The Master - SPOILERS!

Started by polkablues, August 18, 2012, 01:41:45 AM

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mogwai

Finally I have the great opportunity to post in the spoiler thread! :yabbse-wink:

I thought it was brilliant! I think it's Paul's finest work to date!

My only question is and forgive me for not browsing through the entire thread for the answer but what's up with the final scene with him at the beach? Did he dream all the stuff with The Cause etc? Cheers.

Reel

Quote from: Christian on July 16, 2013, 06:02:45 AM
what's up with the final scene with him at the beach? Did he dream all the stuff with The Cause etc?

No one's brought that up before, I think we all took it literally as a flashback to the first scene, juxtaposing the feral creature he was then to the man he's become. I would say above anything else that the last shot is suggesting Freddie has woken up from his dream. I like that it's an extension of the narrative showing how he 'missed the boat'.

socketlevel

Quote from: Reelist on July 16, 2013, 10:18:48 AM
Quote from: Christian on July 16, 2013, 06:02:45 AM
what's up with the final scene with him at the beach? Did he dream all the stuff with The Cause etc?

No one's brought that up before, I think we all took it literally as a flashback to the first scene, juxtaposing the feral creature he was then to the man he's become. I would say above anything else that the last shot is suggesting Freddie has woken up from his dream. I like that it's an extension of the narrative showing how he 'missed the boat'.

naw, this ain't the ending of Dallas. come on, why do people always fall back on it was all a dream nonsense, it's not remotely clever and would be so beneath PTA. I'd argue it's more about the man finding some semblance of peace and that peace rippling back throughout the narrative showing he was capable of it in the past but didn't have the wisdom to achieve it. it's just a nonlinear way to show the denouement of the film.
the one last hit that spent you...

mogwai

I searched the imdb board and they came to the clear conclusion that was Freddie made peace with himself and was independent.

I was hoping it wasn't a dream because he wouldn't have sex with that fine lady in the previous scene. :yabbse-grin:


Lottery

Noice. I wish there were more of these sorts of recounts. For all of his films but especially his last three.

HeywoodRFloyd

Quote from: wilderesque on August 01, 2013, 05:16:12 PM
Camera operator Colin Anderson talks working on The Master - page 46

Wilderesque, thanks for this champ. I'm assuming you're a subscriber, would you also be able to link the There Will Be Blood issue which is under the '2008 Special Awards Season' issue

wilder

I'm not a subscriber, not sure how I initially came upon that link. Sorry.

HeywoodRFloyd

I managed to find the TWBB edition's transcript, I don't know if it's the entire thing though

Camera Operator of the Year: IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Camera Operator of the Year Nominee Colin Anderson SOC on shooting There Will Be Blood


After working in the South African film industry for eleven years, Colin Anderson moved into assisting in Los Angeles. Making the leap to operating, he worked with DP Robert Elswit on Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck before joining forces again on There Will Be Blood.

Describe your experience shooting There Will Be Blood.

Working with Director Paul Thomas Anderson on There Will Be Blood was an unbelievably invigorating experience. He is an extremely complex man with a very clear concept of what he wants to do. Rehearsals were always private, with actor Daniel Day-Lewis, himself and DP Robert Elswit. Once happy with the scene he would block it with a finder and set up very specific shots. He always had a very precise view of what lens he wanted to use and how to frame it. Even though we were shooting anamorphic he insisted on center-punching all CUs and MCUs. Paul was deeply involved in all technical aspects of the film. We shot about 40,000 feet of lens tests and Paul went through them all, picking what Cs and Es he preferred. He would then specify on-set which lens he wanted to use. We had very few rehearsals, and with the high level of intensity on the set, one felt you couldn't ask for more.

Tell us a little about your equipment on the movie.

We used Panavision equipment on There Will Be Blood with the C and E series anamorphic lenses. We also used a 43mm lens from a 1911 Pathé camera that Dan Sasaki at Panavision converted to anamorphic. It was amazingly sharp in the center with a dramatic fall-off at the edges which gave the frame a wonderful period feel. Panavision is my system of choice because it is so rugged. On There Will Be Blood the conditions were horrendous at times, and being three hours from the nearest airport made it rather important to have a reliable system.

I prefer to look through an optical finder as I don't think anything can replace the connection to the frame that one has by looking through the finder. Apart from being able to see technical problems more easily—focus, boom shadows, etc—I think your reactions are so much more immediate and instinctive.

When hand-holding the camera, I now use the handles. I used to hold the matte-box but changed to handles on Syriana. Every shot was hand-held on that movie and I found using handles to be less tiring as you could brace your elbows against your midriff and almost rest in that position. On longer takes and long lenses, I find it easier to hold it steady.

As an Operator, I feel absolutely indispensable to the DP and the production as we are that vital link between concepts and results. DPs shouldn't have to bother with the nuts and bolts of setting up a shot. Lately, with some of the DPs that I work with, Dan Mindel for example, I have become increasingly involved in scouting and pre-production meetings, which I find is an enormous help when we come to do the scene on the day.

What were some of the operating challenges on There Will Be Blood?

Some of the biggest Steadicam challenges for me on set were the wind, terrain and altitude. Paul would design these very long, slow Steadicam shots on a wide lens, and with the constant wind gusts it was extremely difficult to keep a solid horizon. He liked to walk right next to me watching the monitor, so often I couldn't get the 4x4 double as close as I would have liked. Marfa, Texas, our main location is also at 5,000 feet so I became winded fairly quickly on some of the flat out running shots.

This was my first collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson [PTA], and I hope it will continue into the future. I don't believe there is one of his films that I haven't liked. This was my third film with Robert Elswit, the other two being Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck. I cannot say enough good things about Robert. He is an Operator's dream, having the perfect balance of giving you the freedom of choice and constructive advice where necessary. Robert does a lot of operating himself but is not scared of using two cameras and lighting for both. On Good Night and Good Luck and ¬Syriana, we almost always had two cameras on every shot, often at right angles to one another.

Daniel Day-Lewis has left an enormous impression on me. It was fascinating to see an actor embrace a character so completely, both on and off the set. He has truly set the bar with his level of commitment and focus, while still being approachable for technical adjustments.

I'll never forget TWBB because it has the most difficult shot I have ever done as a Steadicam Operator: it was the shot of Daniel and [the boy] HW approaching the Sunday ranch for the first time. Paul only used the last part of the shot in the movie that was over Daniel and HW. When we did it, the shot started back about 400 feet, went through a small arroyo, up the other side and then a gentle uphill to the house where they meet Abel. The shot holds in a lock-off for about a minute and then pans them out. It was almost exactly four minutes long and at magic hour so there was not much resting between takes. After two or three rehearsals and eight takes, I was exhausted. To make matters worse, the light was dropping like a stone so we had to change from the 40 C to the E. I'll never forget the Dolly Grip Jeff Kunkel having to support me as my legs were buckling underneath me. Unbelievably, we ended up shooting that particular scene a total of five times. The first two times were repeats for performance and then they recast Eli Sunday so we had to re-shoot it. The last few times were also for performance. The one thing that really struck me about PTA was the amount of re-shoots he would do. If my memory serves me correctly, the scene where the locals are handing out the pins to the oil workers at the rig was re-shot four times.

What was it like when you heard that you were nominated for the Camera Operator of the Year award?

It's extremely flattering to be nominated by my industry peers as these are the people that understand the most about camera operating and can appreciate the difficulties involved in achieving some of the shots. One always feels that peer approval carries much more weight than anyone else's.

HeywoodRFloyd

So I was just wondering if anybody here downloaded the unreleased tracks for Jonny's score of The Master?

Indiewire posted the article in December that linked to the streaming website
Listen: Jonny Greenwood's Unreleased Score For 'The Master'

The TWC guilds website page for the streaming has been taken down giving a 404 error most likely because awards season is over
TWC Guilds Link

Here is the tracklist:

"The Master" Complete Jonny Greenwood Score
1. Baton Sparks
2. Able Bodied Seamen v1
3. Time Hole v1
4. Time Hole v2
5. The Split Sabre Combined
6. Overtones v1
7. Alethia
8. Overtones v2
9. Able Bodied Seamen v2
10. His Masters Voice
11. Application 45 v1
12. Overtones v3
13. Overtones v4 and v5
14. Back Beyond
15. Sweetness Of Freddie
16. Overtones v6
17. Back Beyond Credits

If anyone downloaded it, could you please upload it? Thanks!

Lottery

I never did get around to downloading it. But I did listen to the stream on the website.

One thing, I desperately want a copy of 'She wrote me a letter', because that's probably one of the best compositions Jonny G made for the film (probably one of his best in general) and it only exists in trailer form. I imagine there's a longer variant.

max from fearless

I second that, the score to "She Wrote Me A Letter" is incredible and needs to be let out into the world.

Punch

I have all of it, except she wrote me a letter because it was never put out. How can I send it?
"oh you haven't truly watched a film if you didn't watch it on the big screen" mumbles the bourgeois dipshit

Reel

very cool. Thanks, guys. I never got around to throwing the score on my ipod, but I think I will now that it's complete. It's weird, this is about the time the movie came out last year and I'm already nostalgic for it. Definitely due for a watch, preferably with someone else. That'd be a first.

Reel

All of the google doodles look like a pussy to me today