Hi, I am Ellen Kuras.
I am a director
and director of photography
since many years.
I believe in fate
because this had to be fate.
I was asking everybody.
I was like: “Listen do you know
anybody who has a used camera
that I can buy?”
And somebody said,
"Talk to that guy over there."
"He is
an equipment dealer."
I talked to him and it turned out
he had just got an SR 2.
I borrowed money.
I begged my parents.
And I bought this camera.
And it changed my life.
It enabled me to be
the cinematographer I am.
Because that camera,
I had it at the ready whenever I needed it.
So I used that camera for everything.
I went to Cambodia.
If you were out in the field
and you were shooting with an Aaton,
if somebody shot you,
the bullet would neatly go through
the magazine
and hit you.
But you were shooting with an ARRI,
the camera would stop the bullet.
One has a relationship with the camera
when you are that close to it.
When you are constantly
touching it.
And you know it so well.
You know how it sound.
It becomes a part of you.
It becomes an extension of yourself.
At anytime, any ARRI service place
around the world,
these are the guys
who really understood,
what you were trying to do creatively
and tried to support that.
It was about the art
of filmmaking.
And what they can do
to improve it.
“In a matter of hours.
Of patented non-surgical procedure.
We rid you of painful memories
and allow you a new
and lasting peace of mind.
You would never imagine possible.”
I am the kind of filmmaker
who wants to do the film that they envision.
I try to shape my approach
and my methods to what the director wants.
I mean that is my role
as a DP.
"This is it Joel."
"It's going to be gone, soon."
“I know.”
“What should we do?”
"Enjoy it."
Michel wanted to make it
a very organic film.
He wanted to show
the roughness behind it.
So he wanted to show
the imperfection behind it.
We shot the entire film
hand-held.
He did not want us
to use any kind
of film equipment
as much as possible.
There were times
when we had to.
Sometimes we used a doorway dolly.
Hand-held on the doorway dolly.
“Excuse me?”
“Can I help you find something, Sir?”
“Okay.”
And sometimes Michel would come
and he would push me.
We could see that it was not a digital effect,
that it was actually real.
I would laugh every time
he would push me
because I know my hand-held
was very steady
but if you want
I will move it so we can see it.
When I was younger
and I started shooting dramatic film
everybody
had always said,
“You have to use all prime lenses
instead of zoom lenses.”
Because at that time some of these
zoom lenses did not really match exactly.
But I really liked using the zoom lens
because it gave me the opportunity
to be able
to make subtle moves in or out
without having it too prescribed.
And to make it transparent.
So I called back to a lunch
I had with Sven Nykvist.
I said, “Sven, so what is this
these preconceived ideas about,
what you are supposed to do
to be a real filmmaker?”
And he was like: “No, no, no, no, no.
You can do whatever you want.”
He says, “You have to use it
and shoot from your heart.”
He says so if anybody questions you,
you can always tell them
that Sven told you,
you can do whatever you want.
So I passed that
information on.
I have passed that advice on
from Sven Nykist.
