Articles

Inside Film

Australian Cinematographer

Inside Film

August 2005
DANNY RUHLMANN, cinematographer
DAVID MICHOD

Danny Ruhlmann’s background in documentary and current affairs came in very handy given the strictures of the Little Fish shoot. Some 60-plus locations in seven weeks meant speed and efficiency were essential.

Says Ruhlmann, ‘One of the most important things we had to look at in pre-production was how to get through the schedule as quickly as possible, but it worked in our favour because Rowan and I wanted to keep the performances and the lighting set-up quite spontaneous. We wanted to keep the momentum flowing, which worked really well for the actors because people like Cate and Sam and Hugo were able to hang around on set while we were relighting. We’d turn around within a few minutes and were ready to shoot a reverse.’

Little Fish was shot using high-speed stock, principally Kodak’s 5218 (500T), with high-speed Fuji stock used for Tracy’s flashback beach sequences which was pushed for a Super 8 home-movie feel.

‘We also used very fast lenses which allowed us to use minimal light. We had an incredibly small lighting package that was big enough to fit into a small van. We literally had a van for the lighting and gripping department, and we were just committed to using that equipment and nothing else. If we were stuck in a position where we didn’t have a particular light, then we would just work out another way of doing it.’

The need to relight meant that practical and easily manipulated lights were of the utmost importance.

‘Chimera makes these Chinese lanterns, which are like white balls. They also make what they call a Pancake, which is just a semicircle that you can arm in over the top of actors or the top of a table. That was the light I used a lot because it enabled me to put the stand near the camera, then just arm the light over the top of the set. It created a very soft overall light and it also enabled us to change angles very quickly without having to start the lighting form scratch.’

Working with a stripped-down lighting and grip package allowed the Little Fish crew to move quickly in otherwise uncontrollable locations with speed and efficiency – qualities especially necessary when location shooting with stars of Cate Blanchett’s stature.

‘We approached it as if it was a documentary. The scene where Cate walks through Chinatown was the most critical for us because it was shot at dusk. We shot as much as we could prior to dusk in the shadowy areas of the street, then when it was time, the absolute ideal time, we just raced out there with the camera and followed her and ignored the fact that we had no control over the location. I think we had two takes; we shot with one lens, then changed lenses and had another go. The whole approach to the film from my point of view was to create a documentary feel, almost voyeuristic. We used longer lenses and shot through doorways. The handheld feel contributed to it as well. Focus was also important for me, the way I was able to manipulate the focus. Sometimes we were out of very happy when things were out of focus and required finding focus.’

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Danny Ruhlmann on the set of Little Fish

One of the most striking features of Little Fish is the extent to which it eschews the obvious temptation to paint in neon and saturated colour that a film set in Australia’s most concentrated Asian suburb would present.

‘We wanted to introduce the suburb of Cabramatta and its Asian feel relatively early on in the piece, but the film isn’t about that suburb, it’s about these people struggling within it. These stories could happen anywhere really, so after introducing the location we wanted to focus on the characters and let the actual location of the story disappear into the background.’

Visual style references for the film were many and varied.

‘We looked at a lot of films in pre-production. We spent about four weeks looking at locations and looking at films. City of God [2002, dir. Fernando Meirelles] was a good reference for camera movement. Morvern Callar [2002, dir. Lynne Ramsay] was interesting for its use of focus and camera movement. The colour scheme of In the Mood for Love [2000, dir. Wong Kar Wai] was relevant and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [1974, dir. Tobe Hooper] was interesting for its use of camera flare.’

The production of Little Fish stood in stark contrast to the experience Ruhlmann had with his most recent feature film experience on the Paul Goldman directed The Night We Called it a Day, a film shot largely on sound stages where lighting set-ups had to be engineered form scratch.

‘I enjoy shooting on location. It’s where I come from. I went out to some of the locations three or four times, at different times of the day, to see what the light was doing and to see what we could expect. I spent a lot of time with 1st AD John Martin to make sure that certain scenes were shot at certain times of the day – it was really quite critical for me in that regard. I like what happens in a real location when it’s beautifully dressed and the characters are in there and all of a sudden it comes to life.’

‘There are some obvious frustrations when working in a small house, but for this kind of film it was really nice, just lighting the room as it would be lit normally, whether it’s a nice lamp in the bedroom or whatever, and then just allowing the actors to interact with the light that’s within the room. I use this Kodak stock because it has a lot of latitude, so I would often just find the exposure that was an average between the brightest point of the room, near the lamp, and the darkest place and then just allow the actors to do their thing. I think it really worked quite well.’