The works of Shunji Iwai (All About Lily Chou Chou)

L

LuckyMovie

Member
Hey everyone! Longtime reader of dvxuser and soon-to-be owner of an HVX200!

I'm surprised that Japanese director Shunji Iwai has yet to be discussed on these forums. I find him to be one of the most poetic filmmakers working today, and is a PIONEER in the art of digital filmmaking. If you haven't already, you need to check out trailers for All About Lily Chou Chou, Swallowtail Butterfly and Hana & Alice. (His frequent collaborator is cinematographer Noboru Shinoda, so he deserves a great deal of credit too)

AALCC compilation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZzctopK4BY
(The full movie's on youtube, but I highly recommend you find a DVD of it!)

I love how ethereal his images feel, and I'd like to emulate some of his techniques. For anyone who has seen his films (or digital movies =P) or from watching the youtube video, any tips on recreating Iwai's light bloom in those classroom scenes? The light coming from the windows is so blindingly white that you can hardly see anything outside, yet the subjects are clear as day.

Also, am I able to make my images look as "soft" as they do in the movie, with an HVX? Any help would be appreciated. Let's celebrate Shunji Iwai!

-Gary
 
i'm a big fan of noboru shinoda. i thought his final work "crying out love...", while not as avant-garde as his work with iwai, was wonderfully shot.

not many know that, long before the huge affordable 35mm adapter boom, shinoda actually shot "hana & alice" with a makeshift hasselblad medium format adapter. if you watch the special features, you see it in action as well as a bit of him constructing it.

as far as the bloom, although i can't say for sure that's what was done in "lily", shinoda was known to be fond of behind the lens nets and a proper haze machine (not a fogger).
 
Darn, I wasn't aware that Noboru Shinoda passed away in '04. We've lost a visionary. I'll def look into Crying Out Love though.

qazwsx said:
as far as the bloom, although i can't say for sure that's what was done in "lily", shinoda was known to be fond of behind the lens nets and a proper haze machine (not a fogger).
Click to expand...

Do you know of specific scenes in any of these movies where shinoda employs the use of such haze machines? Also, forgive me for being a noob, but what are lens nets? :dankk2:

-Gary
 
i've seen behind the scenes stuff for various music videos where he uses haze; sorry, off the top of my head i can't name the videos they belonged to. lens nets are a way to diffuse light — they are basically a net material that is placed on the rear element of the lens.

look in to tiffen's various pro-mist filters. they give similar diffusion and create bloom in the highlights.
 
oh wow! i just looked into these tiffen filters, and i really like what i'm seeing. has anyone ever used them before? especially the pro mist series.

would it be practical to shoot 720p with these filters? my goal is to make my footage 'softer', but i'm not sure if this is contradictory to shooting in HD. thanks to everyone and gazwsx.
 
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