Lucky (2006)

Camera: Panasonic DVX-100A 24p

Director's Comments:

I try to work with the best talent available, and working with Matt on past projects; I've come to realize that as a cinematographer/filmmaker he should be on the list of names to watch out for in the near future. It's not doubt in my mind you will hear a lot more from him very soon. What I was looking for when writing the story of "Lucky", was something dark or black and white to capture a film noir look. Upon talking to Matt about the look, we agreed, let's try something different, let's push the envelope somewhat, and open things up. With Matt's help (along with Chaz -Production Assistant/Grip) we were able to create that look on the set. My feelings have always been story first, and then collaborate with the best to bring out something unique, and hopefully we have accomplished that on this project. --Malcolm Carter, Director

Matt's Comments: (as Director of Photography)

Malcolm's film gave me the chance to really expermiment with the lighting and the use of gels -- something I had always wanted to do. From my standpoint, shooting in apartments is a drag. It's very hard to make the cinematography look interesting and there's always never enough room to put lights and equipment. My mindset was this would be the challenge and solving it would be the fun part. I mapped out lighting plots and used every light in my armada to create the look. The original plan was to use a lot of blue gels to simulate depression in the main character's life. Red gels were added (from what I felt) to indicate the seedy outside world trying to creep in from the windows. My inspiration was cinematographer Jan DeBont, as his work on Paul Verhoeven's "The 4th Man" had a similar color palette and his use of gels really enhanced to mood in the film.

Stills from the Film:

In this shot, we actually turned off one of the 500w lights to make it darker, adding much more "mood" in my opinion.

The actor was lit with a fill box (800w) and we had a gel on the background light.

1000w worklights beaming in through the window, while illuminating the actor with a scoop, red gel attached.

One 500w light beaming in through a closet with blinds, red gel attached of course.