Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF on Nightmare Alley, working with director Guillermo del Toro

Cinematographer Dan Laustsen's latest movie with director Guillermo
del Toro is the film noir psychological thriller, Nightmare Alley.
Unlike many of del Toro's previous films, Nightmare Alley features
no monsters or creatures, exploring instead the drama of the
monsters within humans. Dan and del Toro had extensive prep and
discussion about how to tell the story in a classic film noir way,
except with lush vibrant colors instead of in black and white. Part
of the movie takes place in the carnival world, so del Toro and Dan
had extensive discussions about the color palette. Del Toro had a
very precise idea of what colors he wanted and he uses very little
color correction in post. Dan decided to paint with light, and draw
attention to the beautiful sets as much as possible. The movie was
shot mainly at night and indoors so they were able to carefully
control the lighting. They chose to light using mainly a single
source, and lit the character of Lilith Ritter, played by Cate
Blanchett, like a classic movie star. Her lighting was important to
the storytelling so the audience sees her as a powerful force in
the film. In fact, the lights would also move on a dolly track with
Blanchett, or Dan would use a small 1K as a follow spot. For the
camerawork, Dan and del Toro wanted all of the shots in Nightmare
Alley to be on the move-everything is shot either on a dolly, with
a Steadicam or from a crane. Del Toro & Dan first began working
together on Mimic, and they found what Dan considers a similar
European sensibility of lighting with a single source, keeping
things very dark and having the courage to not show everything. The
two didn't work together again until Crimson Peak but del Toro and
Dan have a great rapport, and Dan found that they could pick right
back up again. Find Dan Laustsen: Instagram @dan.laustsen You can
see Nightmare Alley in theaters. Find out even more about this
episode, with extensive show notes and links:
http://camnoir.com//ep152/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras:
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