


“Mind if I take them again?” he asked me. He took three X-rays and immediately studied the images on his high-definition monitor.

What I would say is that I recently had a root canal done in Los Angeles by a top endodontist. I really loved working with the Alexa, and to have the ability to play with things like the colour temperature 100 or 200 degrees at a time incamera, rather than having to use glass filters.Īs for which is the best digital camera, and whether any of them as good as film, the debate goes on. However, after some tests, that also included the Sony F65, I was overruled by the VFX chiefs, who asked me to shoot with the ARRI Alexa, because of the dynamic range in the image, which I did. I considered using Genesis for Maleficent.
#Where waterfall waterworld movie movie
It was the first Genesis movie in Hollywood, and I followed it up shortly after using Genesis again on Apocalypto under extreme conditions in jungle locations. I have certainly embraced the new technology, starting with Panavision’s Genesis, my favourite digital camera, which I used on Click (2006). What are your thoughts about shooting digitally? You shot Maleficent using the ARRI Alexa. Shooting Maleficent was completely the opposite. There were of course storyboards, brilliant conceptual renderings of every scene, and pre-viz of the whole movie, so every department knew exactly how their work would finish up rather than just having to imagine what magic the VFX maestros would use to complete the picture. The early films I shot rarely had any VFX, and what I’d see through the lens what was would finish up on the screen, after a relatively straight forward colour timing in the film lab What has evolved is the new technology and the new tools used, both during filming and especially in post production. The basic principals remain the same, in that the director’s vision has to be fulfilled, the screenplay has to be transofmred into moving images, the sets, and most importantly, the actors, have to be lit properly. How do you think has cinematography evolved since then with a movie like Maleficent?Ĭinematography has not changed at all. We both love shadows, and I had countless opportunities to provide them in the brilliant sets designed by Gary Freeman and Dillon Cole.įilms like Waterworld were part of the early days of what we now know visual effects to be capable of. His conceptual drawings always guided me into the lighting he was looking for. I’ll be taking them out later and you’ll see a beautiful waterfall with fairies skimming across the water.” He could see way beyond what was on the little video monitor on-set. He’d say, “Don’t worry about that cherry picker, or those three lights in shot. Working with Rob was different to working with other live-action directors, although he was still directing live-action, of course.
#Where waterfall waterworld movie how to
I’ve worked with several first time directors, but there was never anyone who had the visual genius of Rob. He knows how to accomplish extraordinary visuals very efficiently, with an incredible eye for shape, colour, light and movement. Maleficent was directed by Robert Stromberg, a leading VFX artist and double Oscar-winning production designer (Alice In Wonderland, 2010 and Avatar 2009), but a first-time director. British Cinematographer Magazine caught up Semler over a lovely cup of PG Tips to discover more about his cinematographic approach to the movie. Production on Maleficent took place on locations around the Hertfordshire, West Sussex and Buckinghamshire countryside, with studio shoots based out of Pinewood Studios. With a budget estimated of around $200 million, principal photography began in June 2012 in London, under the auspices of renowned Australian cinematographer Dean Semler ACS ASC – whose lengthy credit list includes Dead Calm (1989), Waterworld (1995), Bruce Almighty (2003) and Apocalypto (2006), and whose many awards include the 1991 Academy and ASC Awards for Best Cinematography for Dances With Wolves, and the ASC’s 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award. Elle Fanning is cast as the Sleeping Beauty – Princess Aurora / Briar Rose.

This live-action reimagining of Walt Disney’s classic 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty stars Angelina Jolie, as the eponymous villainess, and portrays the story from her perspective. Maleficent is the dark fantasy adventure directed by Robert Stromberg and produced by Walt Disney Pictures, from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton, co-written by John Lee Hancock. Reprinted with permission from the May 2014 issue of British Cinematographer
