Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/815991
34 cgw m a r c h . a p r i l 2 0 1 7 This actually had fewer visual effects than my last movie, although very complicated ones. Then you start to live in that world and understand it. You tried to do as much in-camera as possible? Yes, starting with the huge sets. And, lighting, too. Lighting certain numbers, such as the 'Be Our Guest' scene, with the light reflect- ing off the dishware and glasses. We did that practically so that the CG elements would be surrounded as much as possible by real things because I think the audience can still spot the difference. What does the live-action feature offer that's different from the animated film? Once you change drawn characters into human beings, everything changes… they have to behave as recognizable human beings. For example, in the animated film, they fall in love overnight. In a live-action movie, you have to watch that happen and understand it in order to believe it and feel it. Another example: How do you change Gaston from that wonderful comic creation in the animated film to someone who is equally superficial and narcissistic, but in a way that we believe he walks around in the real world? Is there one part of the filmmaking process you enjoy more than another? Yes, the postproduction. I'm in a room with [Editor Virginia Katz] and, especially on a movie like this where so much of it does happen in post, the shaping of the movie really takes place. What is it like for you to see a scene over and over, and then, finally, the finished CG character is added? It's not just when it's dropped in, because it happens across stages. Each time is a step. But there's inevitably one big step that takes us to where it's like, 'Oh my God, now I've forgotten that it's CG and now it feels real.' And that is thrilling. Take Two: DP Tobias Schliessler, ASC How long did you work on the film? I started in late February 2015 for prepro- duction and finished in August. It was 12 weeks of prep and then we shot for about another 70 days. This kind of movie takes a lot of preproduction, storyboarding, previs, music rehearsals … everything. It takes more preparation than your usual film. Any particular shooting style for this film that either you or Director Bill Con- don wanted? It's definitely a collaboration, and Bill has a very strong sense of what he wants his movies to look like and how he wants them to feel. He also spent a lot of time with [Pro- duction Designer] Sarah Greenwood and her illustrations, so when I got there, I had a good sense of what this movie was sup- posed to look like in terms of the illustrations and the lighting. Also, the tone and tempo of the music dictates the style of the movie in a sense, too. We start with storyboarding together in [Condon's] office and talk about the scenes. We bring in the storyboard artist and it goes into previs, and that sets the feel for the camera work and the framing. But once we're on set and if a scene feels better with how an actor moves, it can easily change on that day. But this movie was planned out, especially with the musi- cal scenes; we went in and shot rehearsal video and created moves. We brought the footage to the editor and she started cut- ting already with the rehearsal footage, and that gave us an idea of how and how fast to move the camera. What was the overall look you were going for? It's a period piece and it's a fairy tale, but we did want to give a modern feel to it, too. So, for the first time, I embraced LED lighting. About 90 percent of the movie was done with LED lighting. We were able to control every light through an iPad, and we were able to change temperature in the shot. There's one scene where Belle, Emma Watson, cleans a window in a ballroom and the sunlight comes through. When it comes through, I wanted to make the room CG CHARACTERS COME ALIVE.