Framestore CFC explore the art of darkness

Director of Photography Ben Davis's striking cinematography for 'Hannibal Rising' was complemented by a Digital Intermediate created at Framestore CFC.
The film, which opened on February 9 in the UK and US, is a prequel to Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon. Starring Gaspard Ulliel, Rhys Ifans and Gong Li, the film was directed by Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring), and produced by Tarak Ben Ammar, Dino De Laurentiis and Martha De Laurentiis, with a screenplay by Thomas Harris from his own novel.
The film tells the story of the early life of notorious psychopath and cannibal, Hannibal Lecter. His idyllic childhood in Lithuania is destroyed by an atrocity that takes place during World War II, scarring his mind and starting the madness that propels him through life. We see the origin of his murderousness, its genesis in a desperate yearning for revenge.

Ben Davis, BSC had already worked with Framestore CFC's Digital Lab on an earlier project - the gangster thriller 'Layer Cake'. For Hannibal Rising he once more teamed up with Layer Cake Colourist, Asa Shoul. Of the three week project, Shoul says, "It was great to be working with Ben again. Layer Cake had been his first DI, and he was keen to make the best use of what we could offer."
Indeed, Davis made use of both the digital and chemical processes available to him. As Shoul explained: "The film takes place in two main time periods: some ten years after World War II, when Lecter embarks on his first murders, and - seen in a series of flashbacks - the period during the war when he was a boy caught up by horrific events. The first quarter of an hour or so and all the flashbacks were processed bleach bypass in the lab. This is a chemical process that produces a desaturated image with strong blacks. It isn't often done these days - partly because it makes a lot of technical demands on both the DoP and the lab. But Ben had the confidence to use it, because he wanted the specific look it offered."

Another digital touch added by Shoul was included, he says, as an homage to the 'stocking' look of Film Noir close-ups. "We applied this effect to leading lady Gong Li. Using a special Baselight plug-in, I was able to slightly soften her skin, without affecting her eyes, mouth, hair, or the background. This isn't a blur or defocus, it is more akin to a 1/4 or 1/2 pro-mist, and unlike adding the effect in camera, we were able to adjust it on a shot by shot basis. With the plug-in you can perform a range of effects, from sharpening eyes if the focus is soft to perfectly mimicking camera filters."
Hannibal Rising 
is an MGM and the Weinstein Co. release of a Dino De Laurentiis presentation in association with Quinta Communications and Ingenious Film partners.
(SP)