Jordan Peele’s third feature, “Not,” focuses on a group of characters (played by Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea and Michael Wincott) trying to track down a mysterious flying object that has been spotted in the air in the desert area of Agua Dulce. . Many of the film’s scenes take place at night, but as Peele points out, most of them don’t. Recording at night. Instead, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot most of the scenes during the day using some new technological approaches.
“I didn’t want to spoil the fantasy, but I’m going to spoil it for you today,” Peele said during a Q&A at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12. [Hoytema] brought to the table. ”
Peele and Hoytema spoke at a special screening of “Nope” at the Cinesphere IMAX Theater during a discussion moderated by TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey. During a Q&A, the two — avoiding spoilers for audiences who haven’t seen the film yet — discussed how they brought the night scenes to life.
According to Hoytema, conversations about how to photograph night scenes began when the two began scouting locations in Agua Dulce. While visiting the desert, Hoitema was overwhelmed by the darkness of the night and the beauty of the sky and stars, and began to believe that there was no way to capture it properly.
“There is no way to capture this sense of grandeur and the grandeur of the sky, which is such a big part of our history. He immediately asked, ‘How can we really express our feelings when we were in the field?’ We started to think. “I started exploring the technology a lot, how can we do this? How can we photograph the way the eyes see it or the way we’re used to it?”
Eventually the two came up with a solution by combining two cameras – one that shot infrared light at a narrow bandwidth and one that held 70mm film. The two then overlay the images, showing how infrared human eyes react to darkness and light at night. They then used the film camera to capture all the color and grain information they needed, resulting in the unforgettable night cinematography featured in the film.
“It’s a great thing,” Pele said. “This thing really pushes film forward, and it’s been hard and something I’m excited to continue to work with and push forward.”
“No” is currently playing in theaters and is available to rent on VOD services.
