Vittorio Storaro: The Shadow and Light of - Kodak
Vittorio Storaro: The Shadow and Light of - Kodak
Vittorio Storaro: The Shadow and Light of - Kodak
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“What made me embrace this<br />
film project on Caravaggio was<br />
something one <strong>of</strong> my teachers<br />
in photography school used to<br />
say: My dear boys <strong>and</strong> girls, you<br />
cannot know everything in life,<br />
what is important is to learn where<br />
things are, so that as they move<br />
faster you’ll know where to look<br />
for them.”<br />
“My spirit is that <strong>of</strong> an eternal<br />
student, always looking for new<br />
opportunities to broaden areas<br />
<strong>of</strong> knowledge, philosophy <strong>and</strong><br />
the arts. When Caravaggio was<br />
<strong>of</strong>fered to me by the producer<br />
Ida Di Benedetto—to whom I am<br />
enormously grateful for allowing<br />
me to devote a part <strong>of</strong> my life to<br />
this undertaking—I knew that it<br />
would be a real opportunity to<br />
study in depth the trajectory <strong>and</strong><br />
work <strong>of</strong> this genius <strong>and</strong> visionary<br />
protagonist. Caravaggio’s genius<br />
caused an earthquake in the<br />
figurative arts, <strong>and</strong> they have never<br />
focus on film<br />
<strong>Vittorio</strong> <strong>Storaro</strong>: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Shadow</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Light</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Caravaggio<br />
A film devoted to Michelangelo Merisi, universally recognized by the pseudonym ‘Caravaggio’—an extremely tormented<br />
character <strong>and</strong> celebrated artist <strong>of</strong> the seventeenth century—will be shown on Italy’s RAI Uno TV channel <strong>and</strong> in movie theatres in<br />
two distinct versions this year. <strong>The</strong> film directed by Angelo Longoni <strong>and</strong> shot by the three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer<br />
<strong>Vittorio</strong> <strong>Storaro</strong>, ASC, AIC was produced by Ida Di Benedetto’s company Titania with RAI, in co-production with France, Spain <strong>and</strong><br />
Germany. InCamera met the legendary cinematographer <strong>Storaro</strong> to find out what motivated him to sign on to this project.<br />
been the same since. Nowadays,<br />
photography, architecture <strong>and</strong><br />
cinema cannot forego a pr<strong>of</strong>ound<br />
knowledge <strong>of</strong> the oeuvre <strong>of</strong> this<br />
artist who left an indelible mark on<br />
world culture.”<br />
“Moreover, Caravaggio allowed<br />
me to explore further the mystery<br />
<strong>of</strong> light <strong>and</strong> shadow. This is<br />
a theme that, right from the<br />
beginning, has always been at the<br />
centre <strong>of</strong> my personal cinematographic<br />
story. Caravaggio’s shadow<br />
is the visualization <strong>of</strong> where the<br />
unresolved states <strong>of</strong> mind dwell,<br />
a condition innate in the human<br />
unconscious. To do this, I thought<br />
<strong>of</strong> proceeding visually with a style<br />
<strong>of</strong> writing with light that would<br />
make the bodies emerge from the<br />
darkness, <strong>and</strong> enable me to make<br />
conscious what had for some time<br />
resided in the unconscious.”<br />
1 Actor Alessio Boni plays Caravaggio<br />
2 Extract from Judith Beheading Hol<strong>of</strong>ernes<br />
3 Caravaggio was an accomplished swordsman<br />
4 A scene from the film<br />
Caravaggio.indd 2 30/5/07 11:20:33<br />
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2<br />
2<br />
focus on film<br />
“Film is an archival medium, so the negative will<br />
be there for future generations to see what<br />
this ecosystem was once like.”<br />
How much did the work<br />
<strong>of</strong> Caravaggio stimulate<br />
<strong>and</strong> inspire your own<br />
personal artistic journey?<br />
Q A<br />
“Just as a writer tells a<br />
story with words <strong>and</strong> a<br />
A<br />
musician expresses a<br />
mood with music, we cinematographers<br />
write <strong>and</strong> transmit<br />
emotions through the harmony<br />
<strong>and</strong> conflict between light <strong>and</strong><br />
shadow.”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> intersection <strong>of</strong> these two<br />
entities generates colours. When<br />
I made ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore <strong>and</strong><br />
Giordano Bruno at the beginning <strong>of</strong><br />
my career, I wasn’t aware <strong>of</strong> the<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>ound symbolic <strong>and</strong> conceptual<br />
meaning <strong>of</strong> these elements, but<br />
possessed a purely technical<br />
preparation from my studies in<br />
cinema <strong>and</strong> photography. It was<br />
then that I visited the Church <strong>of</strong><br />
San Luigi dei Francesi in the centre<br />
<strong>of</strong> Rome with my fiancée Tonia,<br />
who later became my wife. <strong>The</strong>re I<br />
made a discovery that changed my<br />
whole way <strong>of</strong> life <strong>and</strong> my approach<br />
to images. I discovered through<br />
an analysis <strong>of</strong> a few paintings,<br />
how much the use <strong>of</strong> light <strong>and</strong><br />
shadow—directed, concealed,<br />
or filtered on a subject—could<br />
underline <strong>and</strong> emphasize a<br />
concept written in words. Thus the<br />
viewer watching a complex work<br />
like a film <strong>and</strong> experiencing the<br />
sensations arising from the energy<br />
flows on the screen, can feel an<br />
emotion.”<br />
Q<br />
What exactly happened<br />
that day at San Luigi dei<br />
Francesi?<br />
“While I was walking<br />
around inside the church,<br />
I discovered the<br />
Contarelli Chapel, decorated with<br />
extraordinary paintings by an<br />
artist whose name I didn’t know<br />
at the time. One in particular took<br />
my breath away: <strong>The</strong> Calling <strong>of</strong> St<br />
Matthew, which I later learned was<br />
by Caravaggio.”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> thing that struck me<br />
was the extraordinary vision <strong>of</strong><br />
something that I was actually<br />
putting in scenes back then: a<br />
clean separation between light<br />
<strong>and</strong> shadow. I was so bowled<br />
over by that painting that I felt<br />
immediately impelled to try<br />
<strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> deepen the<br />
relationship between these two<br />
elements, to underst<strong>and</strong> the most<br />
hidden, innermost meaning <strong>of</strong> that<br />
light. I had to take my studies to<br />
a level that enabled me to grasp<br />
the intrinsic significance <strong>of</strong> that<br />
representation.”<br />
“Caravaggio was in fact a great<br />
filmmaker, he conceptualized<br />
the subject <strong>and</strong> the composition,<br />
chose the figures, did the<br />
costumes, designed the sets,<br />
<strong>and</strong> illuminated them like a<br />
master cinematographer. As in<br />
the great revolutions in cinema,<br />
Caravaggio moved from natural<br />
light to artificial light, From Judith<br />
Beheading Hol<strong>of</strong>ernes on, the<br />
subjects <strong>of</strong> his paintings were<br />
almost always illuminated by a<br />
lantern. In fact, we are seeing<br />
the completion <strong>of</strong> a cycle in<br />
Caravaggio’s painting: first he<br />
used natural light as seen <strong>and</strong><br />
reflected in a mirror that framed<br />
his subjects, followed by the<br />
3<br />
gradual focusing <strong>of</strong> the light on his<br />
subjects, making the background<br />
ever darker, <strong>and</strong> ending with a<br />
revolutionary passage from natural<br />
to artificial light.”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> painting genius found his<br />
maximal creative expression in his<br />
first <strong>of</strong>ficial commission from the<br />
Church: notably the <strong>The</strong> Calling <strong>of</strong><br />
St. Matthew <strong>and</strong> <strong>The</strong> Martyrdom<br />
<strong>of</strong> St. Matthew for the Contarelli<br />
Chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi.”<br />
Caravaggio was also a<br />
Q man who was continually<br />
torn between the<br />
diabolical <strong>and</strong> the saintly: a<br />
duality synthesized in the<br />
struggle between light <strong>and</strong><br />
shadow in his paintings. What<br />
solution did you use to explain<br />
this dichotomy?<br />
“I adopted a philosophy<br />
A <strong>of</strong> light that closely<br />
followed the course<br />
<strong>of</strong> his creativity <strong>and</strong> his life. If<br />
we analyze the paintings in the<br />
Contarelli Chapel, in fact, we see<br />
that Caravaggio visualized <strong>The</strong><br />
Calling through the natural light <strong>of</strong><br />
day <strong>and</strong> depicted <strong>The</strong> Martyrdom<br />
<strong>of</strong> St Matthew with artificial<br />
light at night. He succeeded in<br />
transmitting the sense <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Saint’s passage from life to death,<br />
through the passage <strong>of</strong> light.”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> astounding effect <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> Calling on the viewer stems<br />
from the artist’s brilliant intuition<br />
<strong>of</strong> depicting a ray <strong>of</strong> light,<br />
symbolizing the divine, coming for<br />
the first time from the right, like a<br />
ray <strong>of</strong> light at sunset.”<br />
“It is not seen as a source <strong>of</strong><br />
light that illuminates the subjects,<br />
but a pure, transcendental entity<br />
that slices through the darkness<br />
like a scalpel, dividing the human<br />
from the divine. In the painting<br />
the subjects are illuminated by a<br />
suffused light that is separate from<br />
the ray <strong>of</strong> light. At the top <strong>of</strong> the<br />
painting, the artist has placed a<br />
window that does not emit light,<br />
but establishes a balance in the<br />
horizontal composition <strong>of</strong> the<br />
work.”<br />
“In the film version—directed<br />
by Angelo Longoni <strong>and</strong> which<br />
will come out both in theatres<br />
<strong>and</strong> on television—we imagined<br />
Caravaggio lying in his studio<br />
one morning, sick <strong>and</strong> tired, <strong>and</strong><br />
being awakened by a ray <strong>of</strong> light<br />
entering through a small window<br />
<strong>and</strong> cutting across the foreground<br />
<strong>of</strong> the painting, superimposing<br />
itself on it, <strong>and</strong> that this gave<br />
him the idea for completing this<br />
extraordinary work. This was<br />
the revelation for portraying the<br />
Calling, the choice <strong>of</strong> an entity<br />
between the human <strong>and</strong> the<br />
divine: a ray <strong>of</strong> light.”<br />
Q<br />
Which format <strong>and</strong><br />
base support did you<br />
use to film Caravaggio?<br />
“In general, I think<br />
A that negative film is<br />
much more sensitive<br />
than the technicians say; at least<br />
there is the possibility <strong>of</strong> recording<br />
the emotions <strong>of</strong> people who<br />
participate in the construction<br />
<strong>of</strong> the images themselves.<br />
Looking at an image projected<br />
on a large or small screen, it is<br />
possible to feel the harmony or<br />
Caravaggio.indd 3 30/5/07 11:20:35<br />
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4<br />
conflict experienced by those<br />
who contributed to creating a<br />
specific project. I maintain that<br />
the sensitivity <strong>of</strong> a filming system<br />
is not exclusively related to the<br />
technological level, but also to the<br />
intangible possibility <strong>of</strong> registering<br />
emotions. I believe this is a specific<br />
characteristic pertaining especially<br />
to negative film.”<br />
“We made Caravaggio in<br />
Univisium, filming on 35mm neg<br />
with a composition ratio <strong>of</strong> 1:2<br />
<strong>and</strong> with three perforations at 25<br />
frames per second.”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> 35mm films used were<br />
the basic four KODAK VISION2<br />
films: 50D, 250D, 200T, <strong>and</strong><br />
500T processed by Technicolor<br />
in Rome.”<br />
You have always used<br />
Q a variety <strong>of</strong> <strong>Kodak</strong><br />
negatives within the<br />
same film, a creative choice<br />
that sets you apart from the<br />
tendency evident in many films<br />
that are shot with only one type<br />
<strong>of</strong> film. Can you tell us why<br />
you opt for this multiple choice<br />
while shooting, <strong>and</strong> why you use<br />
the Univisium format, which<br />
furthermore, you invented?<br />
8<br />
“I think it is extremely<br />
A important not to use<br />
only one type <strong>of</strong> film for<br />
all the needs that natural light <strong>and</strong><br />
artificial light present, in the high<br />
<strong>and</strong> low tonalities they produce. I<br />
think it is a big mistake to lose the<br />
multitude <strong>of</strong> tonalities that these<br />
films are able to register when<br />
each one is used specifically for<br />
the light appropriate to it. That is<br />
lost when you decide to use just<br />
one for all the different lighting<br />
situations while shooting a film.”<br />
“<strong>Kodak</strong> films (5201-5205-<br />
5217-5218), with their proven<br />
‘consistency’ <strong>and</strong> the ‘reversibility’<br />
between them, enable the<br />
indispensable matching <strong>of</strong> the<br />
various scenes during the editing,<br />
because they provide maximal<br />
tonal <strong>and</strong> chromatic registration<br />
in the different situations <strong>of</strong><br />
NATURAL or ARTIFICIAL light,<br />
in low or high intensity, with<br />
a range from 50 to 500 ASA.<br />
Univisium is a system that allows<br />
you to save 25 percent on the<br />
cost <strong>of</strong> classic 35mm, thanks to<br />
the use <strong>of</strong> three perforations in<br />
the negative instead <strong>of</strong> four, <strong>and</strong><br />
to have 25 percent more time for<br />
creativity while shooting, which<br />
is really important, especially for<br />
the scenes with a Steadicam. And<br />
all this in a panoramic format<br />
<strong>of</strong> 1:2. I would like to emphasize<br />
that to shoot in 35mm with 3<br />
perforations, instead <strong>of</strong> S16, does<br />
not represent an alarming increase<br />
in cost, considering the superiority<br />
<strong>of</strong> 35mm <strong>and</strong> the increased<br />
possibilities for selling the product<br />
in other countries.”<br />
Q<br />
To conclude, <strong>Vittorio</strong>,<br />
a thought about<br />
Caravaggio’s colours.<br />
A vivid <strong>and</strong> intense palette that<br />
never leaves one indifferent.<br />
How did you interpret this in your<br />
cinematographic concept?<br />
“In 1600 there were<br />
A two possibilities for<br />
expressing light, using<br />
natural sunlight <strong>and</strong> moonlight,<br />
or using the sources <strong>of</strong> artificial<br />
light that existed at that time,<br />
such as torches, c<strong>and</strong>les, braziers.<br />
This made me want to create<br />
the images <strong>of</strong> the film using<br />
totally distinct, but obviously<br />
complementary chromatic<br />
elements with respect to two<br />
specific entities: the sun <strong>and</strong> the<br />
focus on film<br />
moon, the Father <strong>and</strong> the Mother.<br />
A collection <strong>of</strong> chromatic nuances<br />
from red to orange to yellow to<br />
represent the sun, <strong>and</strong> one colour<br />
only for the moon: WHITe. My<br />
expressive choice transpired from<br />
my studies <strong>of</strong> the artist’s oeuvre.<br />
In analyzing Caravaggio’s colours,<br />
I was able to verify that he had<br />
never used blue in his paintings.<br />
Never. He opted for black,<br />
symbolizing the unconscious;<br />
red, representing birth <strong>and</strong> death;<br />
orange, synonymous with the<br />
relationship to his childhood <strong>and</strong><br />
his mother; <strong>and</strong> yellow, the colour<br />
<strong>of</strong> puberty, consciousness, <strong>and</strong><br />
LIgHT. He went as far as using<br />
green—knowledge—in a few<br />
paintings. But he stopped there.<br />
So I saw to it that there is never<br />
any blue in our film. evenings <strong>and</strong><br />
nights are depicted with neutral<br />
or pale lights. everything starts<br />
with the BLACK, with matter,<br />
progressing to WHITe, to energy.”<br />
“This was done out <strong>of</strong> respect<br />
<strong>and</strong> admiration for the chromatic<br />
spectrum <strong>of</strong> an extraordinary<br />
artist, Michelangelo Merisi, known<br />
as Caravaggio.”<br />
Caravaggio.indd 4 30/5/07 11:20:37<br />
For the full version <strong>of</strong> this interview, please go to http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/newsletters/inCamera/<br />
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