The forthcoming film Jungle, based on Yossi Ghinsberg’s memoir, “Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival,” was shot with Cooke Anamorphic/i lenses. The film recounts Ghinsberg’s 1982 journey through the Amazon where he ended up alone for three weeks before being found and rescued. Jungle stars Daniel Radcliffe in an Arclight Films production, directed by Greg McLean and lensed by Stefan Duscio.
Production for Jungle was split between Australia’s South East Queensland jungle and Colombia (substituting for Bolivia) along the rivers, jungles, villages, and towns, for its rugged and bigger landscapes.
Sydney’s digital and film equipment rental house Cinoptix supplied two ARRI Alexa XT cameras and the Cooke Anamorphic/i lenses including a 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm. Cooke Optics also stepped in to supply one of the first production models of the new 65mm Macro Anamorphic/i lens.
“I used the 65mm a lot and loved it,” said Duscio. “It is such a versatile lens that it gave us the freedom to go from mid-shot to extreme close-ups without a lens change. The 65mm had a beautiful classic ‘Cooke look’ to it.”
With some of the most intensive pre-production work he has ever done, exploring jungles and climbing cliffs, Duscio wanted a classic adventure film look, but not something hand-held. “Almost the entire film is composed with elegant compositions and simple dolly moves, practical and pragmatic setups. It was important that the audience be able to watch Jungle effortlessly, with the cinematography not calling attention to itself.”
Duscio has used Cooke lenses already on two previous feature films and various commercials, and thought that, with his desire for big landscapes, Cooke lenses would be perfect for the natural landscapes, skin tones, and faces.
“There’s a real roundness and classic quality to the lenses–sort of vintage,” said Duscio. “Today’s new lenses are way too sharp. The Cooke anamorphics are a beautiful middle-ground between traditional anamorphic lenses and going too sharp. They’re classic lenses that just feel familiar.”
The jungles of Australia, while very production friendly (the cast and crew could drive right up to the location), did present some challenging shooting conditions. “It’s very difficult once you’re under the dense jungle canopy,” added Duscio. “It’s really low light levels and you’re shooting almost wide open every day. At 3pm, it starts to get dark with sunset at 5:30pm, so by 2:30pm, we’re bringing out large HMIs and bouncing them around the forest to lift the light level under the canopy. I always tried to place our biggest HMIs as far away as possible to give Greg and the cast the creative freedom they needed for blocking, and the cameras the light they needed.”
Duscio used all six lenses in his kit with the 32mm and 40mm for wide setup masters and close-ups on the 75mm — as he likes to have the camera a bit closer to the actors – plus the 100mm and 65mm.
“We tested other anamorphics, but the Cooke Anamorphic/i lenses made the biggest impact,” said Duscio. “Once Greg saw them, he was totally on board, even though he had never shot with Cooke lenses before.”
Jungle is schedule for release in the U.S. in 2017.
Review: Steven Soderbergh’s Eerie Haunted House Drama “Presence”
The camera is the ghost in Steven Soderbergh's chillingly effective, experiential haunted house drama "Presence." The filmmaker traps the audience in a beautiful suburban home, letting us drift through rooms with this curious being, in and out of delicate conversations as we (and the ghost) try to piece together a puzzle blindly.
Often in haunted house movies where a new family moves in and starts sensing strange things, the ghost knows exactly what they want — usually their house back. In this one, the presence doesn't have such a clear objective. It's more confused, wandering around and investigating the surroundings, like a benevolent amnesiac. Occasionally, though, big emotions erupt, and things shake violently.
Mostly, they go unnoticed. They observe the chipper real estate agent (Julia Fox) preparing for a showing, the painting crew, one of whom believes there's something around, and finally the family and all the complexities of its dynamics. Lucy Liu (a delightful, wickedly funny scene-stealer) is the mom, Rebecca, a wealthy, successful, type-A woman hyper focused on the success of her eldest, a teenage boy named Tyler (Eddy Maday). The father, Chris (Chris Sullivan), is more of the nurturer, concerned about their teen daughter Chloe (Callina Liang) in the aftermath of her friend's unexpected death.
There is a family drama transpiring inside the house, only some of which will make sense in the end. We overhear Rebecca drunkenly telling Tyler that everything she does is for him. We listen in as Chris confides to someone on the phone about a hypothetical partner being involved in something illegal and whether they still would be if legally separated. We see Tyler often with his head buried in his phone. And then there's Chloe: Sad,... Read More