In this issue, 411 asked three
cinematographers to discuss their recent work on independent films. Through
these directors of photography, we learned how flexibility, personal experience,
and communication play a role in the work of a DP. 411 saw how a dancer’s
experience can enhance a DP’s craft or how cinematography can reflect a
psychological state—from recreating a true
incident involving a mentally ill artist to evoking the emotional condition of an
epileptic man in deep despair.
Filming an
Atmospheric Thriller
Checco Vareese started as a camera assistant for the National
Geographic television program, was a war correspondent for 10 years, then went on to film,
commercials and TV. (He even briefly worked for the short-lived “Emily’s Reasons
Why Not,” before it was cancelled after its one-episode run.) Throughout it all,
Vareese feels that there has been a common theme that runs throughout his life
and remains the same today: “What we do for a living is transmit ideas.” Now
that his work is more cinematic, Vareese explained that “it’s still the same
concept.”
Vareese’s latest film is “The Aura,” an Argentinean movie
about an epileptic taxidermist who daydreams about committing the perfect crime
and then finds out what it’s really like to pull a heist. Vareese faced unusual
challenges from the film’s director, Fabian Bielinsky, whom Vareese describes as
a very “precise filmmaker.” Bielinsky had set some rigid rules for the
filmmaking; the entire film only consists of scenes that contain the
taxidermist, Espinoza. Not allowing the usual cutaways, Bielinsky didn’t want to
show what was happening with other characters. Events occurred only when
Espinoza was present, creating the sense that the audience was always with the
character.
In order to capture the vastness and loneliness of the wild
Patagonia landscape, where the film was set, Vareese
shot wide shots using a Super 235 letterbox. By the end of the film, the camera
shot more close ups, using longer lenses as the filmmakers tried to communicate
a dense, claustrophobic world in which the Espinoza tries to escape.
The Director-DP Alliance
“You are the director’s ally,” said Fortunato Procopio on the
subject of the DP’s role. Procopio is a DP with an extensive background in TV
commercials who has also done independent films, documentaries and shorts. “Each
project is different,” says Procopio, “in that a DP must adapt to a director’s
vision and style. It’s very important for a DP to figure out what a director is
looking for in a collaborator.”
Procopio spoke about that process as it relates to filming
one of his latest films, a short that premiered at Sundance titled “You Turned
Back and Held my Hand.” The film
tells the story of a young woman experiencing the brush-off after what seems to
be a very intimate and meaningful sexual experience. Before filming, director
Gabriella Tollman had communicated her ideas to Procopio. “She showed me some
still photography books with extreme contrast, selective lighting.”
“Gabriella had a very clear idea of what she was after,” said
Procopio. Shot with a 24P Panasonic DV camera over the course of two days, the
project was kept short and to the point. “We kept the lighting simple,” said
Procopio. The project was “clearly defined and very focused.” This
straightforward approach was deliberately intended to zero in on the core issue.
A young woman’s confusion about sex and love is a theme that is familiar to
audiences and filmmakers alike. In “Your Turned Back,” Tollman and Procopio
wanted to pare that theme down, exposing its rawness. "While it's a familiar
story element, in this case it’s the whole story," said Procopio.
It’s clear when speaking with Procopio that his recent work
on the upcoming documentary “The Devil and Daniel Johnston,” is a project he’s
extremely proud of. That pride is not limited to his own role as a
cinematographer, however. He was also fascinated by the subject matter—a bi-polar individual whose
outsider art and music earned him a large cult following. “It’s an in-depth
portrait of a complicated character troubled and yet he’s a very brilliant,
difficult person,” said Procopio. "It's an interesting look at the artist and
what it's like to be around him — to be his friend, family member, business
partner."
Procopio’s cinematography was sometimes used to augment some
of Daniel’s own self-documentation through homemade movies and audio recordings,
including those from an audio pen pal relationship with his best friend. “In a
way it’s as if Daniel had been waiting for someone to make this movie. He
chronicled his own life.”
But some of the moments of Daniel’s life that weren’t
chronicled were recreated by the filmmakers. One such incident occurred when
Daniel was lost in his hometown and noticed an elderly woman in her second floor
apartment, who, in his mind, seemed to be possessed by the devil. Daniel then
ran in to save her, frightening the woman so much that she jumped out a window
to escape. Procopio shot in POV running up the stairs, breaking through the door
and entering the apartment in pursuit of the woman. The recreation of the
incident does not use actors, but instead represents Daniel’s visual point of
view while being narrated by one of Daniel’s closest confidants.”
Procopio’s alliance with the movie’s director, Jeff
Feuerzeig, continues as he works on another project, a hybrid
documentary/fiction bio called “Chuck Wepner, the Original Rocky,” so named
because Wepner’s life inspired Sylvester Stallone to write the script for the
Rocky movie. He has worked with Feuerzeig for more than 15 years on a number of
projects, and described why that collaboration seems to work. “You need someone
who compliments your talents and abilities and shares your tastes and
sensibilities as well as someone who shares a mutual respect.”
The Dancing
DP
Claudia Rashke-Robinson’s recent film, “Mad Hot Ballroom,”
features New York City kids learning
how to dance, something she herself is quite familiar with. She studied modern
dance while developing her cinematography skills as a hobby. Then, during the
80s, after she was told that she had “an eye” for cinematography, she polished
her skills at Columbia, studying the
art and shooting thesis film student jobs.
This effort paralleled her study of dance, and that dancer’s mentality
has, whether consciously or not, remained a helpful influence on her work as a
cinematographer.
When describing her love of cinematography, Rashke-Robinson
talked about the “choreography of the blocking,” as if it’s another form of
dancing. She credits her dancing background as one of her “strong points,”
making her receptive to the gesture and “the unspoken that’s shown in the body
language.”
During the actual filming of “Mad Hot Ballroom”
Raschke-Robinson didn’t initially notice the effect that her education as a
dancer had on her work as a cinematographer. “It didn’t really dawn on me,” she
said. But, when looking back on the experience, she explains that her experience
as a dancer did help prepare her for the challenge of filming young people while
they learned the ballroom steps. As she would walk among them filming the
lessons, she found that she had to use her peripheral vision, sense of spacing
and rhythm, skills she had gained from dancing. “You’ve got to be prepared,” she
said, “being able to react quickly without making these kids trip.”
Her personal experience as a mother also came in handy. As a
mother of two, Raschke-Robinson is no stranger to the behavior of children.
“They can be totally unpredictable; you never know what they’re going to do
next.”
Documenting preteens as they awkwardly learn ballroom dancing
while getting over the “cooties” of the opposite sex, the filmmakers had to deal
gingerly with the children’s timidity. “They don’t necessarily open up to any
stranger,” said Raschke-Robinson. So the director and producer would make
themselves less visible by hiding behind pillars while Raschke-Robinson learned
the moves alongside the children. Their initial shyness vanished when she
developed a rapport with them. “They were very proud of what they had learned,
so I became someone they could show it to like a parent. They could show off,”
she said. “If you gave them the attention, they would open up to you.”
