“Blow Up” directed by Michaelangelo Antonioni, is the director’s first entirely film done entirely in English. The movie, an art film released in 1966, was helped along artistically by cinematographer Carlo Di Palma. Di Palma had been on film sets with his father in Italy for as long as he could remember, and consequently began his film career with focus pull and continuity and worked his way up to being a cinematographer.
Being a film about art and photography, “Blow Up” extra attention had to paid to shooting the movie artistically. As Di Palma explains, “Lighting was a very important part of the movie. We had to rig and hide so many different lights for the movie to be shot and look well.” Along with the lighting, the cameras were given extra attention. “Blow Up” was filmed with four cameras, a first for Antonioni and according to Di Palma, “He was one of the first European film directors allowed to do this.” However, filming was with four cameras was not exactly a walk in the park for Antonioni and Di Palma. With four cameras, all with different types of lenses and assorted cranes and dollies, orchestrating the use of four cameras could become hectic quite quickly. Although filming with four cameras may have had it’s frustrating moments, Di Palma explains that it was a smart move as, “He (Antonioni) had lots of footage to view after each day because many of the scenes in the film were all shot like that. Hours and hours of film.” These “hours and hours of film” allowed for many options when it came time to cut the film together.
What continues to make “Blow Up” intriguing to watch is that as Di Palma puts it, “ It was cinema that we wanted to see ourselves.” This keeps the film interesting to say the least. Di Palma’s work on the film in conjunction with Antonioni’s direction ensures that this art film, will continue to interest audiences for years to come.PUT IN A VIDEO AND TWO PICSSources
No comments:
Post a Comment