7D fitted with ARRI Ultra Prime lenses, however, they decided that they had the look they wanted for the entire feature.
Director of photography John Guleserian
Photo by Fred Hayes
Like Crazy tells the story of Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and Anna (Felicity Jones), who fall in love while attending college in L.A. and try to keep the magic going after British citizen Anna is forced to return to London. Doremus had developed a style of working with actors on his previous effort (his debut feature, Douchebag) of not formally blocking anything, instead allowing the actors to find their space on their own. Recalling their preproduction period, Guleserian says, "We realized that we could shoot the entire movie on the 7D and it would really add to the aesthetic Drake was after."
Photo by Fred Hayes
The 7D was specially modified by Burbank-based Hot Rod Cameras. That company, founded by former shooter and technologist Illya Friedman, takes Canon 7Ds (and other DSLRs), removes everything related to the reflex viewing system and completely rebuilds the lens mount so these small bodies, designed for still lenses, can use professional cinema PL optics. In addition to changing the mount, the rebuild involves significantly reinforcing the surrounding body so the camera can support the very heavy PL-mount lenses, which often weigh many times more than the camera itself.
(L-R) Director of photography John Guleserian, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones
Photo by Fred Hayes
The cinematographer adjusted the camera's color and contrast to flat settings to leave room in post for fine-tuning the look as much as is possible within the limitations of the H.264 codec. He felt comfortable at ISO settings of 320 and 640 and occasionally cranked it to 800. "We researched noise reduction filters you could use in post," he says, "but we never used them. It really wasn't necessary. I've seen the full [Digital Cinema Package] and the 35mm prints, and the noise, when it's there at all, just adds to the aesthetic."
The film shot a total of 24 days: three weeks in Los Angeles and one in London. In keeping with Doremus' directing style, the director of photography kept his lighting setups minimal to allow the actors to move almost anywhere that the moment took them.
Director of photography John Guleserian (left) with writer/director
Drake Doremus on the set of Like Crazy
Photo by Fred Hayes
Guleserian had an assistant to pull focus for much of the shoot, but he handled the task himself for some scenes, especially when space was tight. He made use of the handgrips that come with Hot Rod's deluxe kit, which allow a shooter to operate right-handed and turn the lens with the left. "The Zacuto Z-Finder was very helpful," he says, "especially when I was pulling my own focus."
The director and cinematographer found that the 7D, even with the high-end glass and modifications, yields a certain unpolished immediacy to the images (especially if Guleserian was both operating and finding focus himself), and they embraced that look rather than trying to conceal it.
Like Crazy was shot on locations including Los Angeles-area streets and the Los Angeles International Airport. Guleserian says, "We had permits to shoot everywhere, and the people in the background were real extras, but we set everything up to look like we were 'stealing' shots. I shot from far away with really long lenses, and we let the actors go where they wanted to go and I'd have to catch up with the camera. I think the audiences really respond to the 'low-fi' look we created."
