The behind the scenes episode presented by the Netflix Film Club showing the making of ‘Army of the Dead’, reveals the brave cinematography decision by Snyder to shoot the whole movie when the aperture of the lens is wide open (f0.95). “I just feel that it’s a rude thing to ask for a cinematographer…and then if it was a complete fuck-up then it would be my fault and I’m fine with that” Snyder says.
There’s never to be a stop on any lens, for the entire film… and I just feel that it’s a rude thing to ask for a cinematographer.
Zack Snyder
“I’m going to shoot the entire movie wide-open”
Zack Snyder elaborated on his work as a director, and moreover, as a cinematographer. “I’m going to shoot the entire movie wide-open (0.95). There’s never to be a stop on any lens, for the entire film… and I just feel that it’s a rude thing to ask for a cinematographer” Snyder states. “It’s really about just sort of taking responsibility for the experimental nature of what I wanted to do..and then if it was a complete fuck-up then it would be my fault and I’m fine with that” he adds. According to Snyder, the Dream Canon Rangefinders, which was rehoused by ZERØ OPTIK, are characterized by their creamy, and crazy bokeh, which has a solid contribution to tell the story. Nevertheless, shooting wide open demands decent cinematography skills, because every inch counts for accurate focusing.
Canon Rangefinder lenses
The lenses are defined as the “Dream Set” because of Canon 50mm f0.95 “Dream Lens“ which is the heart and soul of this set. That lens got its nickname because of the unique, beautiful, dreamy character it delivers when shot wide open, at its super-fast f-stop of f0.95. ZERØ OPTIK stepped up big, building us a complete set of 1960s Canon Rangefinder lenses that share many of the unique characteristics of the Dream Lens, including the gold single-layer coatings, low-contrast, unique bokeh, gentle fall-off, gold lens flares, low chromatic aberration, and overall “Dreamy” character. All the lenses actually cover beyond full-frame and will cover the entire RED Monstro sensor (the sensor behind ‘Army of the Dead’).
To learn more about the rehousing process for ‘Army of the Dead’, explore Old Fast Glass and Alex from ZERØ OPTIK discussion below, regarding the Canon Rangefinder lenses and their utilization in the movie.
The guns in the movie
An interesting fact mentioned in the BTS video is the muzzle flashes. As explained by Snyder: “We shot the sequence in Atlantic City in an abandoned casino…we used gas guns, and we build LED panel with a trigger on to trigger the muzzle flash which is an interactive lighting in sync with the gunfire”.
Final words
Snyder ends this episode with a tip for filmmakers: “Start to play with your camera. Take pictures, get your friends…in a very short amount of time and YouTube videos, you could really learn everything there is to know about the depth of field, and how it works, and the same thing with ISO and low light and daylight, and NDs, and all that stuff that sounds complicated for a second, but you got to get out and do it…Just get a camera and look through it…and don’t be afraid to fuck up, and make bad choices, and make bad shots, because that’s how you learn”.
Explore the full episode below:
Product List
Camera: RED DSMC2 Monstro with 8K VV sensor: Price: $54,500 [maxbutton id=”1″ url=”https://adorama.rfvk.net/JrkQNe” ]
