British Cinematographer
Christian
Berger AAC, The ASC Award-winner and Academy and BSC nominee for The
White Ribbon (2009), is renowned for his use of natural light,
although the acclaimed cinematographer wants to correct this slight
misconception.
“I
don’t use natural light,” he says. “I create a light which
looks very natural because, for me, there is no light more beautiful
and richer in atmospheres than natural light in all its variations.
But it’s a nice compliment if people think there was no other
lighting used. I think I do just the same as what all the famous
painters did in the past. I observe very, very precisely the quality
and the 'behaviour' of natural light and use it to realise my
artistic visions.”
By
The Sea will further cement the
Austrian's reputation. This third directorial work from Angelina
Pitt-Jolie, in which the actor stars alongside Brad Pitt, is inspired
by European cinema and theatre of the 1960s and 1970s in both its
style and treatment of themes of the human experience.
Set
in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa, a former dancer, and her
husband Roland, an American writer, travel the country together. They
seem to be growing apart, but when they linger in one quiet, seaside
town they begin to draw close to some of its more vibrant
inhabitants, such as a local bar/café-keeper and a hotel owner.
Pitt-Jolie
actively sought-out Berger for the movie because of his
cinematographic philosophy. “When I asked them 'why me?', Brad said
that they'd found an interview with me on YouTube (A River
Of Light) in which I discuss my
views on lighting for film,” says Berger. “It made them curious
because I mention how important it is for me to have a different
working method on-set – one which favours actors and gives
directors more freedom by minimising technical restrictions.”
Berger's
Cine Reflect Lighting System (CRLS), first employed on Michael
Haneke's The Piano Teacher (2001),
changes the working method by offering a set uncluttered with cables,
stands or filters. Pitt-Jolie was attracted to the freedom this would
give her to tell the intimate story of a married couple's fragmenting
relationship.
Perhaps
Berger's European heritage also inspired the director's intention to
capture the spirit of the period in the south of France. “Reproducing
the feel of that time was essential, which is how we came to
reference the Nouvelle Vague and directors Jean-Luc Godard, Ingmar
Bergman and Roberto Rossellini,” says Berger. “This was a general
reference – not related to a specific film – but one intended to
capture a mix of humour and melancholia or tristesse.”
From
first contact with the filmmakers in April 2014, Berger went to LA to
discuss visual ideas and block scenes. Art director Tom Brown and Jon
Hutman scouted locations in Greece, Croatia, Italy and Turkey before
alighting on the Maltese island of Gozo. Principal photography began
mid-August until November 2014 in an empty bay where production
designer Jon Hutman had built a hotel and a café. This mix of studio
and on-location conditions resulted in many challenging light
situations.
“It
was very important in the production design to be connected to nature
so that from any window or balcony in the hotel or café you can see
the sea and rocks,” Berger explains. “I loved the horizontal
structure in the nature that surrounded us, like the sea horizon or
the coast structure, which was one of the reasons for shooting in
Cinemascope.”
It
was not only hot in Malta, but most of the time the production had to
work with quite harsh sunlight too. Gaffer Jakob Ballinger created a
unique rig for the CRLS mounted on the 'hotel' roof that allowed
Berger to quickly change and stabilise the required atmospheres from
day-to-night and from night-to-day. The CRLS uses a 1200W HMI lamp
with parallel light beams and very high output, calibrated as near as
possible to the quality of daylight, and a set of high-tech CRLS
reflectors to modulate and direct the light. The smaller units are
typically 400W HMI or halogen Dedolights but adapted for the CRLS.
“Even
on a rainy day, we could keep the 'sun' stable or could change very
fast from early morning to late afternoon or to any desired
atmosphere,” explains Berger. “And we could always maintain a
free view of the sea or the rocky hills through the windows of the
set. The most challenging situations were when we had to make night
shots over the whole bay including the hotel and café.”
Other
scenes included landscapes and scenes of a beach, one scene on a
sailing boat, which required some dextrous work with a Russian Arm
from a working boat.
For
an artist with such a clear affinity with the treatment of light,
Berger's choice of digital is intriguing. He says, though, that he is
not ideologically aligned to any media.
“For
me it's never fundamentally a question of grain or pixel. I am not
swayed either way. My first experience with video (on Caché/
Hidden, 2005) was not a good
one, but in the last three films working with ARRI Alexa it has been
good. Angelina gave me the freedom to choose and I chose the Alexa XT
Plus, rated at 800 ASA. A sensitivity which is more than enough for
me and you can really use the 13-stops of dynamic range.”
Accompanying
the Alexa, Berger selected ARRI/Zeiss Master Primes and a 45-250mm
Fujinon Alura zoom.
“I
really have to compliment not only my crew, but also the production
crew I had on By The Sea
because they were so good and efficient,” adds Berger, who credits
camera operator, Gerald Helf; second camera and steadicam operator,
Robert Stopfer; focus puller,
Dieter
Knestel; and dolly/key grip, Emmanuel Aubry. Berger oversaw the grade
at EFilm in LA with experienced colourist Mitch Paulson.
Jolie-Pitt,
he says, didn't require a lot of coverage; most scenes were shot
single with occasional two cameras. “Her direction on this movie
was concentrated more on shots to vary the acting,” says Berger.
Pitt has been quoted saying that he felt comfortable expressing the
scenes this way because of a set unencumbered by distracting
technical paraphernalia.
“Brad
loved to make variations so he'd play a whole scene more
aggressively, or more tenderly or with more or less distance,” says
Berger. “It was great to see how they responded to the liberation
of a free set. We probably shot enough that in the edit you could
create two to three different films.”
Of
the finished picture Berger says, “I always like to make any film
better if I see it for the first time in the cinema, but my hope is
that I could serve the style of the picture which the director wanted
and at the same time keep my own signature.”
Of
note: Jakob Ballinger has launched a website for directors of
photography and gaffers to educate and involve them with the further
development of the CRLS – www.thelightbridge.com.
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