Creating the Look of 'A Complete Unknown' with Phedon Papamichael ASC, GSC

[@davidfilmexpert]

Phedon Papamichael better get a nomination for cinematography at the Oscars for this film. Beautiful and masterful shots in this film from beginning to end.

[@sonycine]

Completely agree! Well said!

[@adamfleischman8080]

Was sensational in how dark it all was. Realistic and poetic.

[@artmeansartificial]

trash, tasteless movie and the actor sucks too. The Doors 1991 THIS IS A MASTERPIECE! 'A Complete Unknown' is another proof of the degradation of hollywood

[@dathofilms]

So many people still do not understand what 12000 ISO means in terms of production costs and lighting. Well done Sony for always giving us the best sensors.

[@sonycine]

Agree! Phedon talked about this in his Q & As.

[@tofty21]

I. Admit, I know nothing!

[@sonycine]

@tofty21 KZbin's Potato Jet just posted a video on 12800 ISO with an interview from Phedon to show what this means if you want to check it out. Link in our community tab!

[@dathofilms]

@@sonycine Amazing! That's exactly what I meant with my comment and proof is right there. 12800 ISO minimised budgets for shooting perfect exposure.

[@hom296]

Being a photographer by trade, I understand this. I thought that it was filmed on celluloid and when I viewed the movie, I noticed the noise (grain). Then after some research i found out that it was shot on digital with often high iso settings to make it easier to film in low light. Brillant!

[@careyrowland]

Truly a work of cinematic artistry, while serving as a cultural history lesson.

[@artmeansartificial]

trash, tasteless movie and the actor sucks too. The Doors 1991 THIS IS A MASTERPIECE! 'A Complete Unknown' is another proof of the degradation of hollywood

[@WildTales-channel]

I love those kind of videos! We want more👏

[@cor-z8m]

Wonderful film! Time travel experience! Thankyou

[@barneymiller5488]

Ahhh! My wife is in the union and we have a screener link. I was like "there's grain here, was it shot in film?" So digital, PRINT to film and back to digital. Audio guys have been doing this since CD's. Record on protools and then mix or master out to analog tape. I didn't know movies were doing this too. It looks okay. Grain looks real. But it's ALMOST too much. I only saw it on HD. Gotta' go see it in the theater now. Just for the grain! (Yes, I'm an Uber Nerd).

[@Skinnyorangemusic]

I'm recording music on a laptop. Can you explain what you mean by recording on pro tools then mixing on analog? Do they play what they recorded on the computer through a speaker with a mic? Thought about doing that

[@2424rocket]

@@Skinnyorangemusic through his speaker? That’s absolutely crazy insane… Nobody the right mind would do that. You better go back to school.

[@sonycine]

Phedon shot the film on a digital camera, which records onto digital media then it was scanned onto film.

[@toad6565]

Was this film shot in full frame or in one of the Venice’s Super 35 shooting formats? I know they designed custom lenses for the film and it made me curious. The movie looked absolutely incredible!

[@sonycine]

Full Frame

[@hom296]

I think that I read that a custom lens was developed for this movie.

[@BabarKhan-oh6zq]

I think they should have shot on film to capture the essence of the period.

[@sonycine]

This was scanned to film so, it was shot on film. This is the same process used on The Batman shot by Greig Fraser. You can learn more about the process, here: sonycine.com/new-ways-to-get-the-old-look/

[@DollyRanch]

There was no way to shoot at that light level on celluloid lol. 12,800 ASA!

[@BabarKhan-oh6zq]

@@DollyRanch I realize that it would have required a different lighting approach.

[@barneymiller5488]

I go back & forth. I saw this on a screener only in HD, not 4k. But on my home projector. I DID think it was film at first. The grain looks real, not digital. But I'll admit something was off. This video explains that it was shot digitally. (8k I'm guessing). Then sort of printed out to film and redigitized. Looks okay, but yeah, it's not quite the same. MY take (I'm an editor not a DP) is that if you have the budget you should shoot on film for both the grain AND the way it blows out lights. But ONLY project it 4k in theaters. The Tarantino / Chris Nolan obsession with projecting prints is wrong. That ALWAYS looks worse. Scratches, bad prints etc. I saw PT Anderson's The Master in the theater twice. Once as an "Imax" film print and once digitally. Digitally looked WAY better. IMO. Anyway, AI will be able to copy the stuff we love from film better than these cameras soon. (I say still shoot real actors!). Interesting times.

[@barneymiller5488]

@@sonycine Hmmm. I know you work for Sony, and I'm no purist (I LOVE digital, it's all I can afford, Ha!), but even you have to admit that if the DP says he got more stops but shooting it digitally then printing on film then it's NOT really the same. The blacks falling off is PART of the film look. If you don't have that then it's different. Not worse necessarily. Just....different. Great video explanation. And thanks for answering our questions in the comments. 👏🎬

[@MatthewPhoto]

Curious to know the glass he shot with?

[@sonycine]

They are custom anamorphic lenses from Panavision and the great Dan Sasaki. I believe they are similar to the ones he used on Ford v Ferrari

[@thomasbarnes1983]

@@sonycine Awesome, thank you. Amazing glass!

[@RSG_TheMonster]

Panavision B-Series Lenses Panavision C-Series Lenses Panavision T-Series Lenses

[@sonycine]

Not sure about that @rsg_TheMonster. I think he mentioned one set of lenses but they were panavision for sure.

[@SmallerLives]

I gave up on the Elvis film about 20 minutes in. The style, the colours, the hip hop (yes, really), the direction, the camera work... just... everything, really... In my opinion, it's exactly how not to do a biopic. So glad to see that this film looks like the complete opposite of that. I'm a big fan of Dylan and it looks like this is going to do him justice.

[@the180degreerule3]

6K or 8K sensor?

[@sonycine]

VENICE 2 8K which is dual base iso 800/3200

[@Skinnyorangemusic]

Ha, nerd ​@@sonycine

[@manuelvillalba-i7s]

Walk hard, hard!

[@rtucci3643]

It does looks a bit nosiy, why not use high ISO film stock? Or Alexa mini plus Dehancer? I mean, High ISO is budget friendly and Sony does it well, but they had no budget concerns in that matter. Toughts?

[@sonycine]

He mentions that he wanted the dynamic range of digital and being able to get 8 stops at low light, which allowed Timothee to move around the set. You can learn more about the process, here: sonycine.com/new-ways-to-get-the-old-look/

[@artmeansartificial]

trash, tasteless movie and the actor sucks too. The Doors 1991 THIS IS A MASTERPIECE! 'A Complete Unknown' is another proof of the degradation of hollywood