June 21, 2024

Bringing 3 Body Problem to life: DP Jonathan Freeman, ASC

Jonathan Freeman, ASC faced a unique challenge on Netflix’s sci-fi series 3 Body Problem. The books, written by Cixin Liu, are extremely intellectually dense novels. Translating them into visually compelling television seemed like a daunting task. Show creators DB Weiss and David Benioff had worked with Jonathan previously on Game of Thrones, and they leaned into filmmaking that was motivated by impactful storytelling rather than just “cool shots.” A key reveal moment in particular was achieved simply by pushing in on a photo of one of the characters in the first episode, revealing how the stories were interconnected.

Together, they decided on the look of the show and chose three distinct visual styles for 1960s China, modern London, and the virtual world of a videogame. The 2:3:5 aspect ratio and ARRI ALFA lenses helped differentiate these environments. The lenses were prototypes that Greig Fraser was developing on The Batman. “They had exactly all that beautiful bokeh that you would expect, but the center was optically pure,” says Jonathan. “They also had these chromatic aberrations to them. These distorted, stretchy little bits in the edges of the frame just looked funky and kind of otherworldly. I just like the idea that it could be interpreted as sort of an alien’s point of view.”

Filming the virtual world within a limited physical space required innovation. Jonathan’s “low-res volume” stage concept used a massive wall of SkyPanels and strategically placed lighting to create a realistic, immersive environment for actors. “Each (panel) was almost like a pixel, so we created an array of 110 feet by 45 wide wrapped around 180 degrees.” says Jonathan. “It was a very complex system, but overall the intent was to recreate these live environments the way you might be able to do in a regular volume. Then, there was the lighting on top, similar to the skylight, where we programmed animated lights to recreate sunrise, sunset, dusk, and dawn. It was quite complicated, but we were able to use a real space and transition in camera. It took a lot of minds to put it together, but I thought it was really successful.”

Find Jonathan Freeman: http://freemandp.com/

Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com
Sponsored by ARRI: https://www.arri.com/en

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Twitter: @ShortEndz

By Illya Friedman

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In Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

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April 10, 2024

Strada CEO Michael Cioni: Using AI to simplify workflows

Michael Cioni is one of the film industry’s most influential people in digital cinema and post production technology. He is uniquely gifted at identifying and following fads that turn into trends, and trends that convert into industry standards. Michael was always drawn to the challenge of helping filmmakers figure out their best workflows. “I really wanted to embody knowledge to help workflows, so that I could inform customers, partners and filmmakers. And then together we would figure out what’s the best recipe for this particular film.”

Michael began his career at post house Plaster City, then co-founded the post house Light Iron, which was acquired by Panavision. He then worked for Frame.io where he found several workflow shortcuts, including Camera to Cloud. Shortly after Adobe acquired Frame.io, Michael started paying closer attention to a new trend: AI. Last year he decided to leave Frame.io and together with his brother Peter, they founded Strada. With Strada, Michael wants to enable creative professionals the freedom to work entirely from the cloud, using helpful AI tools. “The most lucrative, and I think the most useful forms of AI is in utilitarian tasks. The first major part of filmmaking workflow that Strada wants to use AI to eliminate is the mundane aspects of creating a story. If creative people can get rid of the boring, mundane, repeatable, low-skill stuff, then it means we have more time to do the satisfying, creative, fun stuff.”

Strada can transfer assets from cloud to cloud without having to download them and then reupload them. Using AI, Strada can provide a transcription and a translation of narrative content early and up front. It can also tag and analyze images so that it’s easy to search using just one word for a specific scene, saving hours in the editing process. Plus, all the work can be done remotely, from any location, because everything is stored in the cloud.

Strada is currently still in private beta but anyone can apply to try it. If you have a project you’re working on, go to Strada’s website to contact them about trying out the beta version. The company plans to start rolling out the public beta by fall 2024.

The entire Strada team will be at NAB Las Vegas next week April 13-17 at the Atlas Lens Co. booth in Central Hall C5539 to provide live demos of the AI-powered workflow technology platform and allow filmmakers to test out Strada’s capabilities firsthand.

Find Michael Cioni: Instagram: @michaelcioni
Strada: https://strada.tech/

Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras www.hotrodcameras.com

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Twitter: @ShortEndz

By Illya Friedman

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In Cinematography Podcast, Latest Posts, Podcast Episodes

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October 19, 2022

Court Crandall, writer and director of the buddy comedy Bromates

The comedy Bromates is about buddies Sid (Josh Brener) and Jonesie (Lil Rel Howry) who are both going through a breakup, so the two move in together. During a night out at a bar with a group of friends, nerdy Sid meets a woman from out of town. The guys convince Sid to go after her, and head out on a road trip to Texas together, encountering crazy situations and adventure along the way.

Court and writing partner Chris Kemper wanted to do a story about guys moving in together and helping each other through a breakup. The film was independently made at first, and Court says it was a hard sell to make a movie about guys behaving like jackasses, since these days, so many comedies just go straight to streaming. Luckily, musician and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg came on board as an executive producer with his new production company, Snoopadelic Films Inc. He plays himself in a few scenes of the film, and though Snoop doesn’t prefer to act, he was willing to do it for Bromates.

Court and the production team pursued several different comedians who could bring plenty of laughs and gags to the movie. They found comedic actors who could do a ton of improv. A good portion of the movie is ad-libbed, and Court found it easy to work with funny people who make the script stronger. Court would shoot the scene once for coverage, and then they’d start playing around. As a director, Court values time management, so he knew it was important to know when to say when, and to limit the amount of takes for each scene. They only had a five week shoot, and he found it was important to hit the main story points so that the plot stayed cohesive than just keep shooting endless jokes.

Court is the found and CEO of the ad agency, Positivity, with screenwriting as just a side gig. His first script was for a movie called A Lobster Tale, which he sold and then was finally made 10 years later. Court also wrote the first draft of the movie Old School, based on his experience of being in a fraternity. He pitched the story to director Todd Phillips, sold the idea and received “story by” credit for the film.

Find Court Crandall: https://www.positivitybrand.com/new-page-2
Instagram: @courtcrandall
Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: https://camnoir.com/ep188/

Sponsored by Aputure: https://www.aputure.com/
Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com

The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast
Facebook: @cinepod
Instagram: @thecinepod
Twitter: @ShortEndz

By Illya Friedman

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