{"id":7426,"date":"2016-05-30T08:06:15","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T08:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/?p=7426"},"modified":"2017-11-25T14:24:22","modified_gmt":"2017-11-25T14:24:22","slug":"thomas-buelens-about-all-the-cats-are-grey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/?p=7426","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Buelens on All the cats are grey"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the nomination of All the cats are grey<\/em> by Savina Dellicour at the 69th Cannes Film Festival, in the Junior section, we asked a few questions to Thomas Buelens, SBC, about his work as a cinematographer.<\/p>\n

\"10984564_1559265424323066_1424810040752020708_o\"<\/p>\n

Why\u00a0did\u00a0you\u00a0become\u00a0a\u00a0DOP ?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> When I was about fourteen, I was a skateboarder. I was so interested in the whole\u00a0skateboarding scene that I started reading the specialized magazines and watching videos\u00a0about it. They had really nice and artistic images, editing and cinematography. That\u00a0sparked my interest into photography and filmmaking which lead me to making a couple\u00a0of skateboarding videos.<\/p>\n

Then one day, funny enough, I get a call from my brother-in-law telling me that I had to\u00a0see this film on television: \u201cThe Big Lebowski\u201d by the Coen brothers. At that time, I\u00a0knew nothing about cinema. I was a typical teenager watching mainstream movies. When\u00a0I saw \u201cThe Big Lebowski\u201d my eyes opened. It was my first real film experience. It made\u00a0me think about script, directing and cinematography. That\u2019s when I started watching a lot\u00a0of films, by the Coens, Kubrick, etc.<\/p>\n

When I was about 17, I found out that I could study cinema. I was still in high school, but\u00a0there was a school for audiovisual art in Antwerp, called SISA, which I attended for some\u00a0time. After a while, my mind was completely set to making short films so I stopped\u00a0skateboarding. I could have graduated at SISA, but I was already doing gigs for Alfacam\u00a0(pulling the cables and stuff like that) and got many other offers that I quit school. So I\u00a0don’t have a degree. My teachers were worried about me, but everything worked out\u00a0pretty well. For example, right after I quit school I did my first feature film as a clapper loader\u00a0on 35mm.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, I believe it was in my genes. My father and my grandfather had photo shops in Antwerp.\u00a0Their shops became Belgium\u2019s number one Leica distributors. So I kind of grew up\u00a0around Leica cameras. My father taught me some of the basics. And for some reason, I\u00a0always took pictures and filmed with ease.<\/p>\n

\"Cinevos-TousLeschats-kopie\"Thomas Buelens, SBC<\/em><\/p>\n

When did you shoot your first long-length film?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> I started with a lot of commercials. I worked all over the world with a production\u00a0company commissioned by CNBC. It was a very good learning school. I did my first\u00a0feature as a cinematographer when I was 21. The film was called \u201cCatnapping\u201d directed\u00a0by Thorsten Chris Gritschke. My second film was \u201cChristmas in Paris\u201d by Hans\u00a0Royaards. I was 23. \u201cAll the cats are grey\u201d by Savina Delicour is my third film, that was\u00a03 years ago.<\/p>\n

\"1157677_10153215432080294_203662142_n\"<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/em> Paul is a chubby kind-hearted amateur detective. Dorothy is an intense upper\u00a0class teenager. Paul is into quoting Sherlock Holmes and watching Derrick. Dorothy is\u00a0into punk clothing and hating her mother. Paul is forty three, Dorothy is sixteen, and the\u00a0only thing that links them is Paul\u2019s knowledge that he is Dorothy\u2019s biological father…\u00a0over time, this has grown into a one way relationship with Paul spying on Dorothy as she\u00a0grew up, always from a safe distance… They would never have met if Dorothy hadn\u2019t\u00a0heard of Paul\u2019s amateur detective skills. She wants to use him to find her father…<\/p>\n

Principal cast:<\/em> Manon Capelle, Anne Coesens, Bouli Lanners, Dune de Braconier<\/p>\n

Language:<\/em> French<\/p>\n

Production companies:<\/em> Tarantula Belgique<\/p>\n

Release date:<\/em> 29 April 2015<\/p>\n

\"DSCF5806-300x200\"Anne Coessens<\/em><\/p>\n

How did you meet Savina? It was her first film, wasn’t it?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> I did a commercial for Japan Airlines with the producer of the film, Joseph\u00a0Rouschop. He gave me the script that I found very interesting and then I met with Savina\u00a0and she liked my work. She worked hard for 10 years to get the film financed, so it was a\u00a0very long journey for her.<\/p>\n

Can you tell me about your artistic approach of the project?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> It\u2019s a film about family secrets, so I wanted to do a cinematography that was not\u00a0noticeable, without effects and in such a way that the viewer would not step out of the\u00a0story. In my opinion, the story always comes first. We went through a lot of pictures,\u00a0such as Magnum photographs. We wanted to be really close to the characters. The idea\u00a0was that in the same frame you could understand the situation and really read the\u00a0character\u2019s feelings on their faces. Amazingly she had almost the same references as\u00a0mine.<\/p>\n

\"10653807_1540498502866425_2250600669543068137_n\"<\/p>\n

I beg to differ, for me the image is mostly warm and contrasted, there is nothing\u00a0transparent about it.<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> Our wish was to create an enhanced reality. It’s just like reality, but with a little\u00a0extra. Also, because we were on a tight budget and had very limited time, we had to\u00a0compromise. But we really wanted to preserve a filmic touch. We did it in a lot of ways.\u00a0Of course, the contrast, the depth of field, the tones and the summer feel contributes to\u00a0that impression. But at the same time, we decided to shoot everything handheld in order\u00a0to be closer to the actors and to increase the feeling of reality. The idea was to mix\u00a0Belgian French real cinema and English American glossy cinema.<\/p>\n

\"10411427_1540497909533151_2334571543241126961_n\"<\/p>\n

You said the shooting was very short, for how long did you shoot?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> We shot for 28 days but we were really one week short. We managed, but we had to\u00a0cut down in certain areas: Savina cut down on time with the actors, me with the framing\u00a0and lighting. The prep was very short too. I think I had maybe one or two weeks, which\u00a0wasn’t enough and was spent only on location visits and technical matters. Of course, all\u00a0of that was due to the budget.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t show at all.<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> Well we did everything we could to have the film up to our expectations.<\/p>\n

You mentioned locations, where did you shoot?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> The location is very important in the story because the family is part of the Uccle’s\u00a0bourgeoisie. For Savina it was really important that we shot there, so we did and I think\u00a0you can feel it in the film. The idea is that when you walk in this neighborhood, you see\u00a0all these beautiful houses from the outside and yet you can’t tell what is going on inside,\u00a0the struggles, the issues that they have.<\/p>\n

\"530557_10153328078520294_1554565543_n\"<\/p>\n

What camera and what lenses did you use?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> We did some research, but I knew I wanted to shoot with the Alexa, because, in my\u00a0opinion, it’s the closest you can come to a 35mm look. Lenses were a bit of an issue for\u00a0us, though. First, we had to decide if we were going to shoot with anamorphic or\u00a0spherical lenses. We tested Hawks V-Lite lenses and Savina loved it. We first tried these\u00a0lenses because there were very light and we wanted to shoot everything handheld. It\u00a0would have been more difficult to do so with old Hawks or big Panavision sets. They\u2019re\u00a0also more discrete lenses for the actors. You have more freedom in movements. Then, we\u00a0tried the Leica Summilux-C lenses, which were just released at that time. I had done a\u00a0shoot with them shortly before and I think I was one of the first cinematographers in\u00a0Belgium to shoot with it. Savina was really impressed by their particular look, almost\u00a0between anamorphic and spherical lenses. Because of their aspherical elements, they do\u00a0really nice things with the bokehs, the backgrounds, the rendering of people’s skin and\u00a0atmosphere. So we decided to go with them.<\/p>\n

\"1174838_10153193452025294_961540727_n\"<\/p>\n

How did you manage to get these approved by the producer? It was a rather\u00a0expensive choice, wasn’t it?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> It was so important to us, so we really fought for it. We managed to convince the\u00a0producer and Eye-Lite to support us. I would like to thank Eye-Lite for their kindness,\u00a0because it really helped the film. Perhaps the viewer doesn’t see it, but I think he can feel\u00a0it. Maybe if we had shot with anamorphic lenses, the film would have been a little bit too\u00a0cinematographic, but with the Leica lenses, it’s more naturalistic but still with something\u00a0extra.<\/p>\n

\"1174498_10151682613858878_1885827134_n\"<\/p>\n

And also because it was in your DNA… because of your father and your\u00a0grandfather.<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> Yes, for sure. Funny enough, around that time it was also the century celebration of\u00a0Leica. For me it was like closing a circle. You know that Oskar Barnack invented the first\u00a0Leica camera with 35mm cinema film while working for Leitz (LEItz CAmera), because\u00a0he had asthma and had difficulty handling the heavy cameras of that time to take the\u00a0pictures that he wanted. So Leica started with film but they never made cinema lenses,\u00a0until now.<\/p>\n

Funny story: after the film, I went with my father to the renewed Leica factory in\u00a0Wetzlar. We met the constructors of the optics CW-Sonderoptic. I showed them some\u00a0pictures of the film that wasn’t released yet and they were so exited that they gave us the\u00a0grand tour. It was a really nice experience to share with my father. Also you really see\u00a0how difficult and magical it is to make lenses, it\u2019s really worth a visit. I recommend you\u00a0go.<\/p>\n

\"1003933_10153212324705294_1653250145_n\"<\/p>\n

I will. How was the lighting handled?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> We had a small package, very basic: some 1800 HMIs and some tungstens, but very\u00a0few. We wanted to make soft lighting but still contrasted, so we used a lot of negative fill,\u00a0but also reflections and diffusions. For the rest, we also used a lot of 60W bulbs that we\u00a0would hang to the ceiling. I use them to produce a nice warm glow around people.<\/p>\n

How about the framing? You said you did most of the film handheld. But you also\u00a0did some shots with a Steadicam operator, am I right?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> Most of the film was done handheld, but in order to respect the more subtle scenes of\u00a0the script, we also did some shots on dolly and tripod. We really wanted to have a nice\u00a0introduction to the movie, so that the viewer would be sucked into the world of Uccle’s\u00a0bourgeoisie. The opening scene was the only one that was really expensive. We used a\u00a0camera car and we put Olivier Merckx, the Steadicam operator, on the front. That’s how\u00a0we did the smooth view of the street at the beginning of the film that ends at the house of\u00a0the family. We also had a mini aero crane for one shot. The camera starts behind Manon’s\u00a0head and then turns around her to discover that she’s secretly smoking in the garden.<\/p>\n

\"1231650_10153326626485294_1524241777_n-300x237\"Thomas Buelens, SBC, with Olivier Merckx, steady cam operator<\/em><\/p>\n

There are a lot of close-ups. Why?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> The film is about internal struggles so Savina wanted to see the characters’ faces. As\u00a0a viewer you know that Manon wants to meet her biological father, that Paul is that father\u00a0and that he doesn’t know what to do because the mother doesn’t want him to come\u00a0forward. It’s like a ticking bomb in a Hitchcock’s movie. We used a lot of long lenses,\u00a050mm and above to really portray what was going on inside of them.<\/p>\n

Wasn’t it too hard to do all the film handheld and in long lenses ?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> Yes, it was. But we had no choice. Savina and I really wanted to preserve the\u00a0freedom of the actors so I had to follow them no matter what.<\/p>\n

\"934762_1540498719533070_2923101303628434830_n\"<\/p>\n

How about your collaboration with the other departments: make-up, costume\u00a0design, art direction, etc.?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> It was very nice. I was especially impressed by Paul Rouschop, the production\u00a0designer. He had a lot of experience and he did a wonderful job with the feel of interior\u00a0locations. Because of the limited budget, we had to use existing locations. We were\u00a0forced to find houses that already had the style that Savina wanted. For instance for Paul\u00a0(Bouli Lanners’ character) we had to find a house in which he wouldn’t fit in, because in\u00a0the story he is still living in his parents’ house. All the houses that we found were very\u00a0small, so it was a challenge to light, but also to frame. Paul Rouschop really helped with\u00a0the atmosphere by paying attention to small details on set, such as stuffed animals.<\/p>\n

How did the work with the actors go?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> It was amazing. I had never worked with such great actors in my life. In the\u00a0beginning we were a little bit nervous because Bouli is a great filmmaker. He has such\u00a0experience that we were afraid that he could interfere in the directing, but he\u2019s very\u00a0professional. The cool thing about him is that he is so experienced in filmmaking that he\u00a0knows exactly the difficulties that the director, and by extension the cinematographer, are\u00a0facing. He knows what lenses you are using, what depth of field it implies and how he\u00a0can act to produce the best results. Also, he is so funny in-between scenes, but very\u00a0serious when the camera is rolling which is very pleasant.<\/p>\n

\"10898062_1540498679533074_7330763381785255555_n\"<\/p>\n

I don’t suppose you had a DIT with such a restricted budget?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> No! (Laughter) Although I sometimes work with a DIT on commercials, I strongly\u00a0believe that the best you can do, is to get the image as close as possible to what you want\u00a0during the shooting. I really control the light, which makes grading easier. I usually use a\u00a0normal LUT like a REC709, because, for me, what you see is what you get. You can’t get\u00a0lost in post-production.<\/p>\n

So how did you handle the postproduction?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> Basically what we did with Veerle Zeelmaekers, the colorist, was bridging the\u00a0differences, ameliorating the continuity. Savina also added a little bit of green in the\u00a0shadows.<\/p>\n

\"1509078_1540498642866411_827519364633101122_n\"<\/p>\n

How is the result of the project for you?<\/em><\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> I was very pleased with the results given the circumstances, the time pressure and the\u00a0low budget. It was really a difficult shooting for everybody but they went all out. Saving\u00a0was very satisfied and the film was very well received. It was nominated and won some\u00a0awards such as the Magritte for Best Debut Film, but also at Santa Barbara Film Festival,\u00a0Montreal and Mannheim film festivals. Now it is in Cannes. The film is about to be\u00a0released in France and in Germany, which is very good for a small film like this.\u00a0I can’t say it’s my best work, I mean by that that it isn’t the most impressive\u00a0cinematography I have ever made, but it isn’t what matters. What matters is that the\u00a0cinematography is exactly how we wanted and that it serves the story well. At the end,\u00a0it’s much harder to make cinematography that feels natural and doesn’t show than the\u00a0opposite.<\/p>\n

\"1235525_10153257534705294_1665194159_n\"<\/p>\n

Crew:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Assistant camera:<\/em> Arthur Anger & Benjamin Morel<\/p>\n

Gaffer:<\/em> Corentin Kopp<\/p>\n

Key grip:<\/em> Edwin Van Den Hove<\/p>\n

Colorist:<\/em> Veerle Zeelmaekers<\/p>\n

Equipment:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Camera & Light:<\/em> Eye-Lite<\/p>\n

Lab:<\/em> Mikros Image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the nomination of All the cats are grey by Savina Dellicour at the 69th Cannes Film Festival, in the Junior section, we asked a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":7444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[470,471,347,469,468,385,473,474,466,472,448,447,467],"class_list":["post-7426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-productions","tag-arthur-anger","tag-benjamin-morel","tag-bouli-lanners","tag-corentin-kopp","tag-edwin-van-den-hove","tag-eye-lite","tag-hawks-v-lite","tag-leica-summilux-c","tag-mikros-image","tag-olivier-merckx","tag-savina-dellicour","tag-thomas-buelens","tag-veerle-zeelmaekers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7426"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7738,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7426\/revisions\/7738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sbcine.be\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}