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Part of the DI phase was also spent accentuating particular elements in the frame. “Once we had our LUT, the possibilities in the DI suite were endless,” Stern says. “There’s a science to understanding where the eye will go first in a given composition. I wanted to enhance that effect by using Power Windows to lessen some of the contrast, or to really punch up other elements that would help control the audience’s eye.”Bogdanowicz reveals, “Within the almost black-and-white look on Iwo Jima, Clint and Tom wanted to make sure we didn’t lose the reds in the blood as soldiers are hit. We also prevented the skin tones from going totally gray by keeping some color there, but more on the brown, desaturated side. We also increased the blacks to make sure the sand looked rich, without blocking up the image and losing texture detail. During the first flag raising on Mount Suribachi, we left the flag as it was photographed, but for the second scene with the bigger flag, we subtly punched up the red and blue. Then, at the end of the film, we used Power Windows on the American flag flying over the Marine Memorial, darkening it overall and again bringing out that red.”The DI also allowed Stern to widely vary the use of the ENR look through the picture, which is impossible to do photochemically. “I could range it from 50 to 70 IR within a shot, or I could split the shot, with the upper left at 100 and the lower right at 30. I hope it works!” Bogdanowicz adds, “We went much further into monochrome that one ever could with ENR. We often ranged at what would have been well over 100 IR.”How did Eastwood react to having so many choices in the DI suite? “Once we demonstrated it was a viable thing, he really dug it,” Stern says. “He came over to TDI, watched the film with Jill and made some minor tweaks. In short, he got it immediately.”In a heartfelt aside, Stern notes that Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima will be the final credits on the illustrious résumé of veteran production designer Henry Bumstead, who died in May 2006 after working at Malpaso for many years. “What a great example of a human being,” the cinematographer says. “He was incredibly humble, so just to play with him I’d sometimes drop to a knee, kiss his hand and call him ‘my liege.’ He’d just say, ‘Tom, you just make me look good.’ In reality, he made all of us look good. And the true testament to his time on Earth will always be the number of people he inspired, including me.”Looking forward to the start of his postproduction work on Letters From Iwo Jima, Stern concludes, “Clint and I have not finalized the look at this point, but in terms of dark and contrasty, I think we’ll be hitting Letters even harder. I can’t speak for Clint, but for me, both of these pictures explore what it means to be a hero, not in a didactic way, but from a standpoint of culture and perspective. It’s not a question of one side being victorious and the other defeated, because when you get to that level of conflict, it’s all about loss.”
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Anamorphic 2.40:1 Panavision and Arri cameras
C-Series lenses Kodak Vision 250D 5246, Vision 500T 5279 Digital Intermediate Printed on Kodak Vision Premier 2393 |
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