posted 01-21-2004 02:56 PM                       

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But left to be determined was just how Deakins would achieve the film's look. “There were a number of issues,” he says. “I was a bit nervous about shooting on black-and-white negative, because of film speeds, basically. It wasn't a very high-budget production, and I didn't want to use a huge amount of light. I tested black-and-white stocks, and then I shot some 5277 color stock. I asked Beverly Wood at Deluxe to see if she could make a black-and-white print from the color negative, which you would think is easy, but it's not, actually.”

Wood uncovered a relatively obscure Kodak black-and-white print stock, 5269, which is mostly used for titles. “It's quite high-contrast,” Deakins says of the stock. “The way it's usually used, the contrast is too heavy. So we reduced the contrast by playing around with the development time and stuff, until we found something that we really liked. That gave us a print that I actually liked better than the black-and-white original.” The problem with shooting on a color negative, the DP points out, is that “you're wide open to someday seeing that film in color.” But what sealed the deal was a USA Films contractual stipulation to supply a color print for European video markets. “It's a very muted, desaturated color version, and it's not one I hope is ever going to be seen theatrically,” Deakins says.

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