PAPAMICHAEL
ADDS INDY TO HIS
VARIED RESUME

Among top directors of photography, Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC has built one of the most varied bodies of work, range from quirky indie character studies to effects blockbusters. He’s done Sideways, The Descendants and Nebraska with Alexander Payne, and 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line and Ford v Ferrari with James Mangold. Other credits stretch from The Million Dollar Hotel to Patch Adams, The Ides of March, Monuments Men, and The Trial of the Chicago 7, which earned him his second Oscar nomination.  

His latest project, however, might be his biggest yet in terms of budget and schedule. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, also directed by Mangold, took almost two years from start to release, slowed by the pandemic and an untimely injury to Harrison Ford. Prior to the shoot, Papamichael consulted his friend Janusz Kaminski, who shot the previous chapter, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Kaminski assured him that it was the hardest movie he’s ever done. 

Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC on set. Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

“It was an amazing opportunity to do this final installment of a historic franchise,” says Papamichael. “Harrison, regardless of his age, is inspiring as a collaborator. I’m about 20 years younger than him, and if he can muster that performance, I had better be ready. It was a lot of hard work, and it’s apparent on the screen.”

Papamichael’s equipment choices included the ARRI ALEXA LF and Mini LF with CODEX in-camera recording, capturing ARRIRAW files at 4.5K resolution. The aspect ratio was 2.40:1. The lenses were Panavision T and C Series adapted for the larger sensor, the same combination used on Ford v Ferrari. Coincidentally, the original Indiana Jones movies were shot with Panavision C Series glass.

"THE MORE RESOLUTION I CAN CAPTURE IN TERMS OF PIXELS ON THE SENSOR, THE BETTER IT IS FOR EVERYONE DOWN THE PIPELINE"

The marathon assignment required adaptation from Papamichael, calling for a more stylized approach with references to earlier movies, especially the first three Indiana Jones films, which were shot for Steven Spielberg by legendary Brit cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, BSC. “I think I found a good place between embracing the franchise look and maintaining some of my more natural, logical approach to light,” says Papamichael. “Mangold and I really care, and our instincts are not that dissimilar from Spielberg’s. We embrace classical Hollywood filmmaking, with a single camera when possible, and we like blocking and tracking with the actors, moving into closeups and synchronizing their movement with our shot design.

James Mangold on set. Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

“We watched Catch Me If You Can [2002, directed by Spielberg], and in some ways it’s very similar to what Mangold and I did on 3:10 to Yuma or Walk the Line,” he says. “We find little opportunities, take advantage of little gifts that the actors give you, and adjust our shooting to that. Of course, you must storyboard on a film like this, and so much is assigned to the second unit. It requires a lot of precision. But we listen to our instincts. Kathleen Kennedy, our producer, reminded me, ‘Don’t forget what Steven always said: Don’t be so precious with the lighting. This is a B movie, a genre film.’ Of course we’re not cutting corners, but it’s supposed to be light and fun, and a little tongue-in-cheek about action-thriller stereotypes.”

The original idea in 1981 was to bring the cliffhanging thrills and chills of the old Saturday serials to the modern era, using then-recent breakthroughs in visual effects techniques to enhance the action. In Dial of Destiny, the opening 40 minute-train sequence is a rollicking testimony to that concept, and Mangold’s direction and editing guides the viewer with a sure hand. At one point, as Jones dons his trademark fedora, a seemingly random flash of orange-red light crosses him from outside the train, a visual throughline bringing Indy fans back four decades. The moment, the first of many classic beats and call-backs in the film, elicited cheers at the cast and crew screening at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. 

"…WE TRY TO GET VERY CLOSE TO THE DESIRED FINAL LOOK, AND WE’RE ABLE TO ACHIEVE THAT DEPENDABLY WITH THE LF AND THE CODEX FILE FORMAT."

“Mangold has this great ability to tune the audience in on the characters and the performances and the humor, even in the middle of the action,” says Papamichael. “As a result, the action becomes much stronger. Great action shots become special when you have these moments with the characters, and you play the little intimate beats.”

Papamichael sometimes operates the camera to ensure those beats are captured with the necessary subtlety and simpatico. The human touch makes all the difference, even in the midst of the technical behemoth that is blockbuster action filmmaking. “Those moments are Mangold’s trademark, and he’s very good at them - even Spielberg acknowledged it,” he says. “So in a way it came naturally to us, and we understood it well.”

Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC on set. Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

Of course, the technical aspects of the shoot were complex, requiring painstaking attention to detail. Visual effects entailed reference cameras and the full array of on-set wizardry. Post at Company 3 included additional vignetting and grain, which was shot against gray and layered on the image, as opposed to being done with a digital tool like LiveGrain. To some subtle degree, where appropriate, Papamichael and colorist Skip Kimball emulated the more blocked-up blacks and shadows of Slocombe’s work, which was done on film emulsion. 

Digital imaging supervisor Ben Appleton had previously worked with Papamichael on The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Other key collaborators included second unit director/DP Patrick Loungway and additional director of photography Cory Geryak. Papamichael worked closely with ILM visual effects supervisor Andrew Whitehurst, who was often on set. 

Mangold and Papamichael endeavor to shoot on locations as much as possible, which adds verisimilitude but often comes with less control. 

"ONCE WE’RE SHOOTING, I DON’T REALLY THINK ABOUT THE WORKFLOW, AND THAT’S THE WAY I LIKE IT"

“The more resolution I can capture in terms of pixels on the sensor, the better it is for everyone down the pipeline,” says Papamichael. “The LUTS and looks we set are pretty close to the way we want it to end up looking, and the way Mangold wants the dailies to look. That’s what he lives with throughout editorial, so we try to get very close to the desired final look, and we’re able to achieve that dependably with the LF and the CODEX file format. Once we’re shooting, I don’t really think about the workflow, and that’s the way I like it.” 

Since completing Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Papamichael has finished two smaller projects, directing Light Falls, an indie feature that takes place in an abandoned hotel on a Greek island, and photographing Daddio, shot almost completely in an LED volume with Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson in a taxicab. Both films will hit the festival circuit soon. 

“I do like to shift gears and adjust my palette,” he says. “For the budget of Dial of Destiny, you could make literally 1000 of these small films. But whatever the scale, I try to maintain a natural logic in the lighting. Dial of Destiny is heightened, of course, and those earlier Indy movies look amazing even if they’re not in tune with my typical approach. But that’s what made it so fun to enter that world.”

Papamichael and Mangold are currently prepping A Complete Unknown, a project set during the early career of Bob Dylan.