Bithell Gives an Inside Look at the Lighting Approach for Francis Lawrence’s Latest Mystery Thriller
If you’ve seen the trailer for Red Sparrow, you’d immediately notice the riveting and mesmeric cinematography conducted by Jo Willems, ASC, SBC. This isn’t surprising seeing that Walter Bithell, Jo Willems, and director Florence Lawrence previously worked together on the visually spectacular Hunger Games installments, Mockingjay – Part 1 & 2. “Willems approached Red Sparrow with an eye towards stylized naturalism. His general approach is to let the story dictate the actual style,” says Gaffer Walter Bithell. As one would imagine, shooting a spy flick would entail filming in many different locations across the globe. Red Sparrow would be no exception to this notion.
The crew shot for 85 days in 45 locations: Budapest, Hungary-Vienna, Austria-Bratislava, Slovakia and London, England to name a few. Many of their locations were chosen to reflect the diverse architecture of Eastern Europe. They shot at a mixture of buildings ranging from the ancient architecture of the Roman Empire, and expanding along the timeline from Neo Gothic, Ottoman, Baroque, Classical, Neo-Classical, Communist, Art Nouveau, Contemporary and Postmodern. “We ended up shooting in quite a few buildings from the Eastern Bloc Communist era,” says Bithell. He adds, “So the lighting had to take all of this into account but still have a unifying feel.”
To help capture the stylistic natural aesthetic Willems had in mind, Bithell reached out to us in regards to creating a variety of custom LiteRibbon panels in many different sizes and shapes to capture the specific look he and Willems had in mind before principle photography commenced. We were able to design and construct multiple RGBA/RGBW/Hybrid circular panels, square panels, LiteStix, and jem ball inserts. “We used the custom pads in cars, behind computer screens, hidden on the side of beds and dressers, inside of lamps. Anywhere really,” says Bithell. He adds, “We used LiteStix in cars, on the edge of moulding and ceilings, on the floor, behind beds, on desks, counters, kitchens etc.” The team also used the RGBT & RGBW pads to create round, colored reflections in actors eyes (eye pings) or to recreate sodium and mercury vapor colors as fill light. “We could not have shot Red Sparrow the way we did without LiteGear products,” says Bithell.
Bithell and his team would also rely on LiteMat for many interior shots throughout the film. “We used LiteMats on interiors for everything,” says Bithell. He adds, “Key, fill, backlight, general room tone. We shot inside a lot of older buildings where we would only be there for a few days. Many of these were historical buildings with extreme restrictions on drilling, grip rigging, wall spreaders etc.” Bithell ended up utilizing dozens of LiteMats for Red Sparrow. “LiteMats were perfect because they are lightweight and fast,” says Bithell. He adds, “We ran them wirelessly off of batteries every single day. Anywhere we could fit them was where we put them.”
Red Sparrowhas all of the key ingredients to become the next big espionage popcorn flick, including the stellar trio of Bithell, Willems, and Lawrence. Check it out in theaters March 2nd.