The ALEXA Mini paired with the mighty Cooke Anamorphic/i were the cinematic tools used to enhance the action shots in spy thriller Legacy of Lies, awarding it the blockbuster look (and feel). DP Simon Giles-Rowling shares a bit about the cinematography behind it and how to utilize anamorphic imagery to execute those real action shots.
Legacy of Lies: High-end production with a limited budget
Legacy of Lies, starring Scott Adkins, is a spy action/thriller/drama about an ex-MI6 agent who is thrown back into the world of espionage and high stakes uncovering the shocking truth about operations conducted by unknown secret services. The film was directed and written by Adrian Bol, and filmed by cinematographer Simon Rowling. The budget was pretty limited (US$4.5 million) which means the team had to work even harder within the 26 shooting days and to be more creative in order to grant the film a big blockbuster look and feel. Although the SFX were minimized, the approach was to invest more thinking regarding real action sequences. That’s might be the reason for choosing Scott Adkins (actor and martial art specialist) for the main role. Take a look at the trailer below.
Two ALEXA Mini with Cooke Anamorphic/i
Two ARRI Alexa Mini cameras were used to cover the big action/gunfight scenes. According to Rowling, they’ve used Steadicam, Technocrane, a 2-meter slider, dollies, and small jibs for the up/down movements that could place the camera in a position quickly. “I just sat on the end of the 20-foot crane to get those high establishing shots,” added Rowling. In the first minute of this video, you can explore a wider range of lenses, such as the 25mm and 32mm Anamorphics and more traditional focal lengths for the dialogue scenes. In the rest of the video, you will notice the darker and contrasty environments. Rowling says that these film scenes are examples of where they used the lenses wide open, showing their ability to still perform incredibly well.
As an educational reference, you should watch the video below that demonstrates those cinematographic implementations:
I just sat on the end of the 20-foot crane to get those high establishing shots.
DP Simon Giles-Rowling
Anamorphic glass to grant the blockbuster look
Anamorphic glass is being used by many film enthusiasts, and even independent shooters to award their art-form with a prestigious look and feel. That’s exactly what was done in Legacy of Lies. The film was shot with Cooke Anamorphic/i kit consisted of the 25mm, 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 65mm, 75mm, 100mm, and 135mm primes, plus the 35-140mm Anamorphic/i zoom. As with all cinematographers, Rowling had his ‘go-to’ lenses for this project: the 25mm and 32mm — the two widest lenses, which were perfect for showing off the architecture of Kyiv during the first day of production and featured in the first minute of the film.
“I had this tingling sensation with the 25mm, a ‘wow, this is wide’ realization and it was great. There’s a lot of cat and mouse at the beginning with people hunting each other. For that, I used the 100mm and 135mm for over-the-shoulder shots and certain perspectives I wanted to give. The 35-140mm 4:1 Anamorphic/i zoom was a great lens for shots of snipers in towers.”
I had this tingling sensation with the 25mm, a ‘wow, this is wide’ realization and it was great. There’s a lot of cat and mouse at the beginning with people hunting each other. For that, I used the 100mm and 135mm for over-the-shoulder shots and certain perspectives I wanted to give.
DP Simon Giles-Rowling
Legacy of Lies: Tech specifications
- Prime lens series: Anamorphic/i 2x
- Focus length: 25mm, 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 65mm, 75mm, 100mm, 135mm,
- Zoom lens series: Anamorphic/i Zoom 2x
- Focus length: 35-140mm
- Original Aspect Ratio: 2:39:1
- Cameras: Arri Alexa Mini
Watch the Behind the Scenes below:
The film was awarded as Best Feature Film (London Independent Film Awards, Miami Independent Film Festival, Latitude Film Awards, Accolade Competition, Munich Film Awards). Legacy of Lies was released on 28 July 2020 on DVD and streaming in the US and is being released in the UK on 12 October 2020.
