{"id":2933,"date":"2015-09-12T11:35:19","date_gmt":"2015-09-12T18:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww3.ambientskies.com\/why-the-straight-out-of-compton-cinematographer-chose-the-red-dragonight-out-of-comptons-dop-chose-to-fly-with-the-red-dragon\/"},"modified":"2023-02-24T12:51:24","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T19:51:24","slug":"why-the-straight-out-of-compton-cinematographer-chose-the-red-dragonight-out-of-comptons-dop-chose-to-fly-with-the-red-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ambientskies.com\/blog\/filmmaking\/why-the-straight-out-of-compton-cinematographer-chose-the-red-dragonight-out-of-comptons-dop-chose-to-fly-with-the-red-dragon\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the ‘Straight Out of Compton’ cinematographer chose the RED Dragon"},"content":{"rendered":"
What makes a cinematographer choose a certain camera?<\/p>\n
Today I want to look at the thought process that went into the decision to use the Red Dragon by cinematographer Matthew Libatique. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I went and saw “Straight Outta Compton” last weekend specifically to see why Cinematographer Matthew Libatique chose to shoot the film with the RED Dragon — and not on film. <\/p>\n
I will say that I have no idea if there were any politics involved with the camera decision, I’m simply assuming the choice was ultimately left up to Libatique. <\/p>\n
It’s an interesting subject though when considering his approach to a lot of his films in the past and the fact that Noah, the film he shot just prior to Compton, was shot on the Arri Alexa Plus.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Libatique is a master with film cameras. As most know, Libatique and Darren Aronofsky sort of broke through the mold together and have a close working relationship. His style has been something that has been on a lot of people’s radar for a long time, ever since Pi<\/i> came out and it became an underground cult sensation. <\/p>\n
Not his best work, but overall, imaginative, coherent, and the 16mm matched the gritty dark world that the protagonist lived in. Not to mention, the guy was still getting his feet wet. <\/p>\n
When Requiem for a Dream<\/i> came out, everyone knew that Libatique was special and that he had undeniable skill with composition and exposure. Up until a few films ago, he had shot all of his professional features on film.<\/p>\n
The point being, he’s a DP you can trust to make the right decisions — So why did he go with the RED Dragon then and not film. <\/p>\n