American Cinematographer - June 2006 - 34

rhythm. When it's quiet and peaceful,
exactly how the camera is. When
something happens, the camera reacts

that's

-

it starts to search and zoom and look

things. We wanted to approach this
as though it were a 16mm shoot with a

for

35mm look."

Of course,
cameras

treating 35mm Arri

like their 16mm counterparts

thing, but physically accomplish¬
ing it is another, and Ackroyd and
Becker devised some ingenious rigs to
lighten their loads. Ackroyd had to
is

Director of

barry°Ackroyd^
bsc lines up a
shot.

mance

within

a

single shot." The

contend with

a

substantial amount of

weight. "An Optimo zoom is
probably about 18 inches long, so it's a
heavy piece of glass," he says. "I used
the monopod from a still camera so it
could take all that weight, but I'd keep
[the camera] on my shoulder as a hand¬

production used two Arri Lites, and the

zoom-lens

scheme, he used Fuji Super F-500 8571
inside the airplane, where most of the

angle approach often necessitated
long, running moves up and down the
aisle of the plane, he needed a more
elaborate system; he therefore devised
an underslung skateboard dolly and had

lens package comprised Cooke S4
Primes, Angenieux Optimo zooms, and a
couple of Zeiss Variable Primes.
Ackroyd shot with no filtration on the
lens, and to maximize depth of field
within a practical-based lighting

action unfolds. "It's my favorite stock,
and it's quite difficult to get a lot of light¬

ing in through those airplane windows,"
he says. "I wanted to know that
have enough stop when I went
the end of

a

I would
right at

200mm lens, and also that

enough stop to do a
wide-angle shot and keep everything
looking good." Because of the docu¬
mentary-style visuals he and Greengrass had in mind, "grain wasn't an
issue," he adds. (Fie shot exterior
scenes on Fuji Super F-250D 8561.)
Ackroyd and Becker had to find a
way to make their opposing composi¬
tional styles mesh. The cinematogra¬
pher says he prefers "to put on a long
Klem would have

zoom

and crash in," whereas Becker

stays with more of a wide-angle

approach. Ackroyd says the two
approaches complemented each other
"beautifully," not least because both
cameras were always handheld and
reacting to the performances in what
Ackroyd calls "an observational style."
Fie explains, "We wanted to keep it on
a human scale, and that meant getting

held shot." Because Becker's wide-

it mounted in

a

thin

seam

that

ran

the

length of the airframe's ceiling. Attach¬
ing the camera to the rig hard and fast
would have limited Becker's ability to
swing out of the way during action in
the aisle, so instead, he suspended the
camera from the skateboard dolly with
lengths of "fantastically strong but flex¬
ible rubber tubing," says Ackroyd. This
held the camera securely to the ceilingmounted dolly but also had enough give
that Becker could "go left and right, up
and down, or pull it into a seat to let
people pass while they were moving
along the aisle. It was like a handheld
shot at waist height that you could
move in and out of places without actu¬
ally carrying the full weight of the
camera or resorting to a Steadicam."
Ackroyd's lighting was designed
to underscore United 93's unflinching
realism. "We didn't want to correct or
alter whatever mix of

the

light came into
plane," he says. "When

the

room or

eyes,

we

shot the air-traffic-control locations,

constantly moving around on that level.

we

down

We'd

and

run

into the actors'

around with the

then settle down into
squeeze
30 June 2006

one

camera

and

positions and
our way into seats in a kind of

had

a

mixture of fluorescents and

glowing screens and all kinds of
strange bulbs. And we found that every
part of a Boeing is made uniquely for

Boeing, and that includes the lighting
inside the plane, so we chose not to
change those [bulbs] out. We knew
some would definitely come out green
[on film] and others would come out
other colors. We embraced the variety
and realism of the light."
The production's major lighting
rig was a large bank of 20Ks that mimic¬
ked the telltale roll and sway of sunlight
that plays over the interior of a cruising
aircraft. "It was like a rock 'n' roll rig that
you'd use on a huge stadium concert,"
says Ackroyd. "We could move whole
banks of lights on both sides of the
plane up and down and diagonally and
across the plane, and computerize it so
that we could reproduce movements
and do effects to make the plane seem
as if it was tilting more than it was,
even when it was on a gimbal."
At press time, Ackroyd was
finishing the picture with a digital inter¬
mediate (Dl) at London's Framestore
CFC, where he was working with
colorist Asa Shoul. "Our aim is to

subtle

lighting change that
flight takes its fateful
turn, and then again when the passen¬
gers revolt," says the cinematographer.
"Everyone remembers that day as one
of the most beautiful September morn¬
ings they've ever known, so early on our
lighting is soft and clean - virginal, in
enhance

a

occurs once

a sense.

the

Over the next hour and half, I

darken the whole scenario

as

the events

unfold. I'm accustomed to

lighting a
having it come out on the
negative and print looking the way I
shot it, but [with the Dl], it's a great
advantage to be able to integrate all the
visual-effects shots, put shadows in
where they didn't exist, and enhance
and strengthen the contrast."
Contemplating his work on the
picture, Ackroyd says United 93 is of a
piece with his nonfiction films. "I've
been lucky enough to have filmed some
incredible things as a documentary
cameraman, and I tell you, once you're
in the middle of what you believe to be
real, you don't feel anything but that
privilege of looking through the
camera," he says. "And on this movie, I
scene

and

felt that."

5^
American Cinematographer - June 2006

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