Panavision has shared a super cool BTS video from Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. It appears that the most immersive basketball shots were captured on the ARRIFLEX 235, by a rollerblade camera operator. Here’re some neat ideas for those who shoot court games.
Winning Time: Based on the film look
We’ve written before about the HBO original series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. We explained how it was crafted using certain film stock to grant that grainy-vintage look (read: There’s No Such Thing as Too Much Grain When Making a Movie About the Lakers). As stated by Panavision: “The series’ kaleidoscopic mix of formats was established in the pilot episode, directed by Adam McKay and shot by Todd Banhazl, the latter of whom went on to photograph episodes 2, 5, 6, 9, and 10, with Mihai Malaimare Jr. joining the team to shoot the remaining episodes”. A few days ago, Panavision shared one of the coolest BTS videos we’ve seen since it’s so simple, improvised, and accurate. In that video, the production revealed how the basketball sequences were shot. Read on.
Real basketball court with real players
According to the cinematographer, the set was assembled of a 360 giant green screen stage. The court was real as so as the five first sitting rows. However, above that, there was all green screen. The team had to shoot in multiple arenas through multiple time periods (the 60s-80s). Hence, the court and the seats were switched accordantly. BTW, although all scenes were shot on film cameras, a RED Komodo was spotted in one BTS photo. Mossy probably, its global shutter capabilities were utilized for specific shots.
Rollerblade camera operator
The cinematographers emphasize that these game-shots were a combination of everything learned during the entire season. “We figured out finally how to shoot basketball by using our rollerblade operator, John Lyke. We’re talking about different ways to get the camera to stay physically close to the players. You have to move in 3D space with them in an improvisational way” said Banhazl. The lenses utilized were basically wide, and that’s because of the low-angle shots that resulted from filming very tall basketball players. John has used the ARRIFLEX 235 for that purpose. And indeed, these shots look amazing.
And here’s the video below:
Wrapping up
As you can notice, the game shots are immersive and full of action. You feel that you are in the middle of the court, playing basketball with the Lakers. The rollerblades allow maximum stability and steadiness, since Steadicam is not an option here, obviously. Furthermore, the ARRIFLEX 235 is one of the best cameras for handheld operation. Thus, it’s not surprising that the DPs chose this combination for the game sequences. Of course, this is not the first time this kind of cinematography is implemented. But it’s so simple and easy. So in your next basketball shoot, you know what to do. All you need is a good handheld setup, a wide lens, a knowledge of rollerblading 🙂 and you’re all set.
