Comments on: Public Enemies: What the? What?!

By: David

David — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:21:38 +0000

I’m being picky, but no more so than their post team should have been. Kim’s complaints were mostly lighting and cinematography. Mine were things that come with the territory, but can/should be fixed.

I can understand the idea that if you’re going to shoot video to accept and embrace the limitations and effects that come only from video. I just think the things I mentioned were unattractive at best, and distracting at worst.

Saw a copy of the movie a few days ago at Best Buy on Blu-Ray. Entirely unnecessary.

By: KenneyD

KenneyD — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:01:50 +0000

This is funny… I just watched public enemies and the filming, audio and lighting was so bad and so noticeable, i immediately googled it to see if any one else noticed; and there was… a lot.
Good article, and right on with the details.

By: Ben Winter

Ben Winter — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:31:53 +0000

Honestly David, you’re being really picky here, especially with the chroma aberration. It’s existent in all lenses and I’ve seen it much worse in better productions. Specular highlights? According to that article they were well aware of the performance of highlights on digital. A lot of these things you call “mistakes” are really more artistic decisions.

By: David

David — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:57:12 +0000

Another article on Public Enemies at Millimeter: http://digitalcontentproducer.com/cameras/revfeat/michael_mann_public_enemies_0708/

Two things in the article that caught my eye:
1. The CineAlta F23 is the same camera they used to shoot the GORGEOUS Speed Racer.

2. They sure did watch dailies on set on a little screen (there’s a picture of their setup in the article)

I can’t help but think mistakes were made on a number of levels to result in that ‘look’

By: David

David — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:19:30 +0000

Maybe all the dailies weren’t watched on a theater sized screen? I saw purple chromatic aberration on the treelines during one of the chases. How did that get through?

Also, the specular highlights on metal and water looked terrible. Surely there’s a way during the grading process (and I know, there wasn’t much of one) to digitally smooth out the blown out parts to make it look creamier?

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:03:06 +0000

In looking for the Tech of Public Enemies article to link, I found this interview with the Cinematographer: http://www.studiodaily.com/main/topstory/DP-Dante-Spinotti-on-Public-Enemies_11045.html

The fact that the very flaws were deeply considered and then they landed on this camera as the solution and lighting technique is just….. laughable. And also just makes me say “What the hell” all the more!

I mean, read the comments. I’m not alone here. I started to think we really did see a cut of the film that was still in it’s rough stages for some reason until I saw other people’s comments.