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| Michael Pitt stars in Tom DiCillo’s Delirious (2007). |
1. I never planned to do a digital intermediate
(a digitization of a project in order to
manipulate color and other image characteristics)
on Delirious. It came about by accident. I shot the
film thinking that what we shot was what the film
would look like. After spending seven days with
John Crowley, colorist at PostWorks, New York, I
came away with a keen respect for the DI process. It
has a power as exciting and creative as every other
part of the filmmaking process. I think its greatest
benefit may not be for the cinematographer, but
for the director—especially the writer-director—as
it enables you to refine and sharpen the visual
information in the film. In some cases, the DI
actually allows you to rewrite the script.
2. Start with a film that already has a well
thought out and clearly defined visual
style. Don’t try to find that style during the DI.
3. Every film requires its own unique visual
style. I try not to force a style on a film;
I prefer to let it evolve out of the script, the intent,
my particular point of view and a certain amount
of trial and error (luck). Without some combination
of the above, you could end up with a film like
The Island which, for all its DI wizardry, looks
strangely similar to a two-hour Pepsi commercial.
4. Delirious was shot on 35mm in 25 days.
The tight shooting schedule and the
necessities of the script helped define the visual
style. We needed to move quickly, yet still try to
present the film’s more intricate visual elements.
DP Frank DeMarco and I divided the film into
two distinct visual worlds: The chaotic rush of
the paparazzi and the sleek and glittering world
of celebrity they crave to enter. For the paparazzi
world we devised a fluid, handheld camera that
gave energy and allowed for spontaneity from two
very spontaneous actors—Steve Buscemi and
Michael Pitt. For the celebrity world, DeMarco took
more care with the lighting and the camera was
always on the dolly with clear, strong frames.
5. In the handheld sections of the film, we
did several manual zooms to accentuate
certain key moments of action. In the DI, I was able
to continue and refine this visual motif by adding
carefully drawn digital zooms. This slightly rough
visual movement kept the spontaneous pulse of
the film going. Again, it was already established on
the negative—I just used the DI to enhance it.
6. In the same vein, I used the DI to recompose
and reframe. I found it very useful in
dramatic scenes to punch in closer than we’d originally
shot. The effect is subtle—the intent being to
sharpen the shot’s focus.
7. Working as fast as we did during filming,
we didn’t have extra time to tweak and
finesse every shot. As thrilled as I am with what
DeMarco accomplished, I found it very effective
in the DI to manipulate shadow. In many scenes,
colorist Crowley and I effectively put up digital
flags to add dimension to walls or modeling to
actors’ faces. This added an unobtrusive focus on
the most dramatic elements of the scene.
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| Michael Pitt and Steve Buscemi in Delirious (2007). |
8. Similarly, changing the speed of the action
is a great benefit of the DI. In several instances I took moments in a scene and slowed
them down, then in the same shot returned to normal
speed. The DI lets you do this with surgical precision
and no loss of detail.
9. The greatest power of the DI is in its
ability to manipulate color. In a traditional
chemical timing, you have the option to make a
scene lighter or darker overall, or warmer or cooler
overall. In the DI you can isolate every single color
in a scene. In one scene we isolated the red in
Gina Gershon’s lips and made it sharper—more
lush and saturated. In the scene Michael Pitt was
becoming infatuated with her, so this small tweak of color subtly enforced his attraction.
10. In my opinion the DI is not best used
to make the image perfect. Instead,
it gives you the rare ability to work on the finished
film, the film you’ve only discovered after
months of editing. Once you’ve determined the
film’s finished form, the DI allows you to look at
every visual aspect of the film and enhance
so it is working as strongly as it can to help you
tell your story. This is how I used it—to help me
tell my story. I wrote the film as a kind of contemporary
myth or fable. Through the DI, I was
able to create a world of rich, highly-saturated
color that elevated the film slightly beyond
reality. I was able to create deep, mysterious
blacks and lush contrast, further heightening
the film’s drama, tension and humor.
would use the DI again in a second.
Delirious will screen as part of Sundance’s
Spectrum program in January 2007.
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