Teresa Palmer. It’s that moment, and I think we’ve all been through it, where you’re just taken by someone. I love how we covered that. We shot it both from his point of view with longer lenses, but also really up close and in his face when we were looking at how he was feeling. We used a real mixture of different focal lengths to create a unique feeling. We used Steadicam for that sequence. Simon Duggan’s lighting there, and with all the scenes with her, is brighter and more
colorful to make it feel happy and safe and to contrast with the gritty, more monochromatic harshness of the battle.
CO: What have you been up to since Hacksaw Ridge finished shooting and what's next?
Another shot that I’m fond of is when Desmond has just come down off the ridge, after the second battle, and he’s just completely disoriented and exhausted. At the bottom, he walks down through this trail as he passes by all the soldiers and I both followed him and showed his POV with handheld. It really made you feel the moment.
Last year I had the wonderful opportunity of working with Joon-ho Bong on a movie called Okja, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tilda Swinton. And last September, I started the sci-fi film Alita: Battle Angel, which wraps in February 2017. It’s directed by Robert Rodriquez, with cinematography by Bill Pope, ASC. I’m having a great time!
TRIVIA: The film was shot in 59 days.
Above: Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) being helped onto the stretcher in the final battle scene, High Line suspension handheld rig used by Mark Goellnicht. Bottom, from left to right: Sam Worthington, Director Mel Gibson, and Vince Vaughn on the set of HACKSAW RIDGE. Photos by Mark Rogers
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Mark Goellnicht, SOC Mark Goellnicht began his career at a film production company based in his hometown of Perth, Australia. He trained as a camera assistant and cut his teeth as a camera operator in television for nearly a decade, which gave Goellnicht the confidence and competence to transition into working on feature films as a camera/Steadicam operator in Sydney. Twelve years later, Goellnicht moved to Hollywood and has since worked with directors such as George Miller, Baz Luhrmann, Mel Gibson, JoonHo Bong, Robert Rodriguez and cinematographers including Dean Semler, John Seale, Vilmos Zsigmond, Darius Khondji, and Bill Pope. Goellnicht’s most notable film credits are: Mad Max: Fury Road, The Great Gatsby, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers, In the Land of Blood and Honey, Secretariat, and San Andreas.
Photo by Mark Rogers
SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG