Arri-news 2014

varied settings. In the end we were led to shoot in Australia, specifically in and around Sydney and in various parts of Queensland. The look of the film developed as Angie, our production designer Jon Hutman and I scouted and talked through the script, but key to it was that this was a personal story and we wanted the audience to feel connected to the characters. Unbroken was your introduction to the ALEXA XT cameras. Were you pleased with this evolution of the ALEXA camera system? The ALEXA XT is a really wonderful tool and we had absolutely no issues with the cameras. I especially liked the internal NDs, as they were a real bonus for us in the bright sunlight of Australia. The ALEXA XT Studio has its own internal ND filter system, which was also of great value. There must have been situations involving extreme highlights and contrast; did the ALEXA image hold up? I had no expectation of the image not holding up, as I had shot in similar conditions for Skyfall . In fact on Skyfall I felt I had used the ALEXA in such a variety of conditions that I had absolutely no concerns about using the camera on Unbroken . When I was first talking with Angie we were considering film, but after shooting tests with the ALEXA and realizing the amount of effects work we would be doing in post, she was very comfortable with the choice of the ALEXA. Which ALEXA XT models did you have? We used an XT Studio, an XT Plus and an XT M camera. I like the optical viewfinder that the XT Studio has when I am working off the dolly or on a tripod. When I am on a remote head, which is something I do quite a lot on any film but which was vital for scenes on the water and on the running track, then I will use the XT Plus camera. We had a full-size mock-up of a B-24 plane, which we used in two expansive sequences. Although the mock-up was 75 feet in length, the actual working space was very small, so we used an XT M camera mounted on a Micro Scorpio remote head. This allowed us to add a fluid movement to the camera and to follow the action in a way that would have been pretty-well impossible with a conventional rig. You’ve been shooting with the ALEXA Open Gate mode on your new film Sicario . Has it proved to be a useful feature? I have been loving shooting Open Gate with the ALEXA. I compare it to shooting Super 35 mm film, as it has a similar effect on my lens choice. Utilizing those extra few pixels really does make a difference. Not that I have any complaints about the regular ARRIRAW image, but you do see some extra subtle crispness of detail with Open Gate, especially on a wide landscape shot. DP Roger Deakins, CBE, ASC, BSC ARRI NEWS 5