Xavier Dolléans, AFC spent five to six months in Cairo photographing High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam, the TNT limited series directed by Leslie Greif, with a local crew he met on arrival. He calls himself "a big anamorphic guy," but chose ARRI Signature Primes here. "We want almost the frame to be a window on the story," he tells host Jared Levy. Halation and grain came later, in the grade with colorist Karim El Katari.
For the night raid that ends in Saddam Hussein's capture, filmed in the desert near Saqqara, two soft boxes of about 10 by 6 meters hung from cranes over four to six cameras and a drone. "The fill light is becoming the key light," he says. The interrogations ran on three cameras, which pushed his lamps back from the actors. "When you do so, all your lightings are more realistic."
CREDITS
Xavier Dolléans, AFC
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Jared Levy, host
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David Kruta, producer
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Topher Hammond, producer
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MUSIC
Original music by One Wave.
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