after

filters for black-and-white,

Given the

itinerary, Gautier,
operating, wanted
"a compact camera that was easy to

who did his

own

grab and rig." He found just what he
looking for in the extremely
small and lightweight 16mm Aaton
XTRprod and its 35mm sister, the
Aaton 35-III. His camera package,
supplied by Cinecam in France,
included two XTRprods, an Aaton
35-III, a single set of Primo prime

was

lenses that fit both

camera

Canon 11.5-138mm

XTRprods, and
250mm

zoom

moment,

slight movement - a smile,
angling of the head, or hair lifted
by a gentle breeze. The impression is
of a living, breathing photograph.
an

Salles first considered shoot¬

ing the portraits as 35mm stills, but

as

well

as

hard-edged grads to darken or light¬
en the sky or other surroundings. He
used

a

17.5mm Primo lens

and

stood close to the

subjects, achieving
an extraordinary intimacy.
According to Gautier, the por-

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models, a
for the

zoom

a

Nikon 200mm

for the 35-III. Gautier

was so con¬

cerned about the extreme conditions

they were likely to encounter during
the shoot that he arranged for a
technician from Cinecam, Frederic

Lombardo, to rendezvous with the
filmmakers twice

during production
to check and clean the gear. Despite
shooting in temperatures that
ranged from below freezing to 113°F
and contending with extreme
humidity, "we had absolutely no
problems with the Aatons," Gautier
reports

a

a

Angenieux 25-

an

and

there's

happily.

To achieve the strong

color

mind,
Gautier selected Kodak Vision 250D
5246/7246
and Vision
500T

and contrast he had in

5279/7279. "I selected two fast stocks

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because they have a built-in, natural¬

looking diffusion," he explains.
"Also, both are very contrasty to start
with and therefore respond more

quickly to pushing. We didn't want a
slick image, and those stocks have a
subtle grain and rough texture."
Motorcycle Diaries also fea¬
tures two montages of high-con¬
trast, black-and-white "living por¬
traits." The subjects were local peo¬
ple that the filmmakers happened to
pass on the road, the type of people
that Guevara and Granado would

have

met.

When the first series of

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49
American Cinematographer - September 2004

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