Shot on the RED Monstrochrome, Mank was aimed to be a pure black and white masterpiece. Now behind the scenes stills (and videos) reveal the art of the monochrome. Explore it below.
Shot on RED Monstrochrome
Mank is an American biographical film about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his battles with director Orson Welles over screenplay credit for Citizen Kane (1941). The film was shot by Erik Messerschmidt on the RED Monstrochrome (Monstro 8K + Monochrome).
This camera captures black and white imagery with more precise resolution and enhanced light sensitivity. The Monstrochrome is armed with the Monstro 8K sensor but without the color filter (Bayer Pattern). This design allows the sensor to be exposed to more light and thus perform better in low light environments. Furthermore, lacking the Bayer Pattern allows the privilege of getting the raw resolution of the pixel array. Thus capturing monochrome natively is more efficient than shooting in color and eliminating the saturation in post. What you will get is a real, pure, stunning, accurate black, and white artistic image.
Watch the trailer below:
Mank’s BTS album
With a rare step, a full BTS (Behind The Scenes) album has been revealed which contains 211 pictures all in black and white. The pictures were shot by the production still photographer, Miles Crist on his Leica Q2 and Hasselblad X1D II. As stated by Miles on his Instagram page: “Excited to share these images which I have been working on for the past year in support of MANK. Thank you to David Fincher and Ceán Chaffin for the opportunity to witness and photograph the production of this incredibly unique film. Scorsese said that the most personal is the most creative, and as such, Mank is Fincher’s best film yet”.
Update: Some of the photos were taken by photographer Nikolai Loveikis which is credited underneath the photos.
You can find the pictures on Mank’s website (“The White Wine Came Up With The Fish” ) along with the film soundtrack.
Final thoughts
Mank is one of the most interesting cinema projects in this unprecedented year. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first feature film being shot entirely on the RED Monstrochrome. The imagery looks artistic which contributes to the story. Nevertheless, shooting black and white demands a decent amount of creative courage that is preserved for the best (for instance, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma that was shot on the ALEXA 65).
Mank will debut on Netflix (and in theaters) on December 4th.
