Wong kar wai question

Super Trooper

Super Trooper

Well-known member
Yo yo yo

I'm posting this in the cafe in that its likely to get more views and therefore increase the probability of being answered.

Hope thats ok. :dankk2:

I am starting a rather ambitous project that will hopefully start taking shape in the next 3 or 4 months. I'm selecting 6 contemporary asian Directors and will be creating short films based on the style and themes that these directors are kown for.

I'm doing this in celebration for my love of eastern cinema and hope that it will serve as an impetus for those who might not usually watch this type of film to actually check it out and support these guys and others like them.

The films will be around 5-10 minutes long and I will only use actors of that director's ethnicity and it will all be in that countries native dialect . For example, for WKW, chinese actors speaking only chinese. This seems like it's going to be alot of fun, though VERY challenging (especially as it will be my first time making...well...anything).

The Directors are (and in the order that I will make them):

Wong Kar Wai
wong_kar_wai.jpg

Chan Wook Park (vengeance themed film)
ParkChan-wook.jpg

Takeshi Kitano (yakuza themed film)
kitano99.jpg


Johnny To/John Woo (action actionaction)
John_woo_small.jpg


Zhang Yimou (wuxia themed film)
zhang_yimou.jpg

Takashi Miike (is there even a defenition I could give that would aptly describe his movies?)
miike.jpg


*Possibly more to follow*

I've spent thousands on building up a film package and should have everything I need by May to start shooting.

Now on with the 2 questions concerning my first challenge, WKW.


FIRST:

I'm trying to duplicate a certain method he uses in all of his films. It was seen most prominently in Chunking Express. This is the Hong Kong trailer for the film. Take note at the :20 (eight seconds long) second mark and the 1:48 mark (four seconds long).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sD4xUj77ujA

I KNOW that there is a name for this, as I researched it a couple years ago. Ofcourse, now I can't remember and it's killing me. The thing is, I need to know how to do it. Of course, the method will surley be different as he shoots on film and I on tape, but I'd love to even come close to getting similar results.

SECOND:

I need to try to achieve "The Look". Now this sounds like an ignorant question, and I don't want to get "duh" responses. Of course, man man many things go into getting a good image, like lighting, framing, lenses, gels, ect.
And I know it's not even close to being easy getting them. That's why Chris Doyle is CHRIS DOYLE.

What I'm aiming at is the color palette more than anything else.

Lets look at some grabs:
chungking-express.jpg


chungking_express.jpg




(cont'd)
 
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happytogether.jpg


ht1.jpg


haptogeth2.jpg


angels08.jpg




bymailboxes.jpg


daysofbeingwild_4.jpg


2046_3.jpg


In_the_Mood_for_Love_mellomstort1.jpg


I know lighting is responsible for MOST of the visual feast before your eyes. I know it can't be easy to attain this, because that's why Chris Doyle is Chris Doyle.

But is there some postproduction technique in effect here? Does it just come down to good color grading? Or is all about in camera effects and gels and on set techniques?

I just love these rich and bold colors.

Feel free to share any tips and techniques that you use to achieve a similar palette in you own films. And not just MB filters, but cc and grading processes.

Thanks for your input.

-Troop
 
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That's a hong kong lighting style. I think that look is achieved with gelled lights. You won't get the same look in post. Slap on some amber and really play around with gels. Pay attention to the colors coming off the key, backlight, and fills.

And that shot you mentioned might be a lower shutter speed, but it also might be some type of optical process done in post. A buddy of mine knows how that was achieved and I'll ask him.

I think film stock makes a difference, but if you're working in digital I think a blend of gelling your lights and some color grading would get you a ballpark approximation of look.

I like this idea of doing a couple films in these styles. Good luck with it. :thumbup:
 
I love Chan-Wook Park. I'm also a fan of John Woo's The Killer (if only I could find/afford the out of print Criterion Disc) and I hope your project turns our well, and gets others interested in filmmakers who are very underrated.
 
Oh yeah, forgot to mention but it should be obvious. Find yourself a good production designer. Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love is amazing for it's style. Just look at the number of dress changes the woman undergoes, and the color palette in each apartment.

And Wong Kar Wai uses unorthodox framing in his compositions. If you put the time and money in on the production design side, you take the weight off the lighting. But the two work in tandem together.
 
Very interesting! I love all of them (especially Wong & Kitano), except for Johnny To, of which I haven't seen anything. His latest film was sold out at a festival, when I wanted to see it.

Where do I sign up to compose the music? :D

Christopher Doyle is indeed a genius.
 
sounds like a great concept

i think Ryuhei Kitamura would be a nice director to try and emulate... i like is style: also ultra violent and insane at points... versus is a classic imo and his bet (duel project) with Yukihiko Tsutsumi was something new and fun (although it was a few years back)... goodluck with it all...

and i think you can achieve something similar to the lighting in post, it just won't be as good/natural as the films...

JA
 
Super Trooper said:
I'm trying to duplicate a certain method he uses in all of his films. It was seen most prominently in Chunking Express.
Click to expand...
That effect is achieved with a slower shutter speed. They don't use this effect very often if at all beyond Chungking Express. However, they do use faster shutter speeds with little foreground movement often in subsequent films.

Check out Happy Together to see how they approach a look with very little lighting, Doyle claims they shot it using 2 sun guns, and existing locations.
 
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takashi miike genre is known now mostly as Ultra Violent or Extreme Horror.

Chan Wook Park is my favorite Director

WKW films tend to deal with love and emotion and homosexual themes.

Kitano films arrart house drama comdies his best movies are a blend of them where love and very over dramatic scene entangled I suggest you watch Takashis' he tried to get that in the foreign film cat this year for the oscar.

John woo Well he's played out now mostly but his older work is just hard boiled action. if you wanted a modern action film maker in in Asian look up Johnnie To: His stuff is awesome. like Breaking News and Election

Key thing about asian cinematography is color and what they mean in that culure. like hero and curse of the golden flower. Golden (yellow and green are used in that film 99.(% everywhere in the kingdom... why? to show the kingdom is dying and decaying with in thats what those colors mean.

In asian films most sets are wallpapered themes look at chan wook parks work all his sets are pretty much wallpaper and themes run through out. OLDBOY and LADY VENGEANCE show this in great detail. JSA is his most different work but still amazing..

if you need any help just ask all i watch is asian films im stuck in korea right now and Bong Joon Ho work is very impressive (The Host and Memories of Murder)
 
Great color grading on a real color grading machine is a big help where you have controls to get in and tweak and separate the colors. Its amazing what the difference between the raw footage and the final look like sometimes.
 
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