Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

For my post-production workflow studies, I really wanted to analyse a movie that was shot on 35mm film, since the organic look and feel to it just (almost) can’t be faked. I chose Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, because it is one of my favourite movies of all time. The flow in the film is amazing, and the characters so vivid you almost wish you knew them in real life. Most of the film takes place inside the head of Joel Barish (Jim Carrey), as he tries to erase the loving memory of his ex girlfriend Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), but ends up rediscovering his love for her, as he moves back in time through the memories of them being together.

Technical Specifications

The film is shot entirely on a Arriflex ArriCam LT (Gondry, 2004) – a 35mm analog film camera, which shoots in Anamorphic, Super 35 & standard spherical formats (Arrimedia). From the ArriCam LT camera you get the 2K quality of the 35mm film format, with a small and flexible body. Lens mount on the Arriflex cameras is PL, which is Arris own standard lens mount format, just like the EF on Canon or the F-mount on Nikon.

On the camera was mounted the Zeiss Super Speed lenstypes. Zeiss in general is a very well known brand, and are famous for producing some of the sharpest and best lenses in the world (“Winners,” 2013). The lenses are of the type CP.2, that stands for Compact Prime. This type of lens is extremely lightweight while still maintaining its quality and functionality. Some of the key features include:

• T1.5 for use in low-light situations and for cinematic depth of field
• Interchangeable mount
• Full-frame coverage
• Standard focus and iris gear positions
• Compact size and low weight of 0.9 to 1.1 kg
• Robust cine-style housing with the ability to utilize a follow-focus system
• Standard focus and iris gear positions

To shoot the macro shots, Arri Macro Lenses were used. The lenses have a 1:1 magnification ratio, and are therefore considered true macro (eHow, n.d.).

Some of the key features include:

• High resolution, high contrast
• Dramatically reduced flare
• Brilliant, vibrant colors
• Minimized chromatic aberration

In case you don’t know what Chromatic Aberration is, I found a definition online:

“Chromatic Aberration also known as “color fringing” or “purple fringing”, is a common optical problem that occurs when a lens is either unable to bring all wavelengths of color to the same focal plane, and/or when wavelengths of color are focused at different positions in the focal plane. Chromatic aberration is caused by lens dispersion, with different colors of light travelling at different speeds while passing through a lens. As a result, the image can look blurred or noticeable colored edges (red, green, blue, yellow, purple, magenta) can appear around objects, especially in high-contrast situations.” (Mansurov, n.d.) Personally I have had some trouble in the past with Chromatic Aberration, especially when shooting pictures or video on cheap lenses in a compressed format like jpeg or H.264.The film was shot using Fuji Reala 500D 8592 Negative Film (specifications can be found here:

 http://www.fujifilm.com/products/motion_picture/pdf/reala500d.pdf), and printed to positive film with the Fuji Eterna-CP 3513DI and Fuji F-CP 3519D. Gondry, 2004).

Sources

Arrimedia, http://www.arrimedia.com/catalog/product.php?product_id=27#technical-details

eHow, n.d. What Is a Magnification Ratio? [WWW Document]. eHow. URL http://www.ehow.com/about_5040403_magnification-ratio.html (accessed 11.11.13).

Gondry, M., 2004. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Mansurov, N., n.d. What is Chromatic Aberration? [WWW Document]. Photogr. Life. URL http://photographylife.com/what-is-chromatic-aberration (accessed 11.11.13).

Niessen, N., 2013. Cinema and the Drive in the Digital Age. Cult. Crit. 156–162.

Winners: Five prizes for ZEISS lenses at iF awards 2013 [WWW Document], 2013. . Camera Lens Blog. URL http://blogs.zeiss.com/photo/en/?p=3339 (accessed 11.11.13).