One cinematographer, who’s an Oscar nominee, has enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with director Paul Greengrass over the years, their latest project being the recently released Captain Phillips.
Another DP, who’s an Oscar winner, discusses Rush, his first ever teaming with director Ron Howard.
And a third cinematographer, who won this year’s primetime Emmy Award for Best Cinematography in a Miniseries or Movie on the strength of on Top Of The Lake, reflects on working with two directors on that BBC/Sundance project: Jane Campion and Garth Davis.
Here are insights from cinematographers Barry Ackroyd, BSC, Anthony Dod Mantle, ASC, BSC, and Adam Arkapaw.
Barry Ackroyd, BSC While they both have roots in documentary filmmaking, director Paul Greengrass and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, BSC, have never made a documentary together. But each artisan’s documentary sensibilities are evident in their narrative drama feature collaborations over the years: United 93, Green Zone, and the just released Captain Phillips.
“For a documentary you always realize the urgency and importance of every frame,” observed Ackroyd. “I think Paul and I share that belief and carry it over when we work on narrative feature films. Every frame could be the only time what you’re capturing will ever happen–and that was crucial in our filmmaking approach on United 93 and Captain Phillips where the camera is as observational and truthful as humanly possible.”
Part of helping to realize that truth is Ackroyd’s decision not to block scenes for Captain Phillips, a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. Ackroyd frequently had multiple cameras operating for each scene. On the container ship, he mounted his camera on his shoulder while another operator (Cosmo Campbell) rigged a special short-armed Steadicam that enabled him to get through bulkhead doors and small spaces. This gave the actors free rein to roam where they like, with the handheld cameras following.
“Once you stop asking actors to perform for the camera, it gives them a kind of freedom,” said Ackroyd. “Even in a confined space like the lifeboat, we told them, ‘Go wherever you want and we’ll follow.’ It’s a challenge but it has a powerful effect on the performances. The actors end up giving more because of that, and what you capture contributes to the film’s ability to move people. If there’s something exciting going on in a scene, the camera gets excited. And when the mood is sad, the camera reacts with sadness. In this film especially, the camerawork ties into emotional moments in ways that are unexpected and unscripted.”
For Ackroyd, this was particularly evident in the culmination of Tom Hanks’ performance as Captain Richard Phillips when he is rescued and being examined by a medical professional aboard ship. “To see what a great actor like Tom Hanks can do when he’s put in a real place–in a documentary situation–and free to do what he does best was amazing,” assessed Ackroyd. “What Tom did in that scene wasn’t fully scripted. And it was so emotionally powerful. It was like a discovery we made on our filming journey. Paul gives us–the actors and the crew–this kind of freedom of expression to take things as far as they can go. Paul usually does it through simple words of encouragement.”
For Captain Phillips, Ackroyd deployed 35mm film cameras, including ARRIs but primarily the Aaton Penelope which is often used for handheld cinematography and documentaries. With Penelope, Ackroyd was able to move through the narrow ship stairwells and passageways. The DP opted for Aaton 16mm film cameras for the Somali pirates from their first appearance on the beach to their arriving at the bridge of the Maersk Alabama. While the grain and texture of 16mm appealed to him for these scenes, the overriding reason was that in the 16mm format he could access a 12:1 zoom. “With the 12:1 zoom, I could get a wide shot inside the skiff with the four Somalis, or I could frame each one individually or as groups. And I could use the same lens to zoom into the bridge of the container ship and find Captain Phillips on the bridge with binoculars, or someone running along the deck, and I’d be able to link the two shots, moving fluidly from one to the other.”
Some 75 percent of Captain Phillips was shot over 60 days on the open water.
Ackroyd said he felt compelled to provide the best material possible for others to bring their expertise to and work their magic on–such as editor Christopher Rouse, A.C.E., and colorist Rob Pizzey of Company 3 in London. Ackroyd described Rouse as a “genius editor” who can distill the very best from miles of footage.
Ackroyd’s credentials go beyond his work with Greengrass. In 2010, Ackroyd earned an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography for his work on the Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The film additionally garnered an ASC Award nomination and won both the BAFTA and BSC Awards for Best Cinematography.
Recent film credits for Ackroyd include Contraband for director Baltasar Kormakur; Coriolanus for Ralph Fienes; and Parkland for Pete Landesman.
Ackroyd is also known for his nearly 20-year creative, collaborative relationship with documentary and docudrama director Ken Loach, culminating in The Wind That Shakes the Barley, which won the Palme d’or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and brought Ackroyd the Best Cinematographer honor at the ’06 European Film Awards.
Anthony Dod Mantle, ASC, BSC To assess how well Oscar-winning (Slumdog Millionaire) cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle’s first collaboration with director Ron Howard went–the recently released Rush–look no further than what the DP is up to currently: shooting the Howard film In The Heart of the Sea.
Mantle recalled how he came to work with Howard originally. “I was given the [Rush] script by Andrew Eaton, the producer, to read. I adored the potential of the story between these two men [the intense 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda], especially for the dramatic emotional content. But I was also aware and drawn to the visual world of motor racing. I read the script purely with story in mind–that is the governing factor for how I choose a story when I am lucky enough to be in this position. The pictures come to me afterwards. I came off the beach one afternoon in Nice to a Skype call with Ron, [executive producer] Todd Hallowell and Andrew Eaton–and I felt we all wanted to make the same film. And we were all honest enough with each other at this stage to confess none of us knew how to do it as of yet. I liked that…and that was it.”
As for the biggest challenge posed by Rush to him as a cinematographer, Mantle related, that “without doubt” it was “the task of finding what I deemed to be the correct palette aesthetically for the film. The moment it became a fact that we were never going to have the funds to travel to essential locations in the film such as Monza, Fuji, to name just two, we knew we were going to have to build our world around small bites of existing material from the correct [race]tracks in the correct ๏ฟฝpoque. The quality of this material was more often than not too bad for me to accept–or needed radical improvement and adjustment.
“This was,” said Mantle, “what became our essential process of finding a sufficient foundation of material that I ultimately had to approve and vouch for as adequate building blocks for our world in Rush. I consequently conducted extensive tests in alliance with Jody Johnston at Dneg as well as with my grading personally led by Adam Glasman at Company 3 in London.
“Editorial and special source people ravaged the world for historic bites that may help us, and I had to select and decide what could make it through.”
For this to work, Mantle had to find his visual palette technically and aesthetically for the whole film. “I knew this material could only be taken so far upward whilst I would have to invent ways of bringing my shooting material to be shot on high-end digital cameras in some way downward in resolution so that what became approximately five or six shooting formats could hopefully be married together invisibly without any bumping. There was enough of that on the racetrack already.
“So began the experiments for how to take my modern material back in time to meet the archive manipulated material that I was bringing forward in time. This was ultimately the visual vocabulary of the film.”
Mantle provided a rundown of cameras that helped to realize that ambitious visual vocabulary:
• Alexa Raw shot with optimal latitude very much in mind..but with “in camera” manipulation to lower the resolution and look of this format. This meant front lens effects by Mantle–filtration, flare aberration, etc., as well as lenses that were up to 50 years old.”
• Canon C300 with Pl mount and similar lensing for embedded generic audience cameras as well as for onboard work.
• Indiecam miniature cameras for onboard racing car techniques. Helmet cam, eye cams, etc., as well as slider rigs during races mounted on cars and remote controlled.
• HD POV cam for the extreme physical angles it provides.
• Phantom for high speed scenes
• And occasional other formats from testing that made it through the edit.
Asked to touch upon the highlights of his career thus far–which include the alluded to Oscar win as well as an ASC Award, both for the Danny Boyle-directed Slumdog Millionaire–Mantle shared that he “learnt about life whilst travelling in India..learnt about wanting myself and the world to take a look at life more than once, and cinema and photography represented this possibility for me. Documentary filmmaking reinforced my social conscience and artistic eye. These films gave me the courage to trust my instincts when there is little time to think. I have taken this attitude with me across into feature filmmaking.
“The film The Celebration with Thomas Vinterberg made me braver,” continued Mantle. The Last King of Scotland with Kevin Macdonald made me stronger. 28 Days Later with Danny Boyle made me believe I could find a place in filmmaking in my home Britain after a long sejour in Europe. And Danny encourages my voice more that anyone in my career through films such as Millions, Slumdog Millionaire and Trance.
Lars von Trier (Dogville and Antichrist) served as a friend and rule breaking sparring partner for many years before he blew that all up a few years back..I am very grateful to be free of that period now but acknowledge his significance in teaching me to trust myself however odd and hard it can get!”
Mantle has also been active in spotmaking. “I shoot commercials for sheer enjoyment,” he shared. “I am predominantly a feature filmmaker, but variation is the secret to staying alive in this business as well as staying alive inside of ourselves.”
Relative to how spots inform his feature work, Mantle observed, “A lot of cinematography today is a kind of social engineering as well as technical knowledge and leadership. Changing one’s environment, pulling the carpet of routine behavior away from our feet, is always good in the long run.”
Hearkening back to what led him to become a cinematographer originally, Mantle shared, “I spent a lot of my younger days working slowly on how to break out of home–and especially breaking away from my dependence on a very loving mother and father. I was slow to do this..and a year in India travelling finally ejected me into adult stratospheres–and new vision and sensibility.
“India confronted me with my comfortable middle class upbringing–how fortunate I was in relation to so many,” he continued. “I was stimulated by what I saw in India in a complicated way emotionally, fired by fascination and plagued with unwarranted guilt.”
Mantle then delineated the sum effect, concluding, “All this encouraged me to have faith in my own eyes, gave me the commitment and desire to share the world more through the lens. For me this is combination of my social conscience, passion and artistic development.”
Adam Arkapaw Last month, Adam Arkapaw won the primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie on the basis of Top Of The Lake, episode “Part 1.”
Audiences have been captivated by Top Of The Lake–a BBC/Sundance TV miniseries–with a storyline set into motion by a 12-year-old girl (Tui, portrayed by Jacqueline Joe) standing chest deep in a frozen lake. She is five months pregnant and won’t say who the father is; soon thereafter, she disappears. So begins a haunting mystery that consumes a community. The cast includes Elisabeth Moss, Holly Hunter, Peter Mulan an David Wenham. The miniseries was created by writers Jane Campion and Gerard Lee. Campion and Garth Davis were directors on the miniseries.
Arkapaw looked back on how he got the Top Of The Lake gig. “From memory I think it was a mixture of word of mouth and Jane seeing Animal Kingdom (a film he shot in 2010 for director David Michod) that got me the job on Top Of The Lake. I still remember our first meeting. She said early on ‘do you want to do some yoga’ and I was like ‘sure, why not,’ thinking I should be able to handle anything she could do…Well, let’s just say I could not handle it very well at all. She put me to utter shame. Ha, I guess it was an early power play on her part.
“Garth and Jane had a lot of similarities,” observed Arkapaw. “They got along famously which was great. They are both very earthy, sensitive and inspired people. They are both incredibly generous in every way possible. They are both genius. They are both amazingly well prepared when they come onto set.”
At the same time, continued Arkapaw, directors Campion and Davis are “also very different in many ways. Especially on set. Jane works from a kind of ‘pyramid theory.’ She first finds a frame for the shot that she loves. Then she brings art direction to the shot while I light it. Finally she would work with the actors to work for that shot and we would start shooting. Garth works from more of a ‘chaos theory.’ He likes to get shooting as soon as possible. He likes to be spontaneous and respond to things where they have naturally found themselves. With Garth you start shooting and then craft the sequences as you explore the ‘moment’ you are on. It was actually awesome because both theories work great and it was fun to shift between them as we went through a long 91-day shooting schedule. One fun part of the job was being dubbed the ‘shot police.’ It was everyone on the crew teasing me when I had to let Jane or Garth know that the idea of a shot we were exploring wasn’t really in line with everything else we had been shooting.
“I have to say in the beginning I was a bit trepidatious about being the main constant on set, and working with two different directors,” admitted Arkapaw. “But in hindsight it was a great feature of the shoot and it’s one of the very best experiences of my life.”
As for what the Emmy win means to him, Arkapaw related, “I’m not sure what it means as I haven’t won one before. I guess it’s something to hang my hat on. It’s a nice bit of encouragement being one of the most recognizable institutions from which to win an award. I guess it’s a vindication of sorts of the ideas and approach we took in regard to the visual language of the series. I hope it turns out to be a stamp of approval that is some kind of valuable language to people considering hiring me.”
Regarding the main creative challenge Top Of The Lake posed to him as DP, Arkapaw identified “figuring out a tonality that suited the many different settings, characters, points-of-view and genres featured in the series. At times it was pure comedy, others thriller, others drama. On some occasions you laugh and cry in the same scene. We decided to tie it together featuring an aesthetic that was pretty unaffected, pretty natural. We thought ‘this is how life is’ so lets make it reflect that with a simple but broad aesthetic and that would carry all the shifts in tone. Largely at the end of the day the different settings carry their own characteristics. For instance [character] Matt Mitcham’s property is like the type of place you would find yourself in a mysterious nightmare, while the ‘Women’s Camp’ is a little softer, a little warmer, a little more graphic and abstract. Thus finding the right locations was very important. In pre-production we would often just put on our hiking boots and go for long walks talking about the scenes, and finding unbelievably beautiful and gnarly nature to shoot in. That was another challenge actually, trying to fit all the best bits of landscape in!”
Arkapaw added, “Other challenges included figuring out the most versatile gear to carry into remote locations in the deep south of New Zealand. We shot about five minutes of screen-time a day which is actually not a lot for television, but our goal was always to make this a piece of cinema. So it was difficult at times to get it all done before the cover of night was upon us.”
Arkapaw shot Top Of The Lake on ARRI Alexa cameras. “Budget wise we were priced out of film,” noted Arkapaw. “It was great working with the Alexa. It actually offers you some things film can’t. Significantly, we were able to shoot for an extra 20 to 30 minutes during dusk and dawns because of its amazing light sensitivity. Also at night you can get away with smaller lighting units. In hindsight these advantages played into our final aesthetic in a major way, and it’s something I love about the series.”
Arkapaw–who studied film at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia–has a filmography over the years that spans shorts, commercials and features. He shot his first feature, Blind Company directed by Alkinos Tsilimidos, in 2009 on a $60,000 budget in Tasmania. Upon returning to Melbourne, the DP gig on Animal Kingdom was up for grabs. “I knew David Michod from shooting a short film (I Love Sarah Jane, director Spencer Susser) that he had co-written. The script was phenomenal and luckily I got the opportunity to shoot it. It was a great experience and thankfully I had an amazing crew. I think when David and I were doing the grade, there was a feeling of relief and thank god we didn’t fuck it up. I don’t think either of us thought that it was about to win best film at Sundance in 2010. This of course was another amazing stepping stone for all of us and it has been great to see everyone involved benefit from it as the years have passed since.”
After Animal Kingdom, Arkapaw worked a lot in Asia, South America and Europe on commercials. He also continued shooting shorts at every opportunity he got between paid jobs. Arkapaw’s next feature was Snowtown (director Justin Kurzel, 2011), the story of Australia’s worst serial killer. “It was an amazing experience,” recollected Arkapaw. “We decided to cast people from the place it actually occurred, as well as shooting in the actual locations the murders happened. I can remember in pre-production questioning why are we making this film. There was no answer in the beginning. It was only during the production of the film that it started to make sense. You can’t truly know the joys of the world without also truly knowing the evils. It was an exciting feeling. I felt like I was working on something significant and that our cinematic approach was also significant. I hope I get to feel that a lot of times in my career. Snowtown screened in Cannes in 2011 and polarized audiences but is something Justin and I are very proud of.”
The feature Lore [directed by Cate Shortland, 2012] came next for Arkapaw, centering on a Hitler youth crossing Germany in the months after the end of World War II. “During the film she comes to grips with what she learned along the way. We shot all over modern day Germany–literally on the east, west, south and northern borders,” recollected Arkapaw. “It was wonderful to make a film in Europe. I still think about the cool place I stayed in Berlin for pre-production. Berlin is amazing!”
Lore went on to win Best Cinematography honors in the Hamptons, Beijing and Stockholm. It also won the Golden Tripod for Best Feature at the Australian Cinematography Society awards.
After Lore, Arkapaw continued to travel to shoot a number of commercials, working with directors Mark Molloy (Smuggler/Exit Films) and Steve Rogers (Biscuit/Revolver), as well as continuing to work with Garth Davis.
Then came Top Of The Lake. As for life after that miniseries, Arkapaw has moved stateside. He shot HBO’s True Detective series (director Cary Fukunaga) earlier this year in New Orleans. “It was a similar experience to Top of the Lake in that we did everything in our power to bring cinema to television,” said the cinematographer.
Arkapaw is now working in L.A. on a Niki Caro-directed feature, McFarland. Upon completion, Arkapaw will head to Scotland to reunite with Kurzel and begin work on a film version of Macbeth.
As for how his work in commercials informs his features and conversely how his movie-making experience impacts his shorter form fare, Arkapaw observed, “I still feel like I learn something on every job. Usually I’m working in a new location with a new subject under a different set of circumstances. So everything informs everything. That’s one thing I love about cinematography. It really informs your life and enriches your understanding of nature and humanity. The main thing is to keep developing my ‘taste’ in images. That is what is unique to me and it’s what allows me to enjoy my work and enjoy creating. I’m not saying that I only shoot in one style. I like many types of photography…The literal translation of ‘photography’ is ‘writing with light.’ The translation of ‘cinematography’ is ‘writing with movement.’ This is my obsession, learning to write in provocative images using light and movement.”
