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Inside View

Jonathan Hall, Director of Photography

By Christine Bunish

Jonathan Hall’s DP credits include Kiss the Dead Goodbye, After, The Campfire Chronicles: Have a Nice Day, Getting Back to Zero, Give ‘em Hell, Malone, Green Street Holligans, Charlie Valentine, Certainty, Ex Men, InAlienable, Divine Intervention, Tina Bobina, American Dragster, Asian Stories, Sense Memory, Enter the Dragonfly, and Doughboys.

Markee: You recently shot the independent feature, Charlie Valentine, in 2-perf 35mm Techniscope, a format that had its heyday in the 1960s and ‘70s. What prompted you to use it?

Hall: Charlie Valentine was the first collaboration between [director] Jesse Johnson and myself. This was a low budget project, but we didn’t want it to look like it. Jesse’s a big believer in shooting film, as am I, but trying to convince producers to spend most of the budget to shoot 35mm was a hard sell. 16mm looked to be our only option until I brought the Techniscope idea to the table. After costs were compared it [appeared to be] the same cost as 16mm but with all the qualities of 35mm.

The problem was that there were no 2-perf cameras available in the US. I was at a post house when someone in the lab said they’d heard I was looking for a 2-perf camera and had heard Panavision had one. Panavision’s UK office found two 2-perf camera bodies, a Platinum and a Gold II, retrofitted in the ‘90s for an Italian western. We got them, took them to Las Vegas on a test shoot and they were fantastic. The image gave us everything we had hoped for and Charlie Valentine became the first 2-perf film to shoot in the states in quite some time.

Markee: Did you have a learning curve?

Hall: The non-forgiving negative size. What you see in the frame is exactly what’s photographed on the negative, no more no less – there’s no ‘wiggle’ room at all. With 2-perf, a hair in the gate is a very big deal.

Jesse and I did a lot of prep, but even with that we still had a tight schedule: 18 days of principal photography and two days of pick ups. We used every tool we could and called in every friend and favor to get the best film we could. One of the cool tools we had was a Super Panther 2, “The BMW of dollies.” This unit allowed us to get a crane, jib, and dolly all in one. It helped us keep rental costs down and allowed us to easily keep the camera alive even when moving quickly.

Markee: Charlie Valentine is about a gangster (Raymond J. Barry) who tries to reconnect with his son (Michael Weatherly). Did Techniscope lend itself particularly well to that content?

Hall: Yes, I believe it did. The film has a lot of deep conversations and tight environments with a lot of detail; a lesser format would have not given us the depth and detail we wanted. Jesse and I had always wanted to shoot the film in a 2.40:1 ratio to give a classic Cinemascope look, and the Techniscope format proved great for it. The wide screen frame allows for the picture to be layered showing the environments each character is surrounded by. We also moved the camera a lot to give the film nice rhythm. Shooting 35mm also allowed us to shoot more quickly and efficiently: We didn’t have to worry about HD monitors, clipped highlights, or ND’ing windows. On a low budget film time is something you never have enough of.

Markee: Did you have to use special film stock?

Hall: No, the stock is no different. We chose Fuji’s Vivid 160t, for our day scenes to get a very classic, colorful and high-contrast picture. For interiors we used Fuji’s Eterna 500T, a high-speed stock with great range and sharp detail. Both stocks have a very classic yet natural look, something we were definitely trying to achieve.

Markee: You seem to have unleashed a new wave of Techniscope production since Charlie Valentine wrapped.

Hall: About the time we finished principal photography Aaton was finally ready with its new Penelope camera body for 2-perf, and ARRI called to tell me they could now modify any of their Arricam or 535 camera movements to handle 2-perf.

There’s been a lot of buzz. Cameramen want alternatives to the costs of 35mm and limitations of digital. Techniscope is a great alternative for films looking to shoot 35mm but needing a cost-effective option to bring to producers. Although I’m now shooting my first RED feature, Getting Back to Zero, in Los Angeles and next is a 3D action film in Thailand, I’m looking forward to shooting Techniscope again.

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