moves were slow, graceful, and exact. These slow deliberate moves would go from an extreme close-up to a perfectly composed wide, beautiful vista, and back to a close-up. The characters in the movie are so emotionally driven that the camera needed to be an emotional extension of them. Shooting with the wide lenses shows an interesting perspective and makes you feel you’re part of the character. You have their panoramic POV. We’re used to seeing a lot of close-ups and extreme close-ups, but in reality the view a person has is this wide POV. The scope of the scene and the land it encompassed defines the 240:1 aspect that The Revenant utilized.
SHOOTING IN STORY ORDER The movie was shot in story order, and part of Alejandro’s directing style is to maintain a natural story rhythm. This allowed the characters to age and physically change as the story progressed. No detail was over-
looked, including the optimal time for natural light to shoot the scene. Our emphasis on shooting at the right time of day meant the window of opportunity was small and you had to execute under pressure. Our ability to do retakes was severely limited and the pressure was on all departments to perform at exact times. It was a scary but exhilarating feeling knowing you have limited time to shoot such an extraordinary scene with so many moving parts.
TECH ON SET:
Camera equ ipment used : Alexa XT, A lexa M, Ale xa 65mm Panavision 6 5mm Lenses: Zeiss Maste r Primes 12, 14, 16, 18m m Leica Prime 16mm Arri 65mm P rimes 28mm , 24mm
WEATHER AS A STORY ELEMENT Weather is a big story element in The Revenant and we worked in a variety of challenging conditions. We had a couple of early snowstorms in September while in Calgary. Then, in October, we moved to Squamish, British Columbia to shoot during the rainiest months of the year. For those three weeks in BC, we worked in cold rain, on rivers with boats and rafts, and were constantly
challenged to keep gear in tune. When we returned to Calgary at the end of November, we were in major snow with single digit temperatures and dropping lower, testing our mental and physical beings. The key topic of the day was asking each other how many layers he/she is wearing and where did you get those boots? By early 2015,
“Chivo” Emmanuel Lubezki and Scott in the rain forest of Squamish, British Columbia. Photo by Kimberly French
CAMERA OPERATOR · FALL 2015
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