Xavier Dolléans, AFC: Building Baghdad in Cairo for High Value Target

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 Instagram · Website · IMDb Jared Levy, host Instagram · Website · IMDb David Kruta, producer Instagram · Website · IMDb Topher Hammond, producer Instagram MUSIC Original music by One Wave. THE SALON Episode page and full gallery: https://cinematographysalon.com/podcast/xavier-dolleans-afc-high-value-target/ Newsletter and events: cinematographysalon.com Instagram: @cinematographysalon PRESENTING SPONSOR This episode is made possible by Fujifilm — home of GFX ETERNA 55, the large format, IMAX®-Certified digital camera, and FUJINON cinema lenses. https://fujifilm-x.com FUJIKINA comes to New York, October 16 to 18: three days of exhibitions, talks and workshops on the Lower East Side. Schedule and tickets: https://shopusa.fujifilm-x.com/fujikina/ SUPPORT THE SALON The podcast, the writing, and both Resources tools are free. No paywall, no membership, no login. That is on purpose: learning to light a scene should not depend on what you can afford. Sponsors cover part of it and readers cover the rest. If you want to chip in, it starts at the price of a coffee a month at https://cinematographysalon.com/support. If your company wants to reach working cinematographers, get in touch at https://cinematographysalon.com/sponsors.