Not many actors are aware of the format/codec their film is being shot. Except for the actors behind Twisters who are petty excited about the fact that their movie was shot on film. Read their thoughts below.
Shot on film combined with old-school anamorphic glass
Twisters movie was shot in 4-perf widescreen on KODAK 35mm by the legendary Dan Mindel ASC, BSC, SASC. The movie was directed by Lee Isaac Chung, who is the Oscar-nominated writer-director of Minari. Mindel selected Panavision Millennium XL, ARRIFELX 435, and 235 35mm film cameras for the production, with digital camera arrays for VFX plates and some of the aerial work. He chose Panavision Primo Anamorphic for the mainstay of the shoot, supplemented with C-series and T-series Anamorphic lenses, as reported by Kodak. Moreover, Mindel insisted on using an old-school anamorphic glass. As mentioned by Kodak: “Bucking the popular trend of having lenses adjusted for particular aesthetic purposes, Mindel instructed Panavision’s lens guru, Dan Sasaki, to have his chosen set of Primo Anamorphics optics returned to factory mode, as he wanted the looks of the anamorphic lenses as they had been originally made, with all of their individual flaws, circles of confusion, soft and distorted edges, to underscore that Time Life authenticity in the filmed image”.
Furthermore, ”There’s nothing wrong with using lenses and optics the way they were designed in the first place, and then flexing your skills as the cinematographer to make them function in a non-invasive way so that it doesn’t interfere with the storytelling but actually enhances it. As the lenses were all mapped prior to production, I knew these image artifacts would not pose a problem to the VFX team down the line” Mindel emphasized.
The fun part of shooting on film is that everybody gets excited about shooting on film. The camera department…there’s a pride about the fact that they are shooting on film. Everybody raises their game. It’s hard for the actor to look bad on film.
Twisters star – Glen Powell
Fast-moving heavy film cameras
As the title suggests, Twisters has a high dose of action shots. The crew was all into it, using kinetic tools to move the heavy beasts fast and efficiently. “With this being an all-out action-adventure, I wanted the camera to have kinetic energy, and we designed shots that ended with some kind of punctuation that would allow Isaac to edit to the next take or camera angle. “We used everything at our disposal – drones, helicopters, cranes, pursuit cars, biscuit rigs, dollies on tracks, Steadicam and handheld – with movement in mind. That said, my team was all too aware of the precision needed to keep the horizon line still when shooting wides and landscapes in Anamorphic, as it can become quite unpleasantly unsettling for the audience when the picture seesaws around.” Moreover, Mindel says he particularly enjoyed using the heavy-duty MTV insert truck from Allan Padelford Camera Cars to film the movie’s car work. “It’s a real beast. Depending on the scene, we filmed with a 30-foot Super Technocrane on the back or had cameras mounted on the sides, and even towed the picture car, all with the camera crew in the back”.
The film raises the game of filmmaking
We don’t hear this too often. The main actors behind Twisters elaborated on the excitement on about shooting on film. This is what they said. Actor Glen Powell: “The fun part of shooting on film is that everybody gets excited about shooting on film. The camera department…there’s a pride about the fact that they are shooting on film. Everybody raises their game. It’s hard for the actor to look bad on film”. Also actor Anthony Ramos added: “There’s an adrenaline comes from shooting on film too. You only get limited times to get the shot, so there’s the extra excitement”. Furthermore, even actor Daisy Edgar-Jones brought her Kodak Super 8 camera to the set to shoot some storms. Indeed, shooting on film requires discipline and dedication. There’s nothing like pure celluloid combined with original anamorphic glass. It also looks awesome on the huge canvas too. Watch the BTS below:
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Product List
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- Kodak Super 8 Camera (Black)
