I think the movie would have been way better in maybe an old style, or similar to the camera's used for say Mobsters. Mann's digital Camera style worked well for Collateral and dare I say it...Miami Vice..but this one..not so much...Sorry Mann.... but hey, your still uhhhh "the man".
shareThe problem with all of your excuses for the digital camera shots is that he doesn't always use it. There are some shots that are steady and on film. Now it makes no sense at all to have two different cameras to shoot on.
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Yea I am very puzzled by his choice here too. Maybe he missed out on the digital phase so maybe he wanted to test it. Or he figured he did well with it on Collateral and Miami Vice, so why not P.E. as well. Very myopic of him though.
I am not a Troll, I am an actor who loves films, Jacare Calhoun's official imdb account.(2010)
I don't mind a flick that is self consciously stylish, as long as the story, and the performances are okay.
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As a grad student in digital cinema productions, I too agree that digital camera killed this movie. It was incredibly distracting and took us out of the time period. But it wasn't just simply digital camera that did it. It was the digital camera he used, and it was his cinematography.
His signature handheld style had no place in this movie. In interior scenes I felt like John Dillinger and his gang were on a reality TV show. It felt like there was some guy in the room with them with a hand held. When you can feel that cameraman in the scene, it doesn't work. Period.
But one thing you have to keep in mind: digital has come a LONG way in the last decade. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an example of beautiful digital cinematography, and it works. Perfectly. So does the Social Network.
A quote I like and agree with regarding Benjamin Button:
"Building on the advances of pioneers like Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Robert Zemeckis...Mr. Fincher has added a dimension of delicacy and grace to digital filmmaking"
-A.O. Scott, New York Times
So, I agree with you. The digital camera killed the movie. But it's not as simple as digital cameras in general. It's the cameras and lenses he used, and more importantly, the cinematography that he chose. Hell, one of the cameras used in Public Enemies was the same used in Benjamin Button, the Sony CineAlta F23. It worked in Benjamin Button. Just wanted to let you know, there's something to be said there.
It would not have been impossible to film this movie digitally and have it be beautifully shot, not distracting and highly successful. It was Mann's poor choices, unfortunately. And this is coming from a huge Heat and Collateral fan. The digital shots used in Collateral worked great.
You bring up some good points. Some great things to think about.
I am not a Troll, I am an actor who loves films, Jacare Calhoun's official imdb account.(2010)
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Borderline unwatchable. It's kind of sad that Mann, who ten years ago was creating a masterful career that possibly would have had him eclipse his counterparts, now regresses to use the tools and tricks of lesser filmmakers. Another problem is that the shots are framed so poorly, that a lot of the aesthetic, scenery, sets, clothes, ect that they paid meticulous detail to, are cut out of blurred because of the crappy camerawork.
shareIt's kind of sad that Mann, who ten years ago was creating a masterful career that possibly would have had him eclipse his counterparts, now regresses to use the tools and tricks of lesser filmmakers.
Saw your vid Avant. Good stuff man.
I am not a Troll, I am an actor who loves films, Jacare Calhoun's official imdb account.(2010)
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Uh...why not also blame the director?
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He did. There's vision of him doing it.
It's done that way because it's cheap. What it shows is not the poor quality of the camera or that digital is a poor choice for a feature film but rather that big studios don't care as long as people go and see it once.
It's like the producers are saying, "We've got Depp and we've got Bale. What we need to do now to make ourselves the biggest pile of money is to minimise our overheads". That means cut back on everything crew-related.
I've said it before: I feel sorry for Dante Spinotti who would have been under serious pressure to "just get it done". He would have had to compromise like crazy for this and it shows.
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Thanks. That was a really interesting read, albeit a long one.
I was interested to note that the article doesn't go into the corners which have been cut in production standards in order to bring the budget down. But it's much easier than most for me to read between the lines because I've worked in the industry.
The movie industry is only going to get smaller as the demand for cinemas shrinks with the rise in downloads. All that bypasses the bricks and mortar DVD/BluRay retailers who will become very much a niche market (see the bit about women...). Because downloads will necessarily be cheaper, the revenue raised will inevitably be lower (in gross terms) and eventually I can see a system where everything just goes straight to download.
It also doesn't help that actors get paid so much. On the other hand it's always been the case and there really isn't much that can be done about it. Actors are draw cards.
All you did in this whole board was complain about Mann. Oh right, but you worked in the "post production" dept. So, I guess you know what a director should be striving for...
Yet another simpleton who wants sympathetic characters with redeemable qualities because he's too stupid to try to understand other types of artistry. By your standards, Breathless is an awful film.
You're right actually. When I first started this posts it was before I started working with people who shoot frequently in digital. And a lot factors into it. Like lighting, lenses, and even color correction in posts. So now after learning a bit more it seems this could've looked fantastic if...like you said.... Mann knew how to shoot in digital.
good stuff scrimn.
I am not a Troll, I am an actor who loves films, Jacare Calhoun's official imdb account.(2010)
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