A DIGITAL WORKFLOW
AIDS THE EMOTIONAL FLOW

Director of photography Mátyás Erdély burst onto the international cinema scene in 2015 with Son of Saul, which earned the American Society of Cinematographers’ Spotlight Award as well as the Bronze Frog at Camerimage. Since then, he has crafted an impressive body of work with a distinctive vision. His latest foray is Foe, a dystopian sci-fi thriller set in 2065 on a parched Earth. 

At the very earliest stages of planning, film emulsion was the preferred medium. 

“For anything narrative, film is my go-to tool, simple as that,” says Erdély. “If I do any side-by-side comparison on a big screen, I always pick the one that was shot on film. For me, it’s more emotional, more human, more impactful. I connect to it much more.”

Cinematographer Mátyás Erdély and director Garth Davis on location. Photo: Amazon Studios.

But difficulties finding a lab in Australia prevented that. Shipping to a lab in Los Angeles was deemed too risky and expensive. Thorough testing revealed that the best alternative was the ARRI ALEXA 65.

“I don’t really dig into the technology,” says Erdély. “All I care about is the effect the images have on me. The footage from the LF looked really nice, and I thought it was going to work. I was leaning towards a decision. But when the ALEXA 65 material came up, I was blown away. It doesn’t look digital. Of course it is digital, but it’s a completely different animal. It’s hard to define it in words. It’s not scientific – it’s more emotional. I was immediately very excited to explore further.”

"...WHEN THE ALEXA 65 MATERIAL CAME UP, I WAS BLOWN AWAY. IT DOESN’T LOOK DIGITAL"

Foe director Garth Davis and director of photography Greig Fraser had previously done Lion as well as Mary Magdalene. The latter was done with the ALEXA 65. 

“I ask for whatever the camera can do – Open Gate, full resolution, lowest compression,” says Erdély. “I don’t want to limit the output of the camera while I’m shooting. I just find that silly. Give me the best exposure and the maximum information, and all the detail and beauty you can get, using every single pixel. And then later you can do whatever – although this film was not made in the DI.

Cinematographer Mátyás Erdély and director Garth Davis on set. Photo: Amazon Studios.

“Sometimes, especially if it’s a commercial, the producers freak out a little. But on Foe, they could see that this is a beautiful format. Our line producer, Kate Glover, knew we were asking for a reason, and she did anything she could to make this work.”

Although the budget for Foe was relatively modest, handling the additional data produced by the ALEXA 65 was not a concern. CODEX High Density Encoding (HDE) was used to losslessly slim down the files, saving time, processing and storage space without diminishing image quality. HDE recently earned its development team at CODEX a Scientific and Technical Oscar. 

"HDE IS A GAME-CHANGER, PARTICULARLY FOR THE ALEXA 65, THAT MADE IT MUCH EASIER TO ACCOMMODATE THE BIG DATA LOAD ON A SMALLER SCALE FILM"

“I know it’s a huge amount of data,” Erdély says. “But that’s something I don’t want to think about. There are people to think about that and usually, they can figure out a solution.”

Digital Imaging Technician Sam Winzar says, “HDE is a game-changer, particularly for the ALEXA 65, that made it much easier to accommodate the big data load on a smaller scale film. The greater amount of data was only really a concern as far as having enough media for the camera. Due to HDE, everything past that really wasn't an issue in my eyes. I recently had a small production ask about shooting with the ALEXA 35 at a lower resolution to save on the data budget. Instead, I pointed out the benefits of HDE, and now there's no pressure from the production for the DP to compromise on their desired imaging format.”

The ALEXA 65 is heavier than the LF, which was a consideration. Some early scenes are shot in almost featureless southern Australian landscapes with only available exterior light. Erdély handheld these shots in a delicate ballet with the characters. Movement is smooth and solid and precisely tuned to the actors.

Cinematographer Mátyás Erdély on set with Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan. Photo: Amazon Studios.

“Handholding is about balance,” says Erdély. “Even some small cameras, when you put them on your shoulder, the weight is all in front of you. You’re struggling to hold the weight with your arms rather than your shoulder, with your entire body engaged. The built-up ALEXA 65 sits on your shoulder like a film camera would. My hands are operating, not supporting the load. I’m just composing. It’s heavy enough, but not too heavy. I can go to my knees and stand back up. I’m following my instinct about where I need to be. I’m not just an observer – I’m on the stage with them. I enjoy it tremendously.”

Winzar’s previous assignment was Elvis, with director of photography Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS. Winzar says that he and assistant Darcy Gooding, along with the dailies team from The Rebel Fleet, ensured consistent results for Erdély. The Rebel Fleet ran a separate system to handle the 65’s output, and Winzar’s rig provided a second path with consistent power and protection from the elements. For some of the more remote locations, he also used an Upgrade Innovations/Chromatic Pictures DIT BOX to look after color and exposure with a smaller form factor and the option to run off battery. Winzar also controlled exposure precisely using the Cinefade variable ND system.

"THE ALEXA 65 AND CODEX RECORDING TOOLS ALL WORKED SOLIDLY FOR US, WHICH IS IMPORTANT WHEN YOU'RE AWAY FROM ANY SUPPORT CENTERS"

CODEX Drives went from the camera to Winzar’s data station, where the CODEX Vault platform was running on a Mac Pro. 

“We offloaded these to our RAID and then used YoYotta to copy the files on SSD shuttle drives as well as our sound and CDL files,” he says. “The shuttles were then transported to the dailies lab that The Rebel Fleet would set up near each of our shooting locations. There, our dailies operator would combine the sound and looks to the raw files in Colorfront On-Set Dailies and render out our deliverables. They would then upload the dailies and editorial files and backup to LTO as well.”

Cinematographer Mátyás Erdély on set. Photo: Amazon Studios.

The Rebel Fleet set up near-set labs at Wangaratta, Docklands Studios Melbourne, and Port August, which mitigated some of the complexity of shooting remotely. 

“Most of the time they had the lab either at the same hotel the crew were staying at or at the studios where we were shooting,” says Winzar. “We only became separated when we went out in the Nullarbor Plain with minimal crew for a few days. The ALEXA 65 and CODEX recording tools all worked solidly for us, which is important when you're away from any support centers. I'm very glad we now have the flexibility to use a Mac Pro, although I do miss the simplicity of using CODEX Device Manager on any Mac. I guess I'm just spoiled now by how good the current CODEX Device Manager workflow is.

"I LOVE HOW CODEX CONTINUES TO INNOVATE AND STREAMLINE THEIR WORKFLOW"

“I love how CODEX continues to innovate and streamline their workflow,” says Winzar. “For this project, being able to run Mac Pro gave us extra flexibility with our workflows and also meant the production could locally source more of the equipment needed, which is both convenient and beneficial for state funding requirements. I love what CODEX has done with Device Manager, which makes using CODEX a breeze.”

Foe is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video and other platforms. Erdély went on to shoot the feature The Iron Claw with Zac Efron and director Sean Durkin, which was named one of the year’s ten best films by the National Board of Review.