Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: A Cinematic Masterpiece
Frank Herbert’s beloved science-fiction/fantasy novel, Dune, was adapted into a new, epic take on the big screen directed by Denis Villeneuve and photographed by Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS. Denis Villeneuve wanted the film to be shot in 4:3 aspect ratio and they (Denis & Fraser) decided that IMAX was the best way to present the story to the audience. Production designer Patrice Vermette was a key collaborator in creating the film’s grand imagery. The movie follows Paul Atreides, the brilliant son of a galactic leader, and his father Duke Leto Atreides as they gain control over the desert planet Arrakis, which is home to an invaluable spice-mining operation that holds the potential to unlock humanity’s greatest potential. The character Liet Kynes, played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster, is also featured as summoning a giant sandworm.
While working on the Imax presentations for Dune, Cinematographer Greig Fraser used both 2.39 and 1.43 aspect ratios, with the latter being used for scenes that reflected Paul’s journey and the moments when he faces his destiny as well as for exteriors on Caladan, in space, and on Arrakis, where the epic grandeur of Imax was most fitting with the narrative. He emphasized his preference for true Imax and the freedom it offers when framing at 1.43:1 aspect ratio. He also said that they were more cautious when filming close-ups due to the grand scale of the images on Imax, and how it would look if the face was 70 feet tall. Fraser believed the movie should be experienced in a cinema, and although not everyone may have access to Imax, they made sure that the movie was also designed for a 2.39:1 widescreen experience as well. He shot the film using Arri Alexa LF cameras, spherical Panavision H Series lenses for 1.43 sequences and for 2.39 sequences, he used Panavision Ultra Vista 1.65x anamorphic lenses that were custom-tuned for The Mandalorian with the help of Panavision’s senior vice president of optical engineering and ASC associate Dan Sasaki.
For the shooting of Dune, the team began by spending five weeks on principal photography on stages and backlots in Hungary, where they shot all the interior sets. After that, they traveled to Jordan for four weeks of location work, taking advantage of the country’s fantastic filmmaking infrastructure to shoot in practical locations, including beautiful sand dunes on the border of Israel. After that, they returned to Hungary for an additional 14 weeks to complete the filming. This schedule was designed to give the art department time to turn over sets, many of which were massive in scale. Katelin Arizmendi served as 2nd-unit cinematographer and additional photography was contributed by Pierre Gill, CSC and Adam Arkapaw, ACS.
The sun on the planet Arrakis is so intense that humans cannot survive in direct daylight without significant protection. To create the feeling of oppressive heat in the film, the director Denis Villeneuve wanted the skies on Arrakis to be hot and hazy, with no blue color. The team had reference images of these hazy skies from Abu Dhabi, but they knew that they would also have days of clear skies that would have the blue color. Therefore, they had to find a way to treat the skies partially photographically and partially in post-production in order to achieve the desired look. Fraser and FotoKem senior colorist and ASC associate Dave Cole set a LUT early in pre-production that pulled the blue out of the skies and rolled off the overexposure. Fraser also chose to avoid polarizing the sky in Jordan in order to avoid saturating the blue. In the final color session, Fraser and Cole worked to desaturate the blue, which ultimately gave them the hot and hazy look they were aiming for. Fraser expressed gratitude to FotoKem, noting that they were involved in the project from the very beginning, providing dailies and on-set timing with the lighting, and the look of the skies was a collaborative effort between the LUT, the on-location shooting and the final color suite.
To create the proper visual aesthetic for the sunlight on Arrakis, Fraser explains the need for buildings on the planet to be constructed in a specific way, “The houses are made of rock and are built to resemble fortresses in order to protect from the sun and maintain a cool temperature. No direct sunlight enters through windows, instead it is reflected into ‘light wells’ — channels built into the hallways to create indirect light. We wanted this to appear bright, directional and sourcey.” To achieve this effect in the main residence on Arrakis, a 150-foot-long hallway with rows of light wells on one side, Fraser and his gaffer Jamie Mills used Chroma-Q Studio Force II LED strip lights to simulate the reflected sunlight, providing a punchy and shaped light while also creating a soft ambiance and a distinctive strip of light on the opposite wall that matches the conceptual art. Additionally, they used Digital Sputnik DS fixtures for closer shots of actors.
Fraser put a lot of effort into testing lights, cameras, and lenses. He mentions that he likes using Digital Sputnik DS fixtures due to the depth of color they provide. However, as they weren’t available in sufficient quantity for the production, Fraser and his team had to make use of other fixtures for backgrounds and reserve the DS and Creamsource fixtures for main subjects. The focus in the movie was to incorporate subtle variations of color to avoid monochromatic landscape. Fraser, Vermette and costume designer Jacqueline West worked hard to include those variations in the sand walls, costumes and other elements. Fraser believed that achieving depth in the image while maintaining a natural-light look was harder than it may seem and required a combination of right color in the fixtures, sensor and lens.
To achieve the desired color and depth in the final image, Fraser employed a practice of grading light on set, through the lighting dimmer board, instead of using the camera’s matrix settings. By bringing the dailies colorist, Chris Rudkin, to the set and allowing him to grade the scene, Fraser was able to refine the key, fill and overall coloration of the light that reached the sensor. Fraser notes that this method of color-grading the light, with the aid of a trained colorist, helps to achieve a more accurate final image. Additionally, the colorist, who pre-lit and colored the dailies, was in constant communication with the final colorist, Dave Cole, and this approach of getting the right people involved at the right time in the process, was a practice that worked well for Fraser and that helped to elevate the work significantly.
Overall, the cinematography of Dune is nothing short of exceptional. The grand scale of Imax, the precision of the Arri Alexa LF cameras and Panavision lenses, and the use of practical locations all work in harmony to bring the story to life and create an immersive experience for audiences.
Dune: Part 2 is set to release later this year on November 2nd.
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